David Baker, my new hero

I met this man at a MoHo (Mormon Homosexual) party that I went to back in May when I was visiting Utah. He's a few years younger than I am, but much wiser and mature than I in many ways. I was just watching some of his YouTube videos and this one really touched me. The part that really stuck out to me was near the end when he says that if we are ever to overcome the barrier between homosexuality and spirituality there needs to be a lot less hate from the gay community toward religion.

I have associated with so many homosexual people during the last year or so, through the process of finally fully accepting my own sexuality and coming to terms with it, as well as coming out and then becoming engaged. So many of these people I have chatted with have had quite hurtful things to say about religion, particularly the Mormon church. I do not wish to marginalize the pain caused by the Church or by any other organization or misconception that is being taught/spread. Certainly, there has been much damage done to homosexual people by those who do not understand us. I was just watching the second X-Men movie, X-2, and at the end Professor X goes to visit the President of the US and tells him yes, there have been casualties on both sides (human and mutant), but let us put that behind us and avoid impending war--let us turn to peace instead. I suppose I feel the same way about this matter. Yes, there has been much damage done, and I certainly don't mean to imply otherwise, but let us forgive and overcome past differences. Let us look forward to a brighter future.

Like Mystique says in the new movie (X-Men First Class) "Mutant and proud." I am "gay and proud". Never again will I hide who I am, and I don't think that anyone else should ever feel that way either. But, being gay is not all that I am. I am also spiritual. I enjoy all the teachings that Jesus taught us in the Bible. I want to do what He has asked us to do. One thing He asked of us is to turn the other cheek. If we wish to be loved--truly loved and not just tolerated--by our Christian friends, let us first love them. Sure, we can be hurt by our families and friends when they do not react the way that we hope they would to the news that we are gay, but let us remember that they have lots of difficult feelings that they need to work through when they hear the news. Perhaps some of the things they say and do are just expressions of the feelings they have and they don't know any better way to express them. Let us love them, interpret their expressions of emotion accurately, and compassionately help them work through all those hard feelings. Let us show to the world that we do care, that we can be spiritual too.

Whether or not you wish to affiliate with any specific religious group, you may feel a profound desire to be spiritual. Don't let some hard feelings extinguish that desire. Even if you have no desire to be spiritual, let us seek to build bridges with the religious community rather than burn them. Let us eradicate this false dichotomy of "gay vs spiritual". Let us demonstrate that we can live together with religion in peace and mutual understanding. Again, I echo David Baker's plea--if we wish to have love from our religious friends, let us first love them.