My first pastorsl visit and funeral occured in West Texas where women are feminine, men are men and tough as hell. In 1980, it was not a good thing to be gay in West Texas. You better be really good with your fists or a gun cause your life is goong to be hell. My first visit was to a young man in his 20s (my same age at the time) in the hospital ER. He had swallowed a whole box of rat poison. He was gay and had recently come out to his family. He had long hair and a beard. He was healthy and had a job. He didnt have parents or siblings that could accept him the way he was. I dont know all that happened to this boy, but the rejection and denial with which he was treated by his family was too much to take. He took the rat poison. At the funeral, when I saw his body in the casket, his hair had been cut and his beard shaved. They made him to appear the way they wanted him to be instead of homoring him as he was. As his friends came forward to view his body, I saw many lift their hands in shock to their faces. Some burst into tears. He no longer looked like the friend they knew and loved. It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen. A family in denial. A son not loved by his family for who he was. A gay community grieved at all that had happened to him...seeing before their eyes contempt for all gay people. I just prayed that the church didnt add to the already horrible suffering. The Church rejecting the gay community just adds more suffering and pain to the lives of people desperately in need of a word of grace. I do not want to be guilty of the same.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 19:14:14 +0000
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