Walking in another's shoes

Timothy Kurek grew up in Nashville believing that homosexuality is as sin and gay people should be converted. Then a dear friend sought comfort from him because she's lesbian and her parents threw her out of the house. As she cried on his shoulder he realized he didn't want to comfort her, he wanted to convert her.

Soon after that he embarked on challenging year-long adventure. He pretended to be gay. That included "coming out" to his parents (who thought cancer would be easier to face), his friends (95% of them dumped him), and going to gay bars. He told the truth to only three people -- his closest friend, a "more liberal" aunt who could listen in to what the family was saying, and a gay friend who posed as his boyfriend when visiting bars.

Result: Kurek's personal homophobia is gone and his mother is an ally. And he wrote a book about that year, The Cross in the Closet. It was released yesterday on National Coming Out Day.

This link is to an article on ABCNews. At the top of the article is an image. If you don't immediately click on "Autostart Off" the image will turn into a video and that will start with a commercial you can't turn off. You've been warned. The video itself is of Kurek telling how he came to write the book and is rather nice. It's 4 minutes.



Also as a part of National Coming Out Day 26 members of the US House added their portraits to the NoH8 campaign. That's in addition to the 11 members who lent their support earlier in the year. They're not just from Calif. and states with gay marriage. Alas, none from Michigan. And none from the GOP.



A Cub Scout pack in Beverly, Mass. has declared they will welcome any boy or adult regardless of sexual orientation. The pack's committee unanimously rejected the national Boy Scouts of America policy that excludes gay leaders.



The ILGA, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association has put out a map of the state of gay rights around the world. The colors range from death penalty to marriage recognition.