Struggling to keep out the condemnation

On Sunday morning I listened to an NPR interview of Rev. Allen Edwards. He talked about how he is attracted to men, feels that doesn't define him, and has married a woman. They are expecting their first child. He says his wife knew about his attractions before the marriage. Along the way – struggling mightily to keep out the condemnation – he says Christian churches who approve of same-sex relationships are "in error."

The NPR host did not offer the microphone to anyone else for a rebuttal. [Grrr!]

This little interview hit almost all of the Fundie positions on gay people. The only one they missed is the one about being able to change your orientation. He's still gay (or maybe bisexual). But to please God he chose one of two options: marry a woman or stay celibate. By implication (because it is God he's talking about) so must we. So a black mark on NPR for promoting the anti-gay agenda.

I didn't leave a comment. By the time I looked at the story's page there were already more than 1400 comments. Much of them seemed to be arguments with other commenters. I was pleased to see a rebuttal posted on Huffington Post by Peterson Toscano. He's been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it. He has also heard versions of Edwards' story many times and is bored by it. Toscano did the reparative therapy and married a woman. It didn't last and was quite damaging. He is much happier married to a man. As part of his reply Toscano properly calls that celibacy thing "oppression."

I've met Toscano and saw him perform some of his stories at the Reconciling Ministries Convo a year ago. Toscano has researched the Bible for sexual minorities to show we are included and always have been.