Residents of Coronado rallied at the Hotel Del Sunday afternoon after the facility agreed to host a “preview service” from Awaken Church ahead of its attempt to establish a permanent location there, decrying statements from its pastors.
“Our concerns with Awaken are that leaders consistently share hateful messaging to LGBTQ and their presence is a threat to this already-marginalized group of people,” said coalition group Coronado Islanders Against Hate in an emailed statement.
“These are our neighbors. These are our friends. They are the young students in the community. They are our co-workers. For some people, it’s family members. They are part of our community and are worth protecting.”
The group also said that the Hotel Del’s decision to host the church is in direct conflict with its managing company’s stated policies around inclusivity and diversity.
Its pastors have a long history of making public statements that further the service of disinformation narratives.
Besides those statements, Awaken Church is perhaps best known for its public repudiation of vaccines at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and hosting well-known anti-vaccine and far right speakers, such as Tucker Carlson and Simone Gold, who later received prison time for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.