The local government launched an investigation and ultimately prosecuted Latzel for hate speech. The regional body of the church, which has a quasi-official status in Germany, initiated disciplinary proceedings. The address was posted on YouTube, where the words of the United Protestant Church minister raised a furor. “All this gender s-,” he said, “is an attack against God’s order of creation. In October 2019, in a marriage seminar for about 30 couples, Latzel commented on what he called the “homolobby.” He attacked homosexuality, calling it “degenerative,” and said, “These criminals are running around everywhere” during the Berlin Pride Parade. Martini congregation in the northern German city of Bremen, Olaf Latzel, 54, cut a stark figure in his black gown and two white preaching tabs.īut it wasn’t his presence that caused a stir in Germany it was what he had been preaching from that pulpit. Standing tall in the raised pulpit of the St.
