US couple Jamie and Melissa Foust bought the colourful doormat from department store Target during Pride month, but they didn’t expect their great investment would also repel preachers from knocking on their door.
Their video has accrued 7.1 million views and its caption reads: “My wife and I recently got a new doormat. It was a great investment.
“It says ‘gayest place in town’ and has the added benefit of keeping religious zealots from knocking on our door to tell us about their god.”
In the video, Mormon missionaries dressed in shirts and ties can be seen approaching the door before looking down to read the doormat, with one reading aloud “gayest” and the other responding “nope”, before they swiftly walk away.
@jamie.foust94My wife and I recently got a new door mat. It was a great investment. It says “gayest place in town” and has the added benefit of keeping religious zealots from knocking on our door to tell us about their god. 😂♬ original sound – jamie.foust94
According to Australian LGBTIQ publication QNews, the lesbian couple were “crying with laughter” when they watched back the CCTV footage.
The video has so far received more than 800,000 likes and had almost 8,740 comments, at the time of reporting.
One person jokingly commented: “Isn’t their job to ‘save you’? They failed the ‘mission’!!”
Another said: “They couldn’t even say the whole thing, scared their [sic] gonna catch on fire.”
And a former Mormon wrote: “As a queer and trans former Mormon, this bring me such joy.”
@jamie.foust94For those of you who seen my last video. Here you go.
The Mormon religion, like many others, has a reputation for being anti-LGBTQ+.
In April, the church’s second-highest ranking leader told attendees at a biannual conference that it would not be altering its stances on same-sex marriage or gender identity.
Dallin H Oaks, according to AP, explained that the highest level of salvation “can only be attained through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman”.