Ark Encounter thrills gay nation with rainbow light display; Twitter explodes

Ken Ham, the man behind Grant County, Kentucky's fundamentalist Christian theme park, Ark Encounter, made a lot of gay people happy this week when he debuted a new nighttime lighting scheme. 

The totally accurate replica of Noah's Ark is now permanently lit up like a rainbow after dark because, as Ham tweeted, "Christians need to take back the rainbow" because "God owns it."  The lighting was first used during the 2016 Christmas season.

The rainbow, long considered a symbol of hope, was adopted by the homosexual community in 1978 when artist and drag queen Gilbert Baker created the Rainbow Flag for use in a San Francisco parade. 

Ham isn't cool with this and seems to be representing God on a copyright beef. He announced the Ark's new look with a series of four tweets that were greeted with much enthusiasm by both Ham's fans and the gay community.

John Gidding, best known as host of HGTV's "Curb Appeal," responded with a flurry of tweets.

As did a whole lot of others.

Rainbows, one of God's many inventions that are still patent pending, are said to have not existed until the sun came out following the 40-day flood that destroyed all life on Earth in an extraordinary act of mass murder.

Everyone having fun at the expense of Ham will, of course, not be murdered in a flood. They'll be murdered in a global fire.     

@ExMissionary, who explained in other tweets that they are an actual former missionary who abandoned the church, was blocked by Ham after this:

Ham recently sold Ark Encounter LLC for $10 to Crosswater Canyon, a non-profit ministry owned by AiG the parent company of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter.

Authorities are worried that the sale is designed to allow Ham to skip out on paying a safety tax owed to nearby Williamstown, according to a story in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Kim Crupper, a member of Williamstown's city council, said that the move appears to be the first step in a power move that could make Ark Encounter exempt from paying all taxes due to it being a religious organization.

The loss of property taxes would cripple the city's school system, Crupper said.

More:Bill Nye visits Ark Encounter

More:What to know if you're visiting Ark Encounter

More:Creationists, protesters debate at Ark Park

Reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett can be reached at 502-582-4160 and jpuckett@courier-journal.com.