Blackwell, Oklahoma church members purportedly pin man down to “pray the gay away”
By Robin Dorner
Editor in Chief
On September 8, Sean Cormie’s mother invited him and his partner, Gary Gardner, to attend church with them at the First Assembly of God Church in Blackwell, Oklahoma. The two decided to go but got something they did not expect.
“At the end of the sermon, about 12 to 15 people grabbed Sean and pinned him down,” said Gardner. “They wanted to ‘pray the gay away’ on him.”
When Gardner was finally able to get to his partner, he saw that Sean had many bruises and a black eye.
Cormie knew at least four of the men holding him down. He had just come out to his mother and began living his life authentically. He and Gardner have been in a “talking about” dating for about two years and have lived together for nearly six months.
During the incident, Cormie said, “It was so much stress I just couldn’t think. I was shocked, and I could not believe this was happening to me in this day and age. I mean, we don’t persecute and abuse straight people and try to ‘pray the straight’ out of them. Why would they do they try and do this to gay people?”
The incident happened at the end of the service last Sunday, September 8. The entire congregation of about 35-50 people were there, according to the couple.
“Pastor Bill [McKissick] went through the sermon fine,” said Gardner, who had attended the church before, but not with Sean as his guest. “He said he felt they needed to pray for Sean. This was when the people gathered around him, and the praying kept getting louder, and they took him to a separate room.”
“They were praying so loud it was getting almost humiliating to be there. I thought it was embarrassing so I should get Sean out of there. They were saying things like, ‘get rid of that homosexuality,’ and things like that.”
That’s when Gardner decided to do something to get his partner away from the group holding him down. Once they got away from the church, the two men immediately went to the Blackwell Police Department, spoke with officer Nick Grove and filed a report.
“The police took pictures and filled out a report,” said Gardner. “We told them we wanted to press charges.”
Cormie fears his mother is behind instigating this event.
“Everything has a root,” Cormie said. “I think she told pastor Bill, and he egged her on to do this, but Bill was not one of the people holding me down.”
On Thursday, September 12, Cormie’s mother asked him to drop the charges. The call from Sean's mother prompted Gardner to call Oklahoma City’s Diversity Center to garner more information on what to do in this situation. They spoke with the Diversity Center’s Executive Director, Kelley Blair.
“I wanted him to know he had the right to do anything he wanted,” said Blair. “I am very glad he called us for direction in this matter. He said they didn’t know where else to go for help.”
Blair said she called the ACLU of Oklahoma to make the referral and left Gardner’s number to contact the victim.
The Gayly called the Blackwell police department and were told by Eli Bonewell in dispatch, “I would direct you to Chief Dewayne Wood, but he won’t be back until Monday.”
When asked for more information, pictures, the police report, anything they could send. Bonewell said, “Nick wrote down the time the report was taken and when the incident happened, but the report has not been completed. Looks like the photos have not been uploaded yet either.”
When asked if this is normal procedure for the Blackwell Police Department, and Bonewell replied, “Normally no. It’s just a really busy week.” The Gayly did receive a request for records from the department to fill out and may obtain records when they become available.
The Gayly also called the First Assembly of God Church in Blackwell and McKissick’s wife, Pastor Tammy at both numbers made available to us. We left messages at both numbers for them to call us back about the incident which occurred at the church on Sunday, September 8. As of press time, we have not yet received calls back.
The couple took photos four days after the incident, and the black eye remains visible. Photo provided (police photos not available)
Copyright The Gayly. 9/13/2019 @ 2:48 p.m. CST.