I grew up Roman Catholic. It never felt like a big deal. Every Sunday my parents would force my brother and me to get up and go to church. We’d stand, kneel, stand, sit, kneel, and at the end we’d buy coffee and doughnuts for 50 cents each. Pretty boring. Pretty standard.

What I didn’t realize was that I was being brainwashed about sex.

I grew up in a liberal household, but that didn’t stop the subconscious warnings of the Catholic church from snaking inside my head and making me feel strange about sexuality. I could never place it when I was young, but there was always something. Something in the back of my mind that told me being sexual—with myself or others—wasn’t a good thing.

Maybe it was the idea that God was always watching. The priest would continuously tell us that He saw everything, leaning on the everything and seemingly staring straight at me. Week after week I would hear about being pure, being good, and what the consequences would be if I wasn’t. God wouldn’t kick me out, He’d just be very, very disappointed. Read More »

When someone tells me they’re gay, I don’t doubt it’s something they’ve always been. Knowing enough people who tell their coming-out stories with pain in their eyes, or recall their childhood with a mixture of sadness and confusion, I am convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that homosexuality is not a choice. It’s something you’re born into. Something you are.

Alan Chambers doesn’t agree with me.

Chambers is the president of Exodus International, “an umbrella organization that oversees hundreds of conservative Christian-based ministries all over world” which support the ex-gay movement. You heard right. Rehabilitation centers and programs are popping up all over the globe to help men and women become “un-gay”. Read More »