A reader tipped us off that the Philadelphia Wax Museum (a 501 (c) (3) non-profit set to break ground in 2012) recently posted in support of Chic-Fil-A’s discriminatory stance on gay marriage on their Facebook page. The organization posted the Chic-Fil-A logo, along with the text “Romans 8:31.” screenshot below:
According to the LinkedIn Profile of the President of the Philadelphia Wax Museum, Robert Avery (who doesn’t even live in Philly or in the state of Pennsylvania – he resides in D.C.):
“The Philadelphia Wax Museum is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, committed solely to broadening public compassion and gratitude for the famous personalities unique to The Greater Philadelphia Region, as well as the study and preservation of Philadelphia History.
The Philadelphia Wax Museum is organized and operated exclusively for the relief of the poor, the distressed, and underprivileged and for the advancement of education, historical, cultural awareness for the Great Philadelphia Region, all while lessening the burdens of government.
The Philadelphia Wax Museum will use Life Size and Life Like wax figures of famous Philadelphian’s past and present to motivate the youth to achieve! The Philadelphia Wax Museum will also work to improve race relations by dispelling racial superiority by displaying the many races and cultures that have contributed to Philadelphia’s success as one of the world’s greatest cities.”
Obviously, in America, everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions. However, it’s problematic that the president of the organization chose to use the company’s page to take a stance, rather than his own personal Facebook page. He is thereby aligning the view of the Philadelphia Wax Museum as one that wishes to keep the LGBT population (a LARGE and culturally diverse population in Philly) as second-class citizens, denying them of basic rights.
Below is a direct quote from the Philadelphia Wax Museum in response to outrage over their support of Chic-Fil-A:
“I am the Founder of The Philadelphia Wax Museum. I am a Christian. The Very idea of The Philadelphia Wax Museum came from the God I serve. This non-profit has Christian Values. We do not discriminate. We believe that what the bible says about marriage is correct, that it is between a man and a woman. There is no instance of two men in the bible getting married, there is no instance of two women getting married. We support and love all people. We do not hate anyone, This is America and in this country we all have the right to Believe in what you believe in.
Because this is a free country you have the right to support or not support The Philadelphia Wax Museum. God bless.”
First, the obvious flaws in the argument – the Bible says little on same-sex marriage, and Jesus is silent. The Bible also says any person who curses their mother or father should be killed, if a man has sex with a woman while she has her period they should be cut off from their people, stubborn children should be stoned to death, and don’t you dare eat shellfish. Do we take the Bible literally on those subjects? Thankfully, no, because we’ve evolved and realized how ridiculous those views were.
It’s truly a shame that an organization which is great in concept & which purports to work to improve race relations (aka civil rights) would support the denial of those same rights to a sect of the population simply because of whom they love.
The LGBTQ population in Philly and beyond, and their allies, should all choose to NOT support an organization that stands on the side of hate and discrimination like the Philadelphia Wax Museum, and also encourage the Sponsors of the Museum to withdrawal their sponsorship.
Here is the link to the sponsors: http://www.thephillywaxmuseum.org/our-sponsors/
And a link to the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thephiladelphiawaxmuseum
For the record, the Philadelphia Wax Museum doesn’t actually exist in brick-and-mortar yet. According to the Facebook page, groundbreaking is set for the end of 2012 and the location of the museum is set to be Reed and Columbus Blvd. in South Philly. It’s unclear who is financially backing the project. If anyone has more information on the funding for the museum, please email phillesbian@gmail.com.
UPDATE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE MUSEUM, ROBERT AVERY:
On 8/1, we received an email from Robert Avery, the President of the Philadelphia Wax Museum, claiming that the funding of the museum is coming from God’s bank account. Who knew the Good Lord funded companies who publicly make statements of discrimination? Didn’t J.C. say we should all love one another? :
SUBJECT: God is funding the Philadelphia Wax Museum
MESSAGE: Let’s see you stop Him. It’s all about Jesus. Do you know Him?
Ok, not only is he an ass, he’s delusional! ~palm smack~