Jerry Falwell

===Falwell versus Jerry Sloan===
[[File:Jerry Falwell, 1984.jpg|thumb|Falwell in [[Tallahassee, Florida]], in 1984]]

In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay [[gay rights]] activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July 1984 during a televised debate in [[Sacramento, California]], Falwell denied calling the gay-friendly [[Metropolitan Community Church]]es "brute beasts" and "a vile and [[Satanism|Satanic]] system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile>{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Katy |date=May 17, 2007 |title=Jerry Falwell's Greatest Hates |url=http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |url-status=dead |work=Concord Monitor |location=Concord, New Hampshire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214159/http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |access-date=May 18, 2007}}</ref>

When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960051,00.html |title=Milestones: Oct. 7, 1985 |date=October 7, 1985 |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=December 16, 2019 }}</ref> The money was donated to build Sacramento's first LGBT community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], and [[intersex]]" communities.<ref name="intersex">{{cite web|url=http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |title=about Lambda Community Fund |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125043503/http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |archive-date=January 25, 2008 }}</ref> Falwell appealed the decision with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=unQdAAAAIBAJ&pg=5828,4267772&dq=sloan%20vs%20falwell&hl=en|title=The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search|access-date=January 21, 2017}}</ref>