A church billboard questioning Jesus Christ's sexuality is sparking controversy in New Zealand.
As Auckland Now reports, St. Matthew in the City's holiday billboard depicts the infant Jesus surrounded by a rainbow-colored halo, along with the double entendre-laden statement: "It's Christmas. It's time for Jesus to come out."
Reverend Glynn Cardy defended the church's sign as being about trying to lift the humanity of Jesus. "The fact is we don't know what his sexual orientation was," he is quoted as saying. "Would it make a difference if he was gay? Would that change the picture for you?"
News of the billboard comes just as Bishop Gene Robinson -- the first openly gay bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church -- told Jon Stewart he believes Jesus Christ who have approved of gay families and LGBT relationships in general.
"Here’s a guy who -- in a culture that virtually demanded marriage -- was a single guy, spent most of his time with twelve men, singled out three of them for leadership and one of them is known in the Bible as ‘the one whom Jesus loved,’” Robinson, who is promoting his new book, "God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage," told Stewart. "Now I’m not saying Jesus was gay, but let’s be careful to rope this guy in for a husband, wife and 2.2 children model for family. He knew about families of choice, and so do LGBT people."
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