I never thought I'd be eating my words about how I feel about Christian homophobes. I have an extraordinarily painful past with religion,having grown up obviously gay in a fundamentalist household, and I wrote it off as not only untrue, but harmful as well long ago. Now, I am being forced to realize that not every self- professed Christian hates homosexuals, and, yes, change is possible for homophobes. My reasoning behind this change of heart, you ask? Timothy Turek, author of The Cross in the Closet, is the reason. He is an ex- homophobe who, after having a friend come out to him, decided to live life for a year as a gay man, and write a memoir detailing the experience. He is no longer a homophobe, and his formerly homophobic mother is now an advocate for LGBT rights.
It is amazing, what one pivotal moment in our lives can do, what a difference it can make. My distrust of religion and religious people is something I have struggled with continuously, but I always thought that my experiences, from conversion therapy to beatings to being nearly estranged from family and lifelong friends would mean that my feelings were justified, that the feelings of the many LGBT people like me are justified, that whatever harm comes the way of the practitioners of the religion that has hurt and continues to hurt us so much is well deserved. However, no community is monolithic, and there are Christians who change, and Christians who realize that the teachings of their churches can often be misguided. This does not, of course, make up for the many hateful practitioners of that and other religions, but it goes a long way to more understanding.
I will never be one to champion organized religion, but hopefully the Timothy Turek's of the world can help bridge the great divide between the LGBT community and the religious communities. I wrote an article on this fascinating young man. I hope you all take the time to read it.
