Well I have known i was gay since i was eleven years old, and when i was 14 years old I began to attend a new church being formed by dear family friends. We have known each other for quite some time, having attended the same church we left. I felt the need to disclose my true, open self to others. One of the people I told was my friend Stefy, who is the daughter of the pastor who ministers at the church. I told her when i was 12, and i am now 16. I am a pianist, and i played in the worship ministry at the church. One day at music practice, i was talking to a friend of a friend that i recently met, and being openly gay, she realized this without me telling her. We began to look at pictures of guys she and I thought were attractive on her cell phone, which i didn't think was a big deal at the time. Two weeks passed, and i did not receive any word of further band practice, which i thought odd. One day, I was riding my bike, and when i arrived home the pastor was at our house, and he said that his daughter, my "friend" Stefy told him that two weeks before at their house during practice, i was looking at men on a friends phone. He said that he knew I was gay, and that i could no longer play the piano on the music ministry because of my homosexuality. He said that i needed to "open my mind" to the possibility of "becoming straight" through the "power of Christ" and that i was too young to know about sexual orientation. He said the i was no longer to talk to his daughter (who also attends my school) and that if i did so then he would tell the principal of our school of my sexual orientation and that i would be expelled (it being a christian school.) he ended this by telling me that i was always "welcome at their house and church". I take this as the equivalent of inviting a guest to a dinner party and making them watch, refusing to serve them food. I take this very deeply as an affront to myself, and it is once again prime evidence of the harm that the church causes to the LGBT community, as well as spreading the false lie that "change is possible", which is now known (through the shutting down and testimonies of ex-gay ministry survivors of Exodus International and other damaging "ministries") to be false. I hope my story and many others show the truth: that "love" within the churches is not unconditional, but conditional, loving only those who fit within their "godly" view, not caring about the psychological, mental, and even physical damage they can cause to an individual.
well i hope you live in a place where you can get expelled for your sexuality.i dont know what goes on in peoples heads like that?but hope you are not at risk of any more abuse like that.
I just hope that churches realize, for their own obvious benefit, that if they are to keep their active members in changing times as these, they must reevaluate preconcieved notions and prejudices that have been handed down through centuries of witch-trial type, bigoted and avaracious traditions. ---------- Post added 11th Mar 2014 at 11:48 PM ---------- Þakka þér! Thank you! (*hug*)
I feel for your situation. As hard as it is I would leave the potentially hostile situation cause it will cause more harm to you in the long run. I know it may be impossible to change schools but if that is a huge possibility than I would look into it if you feel even being in that school is harmful to your health. What you need to know the church is not the church of God. It is the church of ministers and priests who brainwash their parishioners into believing their version of christianity. The original language of the bible never condemned homosexuality at all. The bible was not written in English originally and it has been mistranslated to fit the needs of ministers and other christians. The only thing a person needs to do to have God's love and enter the kingdom heaven is to believe in Jesus and therefore you have grace and grace is what gets you into heaven. Believing in hateful condemnation will never gain you entrance into heaven. Remember you are loved no matter what and your church is not what true christianity is. God Bless you.
Thank you so much, dano218! I understand that while my school has a good environment, my standing therein is increasingly precarious as more people are finding out about my sexuality. These rumors have not reached the ears of the principal, but should they I will undoubtedly be "asked to leave," that is, expelled. I hope this school year ends favorably, so that next year I may attend a public school And I totally agree with your facts on the Biblical translations. Some have erred far from truth.
