Gay man stands up to hateful preacher on New York subway

One brave gay New York subway passenger has become a global internet sensation after boldly standing up to a hate-speaking homophobic preacher during a packed train trip late last week.

The incident occurred on the A train between 59th and 125th Streets, Manhattan,  just before 4pm on Saturday, February 16 and was caught on video after a fellow passenger, Elena Beloff, filmed the confrontation with her smartphone.

In the video, the preacher can be seen and heard referring to gay people as “sick” and an “abomination” to which the passenger, wearing a wooly hat, repeatedly shouts back “false prophet”.

The footage then shows the preacher launch into a bizarre attack on the recently deceased pop superstar Michael Jackson and US President Barack Obama.

“'You can’t put two men together. Man not got no breasts, man got penis ... I tell Obama that gay is wrong, I tell [New York Mayor Michael] Bloomberg that gay is wrong. Love is between woman and man,” the preacher says.

“If I weren’t a preacher and I saw you I would get my shotgun. Michael Jackson died because he was gay.”

The passenger responds the preacher has it wrong and may be thinking of paedophiles, perhaps in reference to the singer's troubles in the years before his death during which he was plagued by numerous claims of child sex abuse.

“I am a man. I am a good man and I’m a gay man. And Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me!” the passenger says as other commuters applaud.

“Do not listen to this man. He is full of hatred and fear. He’s scared ... he’s full of hatred. He’s ignorant.”

With the crowd now behind him, the passenger tells the preacher there is no place for hatred. 

“There’s love on this train. Everyone for love let’s clap. Love wins,” he says as other passengers cheer and shout out.

New York’s subways attract a bevy of assorted preachers and self-proclaimed prophets warning of a multitude of sins and the end times, but Beloff said in her experience riding the network it was rare for someone to take such a courageous and public stand.

“It was quite unusual to hear someone actually take a stand and respond to such harsh anti-gay comments,” she told NineMsn.

“The energy started to pick up as people applauded the gay man and I decided to walk forward to take closer pictures. It was an incredible sight.”

[IMAGE]: YouTube