Kanye Will Headline a Prayer Rally in Arizona Featuring Anti-LGBTQ Leaders

Awaken 2020 will feature headliners who have garnered support for their anti-LGBTQ views.

Kanye West will reportedly be featured as a headliner of Awaken 2020, a 10-hour-long prayer rally in Arizona. 

According to the New York Daily News, it is being coined the “first epic evangelical stadium event of the decade.” West will bring his gospel choir Sunday Service to the event which is set to take place at the Sun Devil Stadium.

LGBTQ community members are currently criticizing the rally for its inclusion of controversial religious leaders that have previously shared anti-LGBTQ views. One includes Cindy Jacobs, known as a prophet who has asked Christians to “rise up” and stop the Equality Act. Guillermo Maldonado is also mentioned, the Miami-based pastor is a Trump supporter who believes same-sex relations are “prohibited by God,” reports the Advocate. 

Additional figures include Ché Ahn and Lou Engle. Ahn has said that LGBTQ equality “is not a civil rights issue” since they never had “rights taken from them,” according to the Right Wing Watch. Engle is a senior leader of the International House of Prayer and has called homosexuality a “spirit of lawlessness.” He also supported Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill.

Back in 2019, the anti-LGBTQ restaurant Chick-Fil-A was believed to be the inspiration behind Kanye’s song “Closed On Sunday” off of his Jesus Is King album. Since the news broke on West headlining the rally, social media users have tweeted out their opinions. It’s not too far fetched that if the rapper has agreed to be a part that his views are similar to the major celebrities previously mentioned. 

Over on the official “Awaken 2020” website, Kanye appears to have also agreed to speak at the event.