Judgement Day and Those Who Died Gay

I've tried. I really have. I've tried to accept your perverted lifestyle, I've tried to tolerate your immoral ways. I've tried and tried to overlook the sinful choices you have made. But, God forgive me, I cannot do it anymore.

Anti-gay bigots*, I'd like to introduce you to a few people. Meet Jamey. Meet Jamie. Meet Steven and Eric James and Phillip and Jacob. Actually, I'll save you some time. You can only meet one of them, as the rest are dead. Only one survived his suicide attempt. The rest of these kids, all of them under 19, took their own lives because of the treatment they received over their sexual orientation. All of these kids were bullied, belittled, beaten, shunned, even raped, because they were not heterosexual. All of these kids were made to feel so worthless that they could not face another day on this earth.

Now, I know what you're going to say. "If they had just turned to God, he would have healed them", "if they had faith in Jesus, they could have resisted their sin". Bullshit. These suicides were not their fault. They were not the fault of sin. They were not the fault of homosexuality. They were the fault of self-righteous bigots telling them they were perverted, worthless, sinful people who should pray to be forgiven for how they were born. They were the fault of being made to believe they could never find love, never find acceptance, never be "normal". They were the fault of being told who they loved made them lesser, perverted, disgusting second class citizens. They were the fault of horrendous, violent, hateful attacks on young, beautiful children. They were the fault of pure, unadulterated hatred. 

Where did that hatred come from, though? There was once a man -- a very wise, some would even say divine, man -- who had a lot to say about hatred. He defended prostitutes, he fed the hungry. He asked us not to judge others. He asked us to be nice. He asked us to please, just love one another. He told us that how we treat the vulnerable was a reflection of our own character. Surely, this can't be the man who taught you to hate? But that's what many of you claim. It is your reverence to Jesus, this man of love, compassion and tolerance, that has made you feel justified in your hatred. Worse yet, you don't even recognize it as hatred. You see it as righteousness. You see it as moral. You see it as your Christian duty. 

Maybe you're right. Maybe homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender transition is a sin. Maybe God hopes we will change into heterosexuals, or refrain from love altogether. Maybe we will have to answer for our "sins" one day. I doubt it, but maybe it's true. Does that justify your behavior? Does that give you the right to bully, belittle and beat children until they kill themselves in despair? Does it give you the right to judge? Does it give you the right to tell others how perverse, disgusting and horrible they are? Does it give you the right to tell them they must pray to be forgiven for loving someone? Does it give you the right to fight for laws that will deny them equal rights? Does it give you the right to protest their very existence?

I've been asked many, many times if I am prepared to face judgement for my sins. Yes. Yes, I am. I don't really believe I will have to, but if I am wrong and that day comes, I am ready. The question is, are you? Are you prepared to look your savior in the face and defend your bigotry? Are you ready to answer for casting stones, for judging, for bullying, beating and hating your fellow people? Are you ready to tell Jesus what you did "for the least of these"? Are you prepared to explain your righteous and moral behavior to those beautiful, unique, loving kids that killed themselves to get away from you? 

Well? Are you?

*Before the hate mail begins rolling in, let me make something clear. I chose my words very carefully. This is not an attack on Christians in general. I know many loving, kind, compassionate Christians who have never, and would never, treat LGBTs this way. This is not an attack on those people. This is an attack on those who protest, who scorn, who condemn and belittle. This is an attack of fundamentalist hatred.