It's entirely possible to be a member of the LGBT community and still have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am one such person and there are many more. Specifically, what is the issue, from your perspective?
Though I am not, my families back ground in religion is the Society of Friend or Quakers. There never was anyone to talk to about anything. Children were to be see and not heard. My father did break away to an extent and we went to a local bible church, every one was welcome.. Now years later I go back to the same church and there is so much hate towards us, lgbt people. One time in my life I heard a voice at about 12 years old, just as if you and I were face to face talking "you will not die" I believe after pondering on it for years that it was an angle of the Lord assuring me to not give up on life on earth preparing me for all the pain I would endure including a farm accident ...see I am an 8 finger typer...it might seem a little fubar but it did save me from ending my own life at 18 and 26 yeas of age...just now dealing with the gay thing and want a safe encourging church to attend...
In many parts of the world the Quakers (Society of Friends) stand out as one of the most liberal and progressive religious movements - theologically open and a safe, welcoming place for the LGBT community, other minority groups, women and the poor. In my own country (the UK), Quakers immediately applied for licences to marry same sex couples and I have the deepest respect and admiration for their tradition and values. There have been times when I've thought of joining the Quakers myself actually. Unsurprisingly, it's not quite the same in the United States, where Quakerism branched off in different directions. Even so, Quakers that remain allied to the Friends General Conference (FGC) share the same ideas as Quakers in most other parts of the world, so you could easily return to your families roots by joining one of their meetings. In the United States, the Episcopal Church has a good record on welcoming members of the LGBT community and you should be able to find an Episcopal congregation near to you, but if you want to look beyond one tradition you could search on this website: Find an Affirming Church - GayChurch.org It's important to understand that many Christians see love, tolerance and acceptance as fundamental to their journey with Christ. It's very sad that some don't and I know in some parts of America these people seem to be in the majority, but you can definitely find a 'home' in the churches listed in the Gay Church directory. Of greater importance though is your personal journey.
You're in Minnesota - a state where a quarter of the population are members of the ELCA. Trust me if you're looking for an accepting denomination, they'll be fine. While I no longer am religious, I did grow up as a member of the ELCA. I was very active and went to a regional ELCA youth conference. They had a workshop all about recruiting members of the LGBT community and how to show love and respect for the community. Now regarding scripture, there's a lot of misconceptions about the bible and being gay. One is talking about faithful human edits. The pastor I grew up with, always was talking about historical context, and translations. While he wasn't a lingual scholar, he talked a lot about how greek words sometimes have a direct translation, that has a different connotation to the word today. For instance, abomination is a strong word right? Well I don't remember what he said exactly, but it didn't mean anything close to what the context of that word means today. In addition to scripture you need to look at the time of the Bible. The bible also bans sex before marriage. The reason? People used to get married when they were teenagers back in the day (even younger than 13 sometimes). Having sex before marriage is their version of saying, don't have sex with children. The bible also bans eating pork, tells you to stone people who work on Sundays, tell people not to cut their hair, tell people not to get tattoos and a lot of other things that are common today. (While I am an athiest, this post wasn't mean to bash on religion, but rather if you are religious, allow you to understand historical context) Now regarding sexuality specifically, I highly encourage you to watch this video below. [YOUTUBE]udFqnsUcd0c[/YOUTUBE]
I am one of those individuals too who is a gay man that also have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I also have several churches in my neighborhood that focuses on the LGBTQ community as well which makes it much easier to have that relationship.
In addition to Patrick's comments about the Quakers (in the UK particularly), I'll second Jon's remarks about welcoming churches. I recently have become acquainted with a UCC church in my little community that is "open and affirming" and welcoming as Jon described. I dropped in there, as in this redneck community I wondered where all the gays and progressives were hanging out. Indeed, I've met a number of people that I enjoy talking with. It also was a factor that the part-time pastor spends the other half of his time working politics, and was a Sanders delegate to the national convention. Don't let the religious right and the hard-line southern churches fool you. There are alternatives that have a more scholarly approach to religion than the Thumpers.
You can be gay and still have a relationship with your god, and there's nothing wrong with that. Don't let the mean-spirited people from the religious right make you feel like shit, since I'm sure if there's a higher power--then it loves you unconditionally and wouldn't want you to change for the world.
