Vice President Mike Pence, left, and First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress, right.

Vice President Mike Pence is coming to Dallas on June 28 (the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, by the way) to attend the Celebrate Freedom rally at First Baptist Church. The rally, according to a White House press release, is “an annual celebration of America’s freedom. The event will also feature worship, a salute to the Armed Forces, and fireworks. According to the First Baptist website, the rally begins at 10:45 a.m., and you can “Reserve Your Spot” through a link on the website.

The press release describes First Baptist as a church that has “hosted presidents from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush.” The LGBTQ community, however, knows the church as the home base of rabid homophobe Robert Jeffress, the church’s head pastor.

Jeffress has made a name for himself as one of the most anti-gay of the “mainstream” preachers. He once preached a whole sermon on “Why Gay Is Not Okay” and never misses a chance to vilify LGBTQ people. He has also said that Jews are going to hell — along with Muslims and Hindus — because they “reject the truth of Christ” and that Mormonism is a “heresy from the pits of hell,” among other things.

In 2012, on the Sunday before the election, he said that while President Obama was not the anti-Christ — “One reason I know he’s not the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to have much higher poll numbers when he comes” — Jeffress claimed President Obama was “paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.”

Jeffress is one of Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders, shrugging off everything from Trump’s taped confession to sexually assaulting women, to his affair with and ultimate payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels, to calling some countries “shithole countries” and more.

— Tammye Nash