Being Neutral = Closing My Eyes

Your children are a  product of your beliefs.

Sometimes, when I defend the LGBT community from religious "stones" being thrown at them, I get, 'well why bother' or 'who cares' and of course, 'it's a battle you'll never win with those kind of people'. In a sense, it's kind of true. You will never win a battle or convince anyone otherwise of changing their core beliefs. But what about having our LGBT youth have someone or an organization that does say the opposite of what these ill informed religious people spew off? Whenever a celebrity like when Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty comes out with their rigid thoughts on homosexuality, I speak my mind. I will always speak my mind and retort when a misinterpreted scripture is used to literally bash gays and lesbians with feelings of guilt, condemnation, insults, demeaning terms used for young ladies, as Phil Robertson demonstrated.  Words that only tear down and destroy spirits is blamed on "religious beliefs". Maybe your religion isn't the same as someone else's. No one thinks about that though. But what about those who do love God and believe that they're a good person? Who's going to be there for them rooting them on and encouraging them to hold onto their beliefs? Who's going to cheer you on when the only people on the sidelines are those who hate you? Being neutral is a beautiful thing if you can do it, but sometimes you need a backbone and a loud(er) mouth when it comes to defending the people you love, the same sex partner you love as well as yourself. Someone has to speak up, right? You speak up for politics and give your two cents on Justin Beiber, so why wouldn't you speak up for something that's so detrimental upon our LGBT youth? I direct this to the youth due to their vulnerable state of mind and environment. Being in school and being gay or lesbian can be very challenging, especially if you're being bullied, and especially if you love God, and then someone tells you, "You're going to hell!" What now? Those are the exact ingredients for a suicidal mind. "God doesn't love me."

False.

So, I fight.

I'm fighting for you. I'm secure in my own faith in God, I'm secure in my own sexuality and my love for my wife and I'm secure in knowing that most religious beat downs are due to whatever it is the person does not like about themselves. I was asked, "But what did fighting for LGBT rights ever do for you?" It enabled me to marry my partner of 20 years. We've come a long way and we still have ways to go. I'm happy to say that I've turned people back to God or even rethink their faith because I explained all of the cherry picked, twisted scriptures from the Bible that were thrown at them. After airing my thoughts on my previous post on "Bizzle's" view on homosexuality, a young man named Drew had responded to me on Twitter.

In the past, I used to dedicate this entire blog to revealing the true meaning of what homosexuality was about in the Bible, and how the translations have changed so drastically over the centuries and even decades. It was mentally exhausting to battle with these numb-minded Christian extremists who even thought putting gays to death was a better option. Some wanted us to 'repent and give up our sin' while others would give us the 'pray your gay away' sermon. I was also told to denounce Christianity and call myself a "Pagan" if I'm going to be a lesbian. Right there is the biggest sin of all for a Christian to say that --- to turn someone away from God is the worst thing you can do! I finally decided to wean off all the negative battles with these "loving Christians" and decided to just be secure in myself and with my personal relationship with God. But, as I kept reading news articles about yet another gay and lesbian suicide, it made my blood boil thinking these bullies were probably a product of their hateful religious parents. Ok, maybe "hateful" is a strong word -- maybe "intolerant" is a better fit. Still, if you teach your kids to be intolerant to others who are different, you teach them to "hate" because kids escalate situations. 

I would like to encourage any reader who has stumbled upon this blog to please watch this video I made of my pastor who married my wife and I, and please listen to his struggles as a gay Christian and his powerful message, as well as my friends who have tackled their own crosses to bear. The video is a bit shoddy, but the message is quite clear. If you cannot view this video, please click here.  And remember, God loves YOU the way you are. 

"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." ~Jonathan Swift

For more of Deb's articles, please visit: www.debrapasquella.com or join her on Facebook and Twitter. Check out her cooking blog for some of her famous recipes!