Growing up I knew love. I saw it in my parents, in my siblings, in my friends. I felt it in my church and knew I had Parents and a Savior to love and be loved.
I was taught that love is the most powerful force in the world. There is nothing stronger than love.
Then I realized I was gay. Love, as I knew it, became my enemy. Now I was being taught my love was a perversion, something evil and distorted.
For years I believed this lie. My life lost meaning and purpose and joy because if love was now my enemy, I was destined to fail. Nothing is stronger than love.
Nothing IS stronger than love. There is nothing stronger than my love.
I grew up in a black and white world. It was dull & muted but it was comfortable & easy on the eyes. It was my reality and I didn't know any different.
When I realized I was gay I was told I had to make a choice. I could either honor my sexuality or cling to my spirituality.
But it's not black and white. It's Rainbow. I didn't want to choose one or the other. So I chose both.
Being a part of the LGBTQ+ community is isolating. Even more so in a religious environment, where the common consensus is that LGBTQ+ and faith cannot coexist.
4 years ago (to the semester) I took Eternal Families. While discussing LGBTQ+ topics a student in my class said, "I don't have a problem with gay people. I just don't understand why I have to be their friend."
This was devastating. This student didn't even know me, yet because I was gay had just admitted to the entire class that he would never want to be my friend.