Author Anne Rice delivered the ultimate smack down on her Facebook page yesterday, telling her fans, “I will no longer tolerate hate speech in the guise of Christian belief.”

Ms. Rice, whose son Christopher made Out Magazine’s list of top ten gay bachelors last week, has been a longtime LGBT rights supporter.

Following Hollywood actress Ellen Page’s coming out this weekend, Rice posted a congratulatory note on Facebook Saturday to which dozens of haters left vile comments under the post.

Ms. Rice then took to Facebook with this awesome post:



Our post commending actress Ellen Page for her courage in coming out as gay attracted a lot of hostility and hate and hate speech — as well as positive and substantive comments. I have banned many from the page today. I will no longer tolerate hate speech in the guise of Christian belief with the usual irresponsible pick and choose bible quotes and talk of “sin” and hellfire. I have had enough of it, and I think the world has had enough of it too. Again, I commend Ellen Page for her bravery in coming out. I hope more celebrities and public figures will be inspired to do so. Anyone who thinks this does not matter is deceiving himself or herself. It matters very much. Gay people in all walks of life suffer from bigotry, bias, superstition, and ignorance. Hats off to Ellen Page! (And please do NOT come here to tell us publicly that you “don’t care.” If you don’t care, don’t expect us to care that you don’t care!).

Rice also took time to respond to several of the over 3,700 comments to her post.

In one response Anne explained how she bans Christian’s who spread hate on her page:



I ban those who engage in hate speech under the guise of Christianity. And when people say they are unliking the page or rejecting me and my works, I also delete and ban them. This is my personal choice based on my experience on the page.

Rebecca commented:



I do not care. The American people have bigher fish to fry.

Rice hit back with this response:



Then why post here? Obviously you do care enough to tell us that you disapprove of our caring. Well, I do care. I think what Ellen Page did was brave and good….And her courage will have a decidedly positive effect against the hypocrisy,bigotry and ignorance that underscore the persecution of gays in our country.

Mike H. left this response to her post:



I love the way you see people who don’t like or agree with that lifestyle are always”haters”. By that definition what do you think you are when you don’t like what Christians believe. Total hypocrisey. Ms Rice I think you also are dabbling in some self deception.

To which Rice responded with this comment:



Mike, in my experience many Christians are extremely aggressive towards those they despise and seek to control and change. They spend millions in America trying to interfere with a woman’s right to choose and a gay person’s civil rights. They are vocal and “in your face” with their hate of gays and other strong religious biases. If they would respect the rights and dignity of those who do not share their belief system, it would be better for everyone. But sadly, they don’t. And when they bring hate speech to this page, I will delete and ban them. Mike, I don’t think the aggression and hostility of Christians towards those they condemn can be compared in any way to gay rights activists. Gay rights activists don’t spend millions trying to persecute and demonize others or oppress them in terms of civil rights. I hope you do some research on this topic. We have a serious problem in this country with aggressive Christians violating our separation of church and state, and campaigning to oppress women and gays, and sometimes children. I think we are in a time in America when we must demand that all people claiming to be Christian take full moral responsibility for their belief system and the harm it has done historically and the harm it continues to do in our country. I see no reason to give Christians a pass on any of this.

Robyn wrote:



I had made a comment late last night about how I believe in love. And how I am grateful to Jesus loving me as a sinner. I received a reply back about you not wanting me to preach on your page. I didn’t feel I was preaching, but stating my opinion, as so many others. I apologize if there were a misunderstanding. I enjoy your work, and your opinions. I totally agree about your stance on Ellen Page and perhaps, so many others. Have a great day… I’m off to do some chores.

Rice replied with:



Robyn, for many of us, words like “sin” and even “Jesus loving” have become associated, sadly, with bigotry and hate. This isn’t your doing. It isn’t mine. It has to do with the way this language has been used in America aggressively and boldly on a national level in a war against women’s rights and gay rights. So I find myself highly sensitive to it. I respect your good intentions. I cannot change at this point my own negative reaction to the word “sin.” I think it is a very poor word to use in discussing the human spirit and the moral problems which all human beings face every day. But again, I respect your sincerity. I think it’s a good idea to remember that religion has to do with faith in things which cannot be proven, and which have divided people into warring camps and warring nations for centuries. Saying that Jesus loves you may sound innocent and neutral. But blood has been shed in the name of Jesus for almost 2,000 years. Again, I respect your sincerity, but I do ask that people not preach Christianity on this page.

{H/T: Instinct Via TheNewCivilRightsMovement]