Tyler B.

My entire life I have found myself in the middle, stuck between two conflicting elements. However, those same elements are also the two most important and enjoyable characteristics about myself. I grew up being taught one thing but always felt the opposite. This has been and still is my toughest obstacle to overcome. I am gay but am also very strong in my religion and relationship with the Lord, and I could not be prouder of that.

My faith in Jesus Christ is tremendous and because of my beliefs I work to include Him in everything I do. The difficult part to this is that being gay is deemed wrong by the majority of those who also feel strong in their religious views. I have come across a multitude of people who are passionate in reference to religion, and very few have been accepting of my sexuality. To all of those people, I am acting in sin and letting the devil tempt me. To those people I am not gay, but simply confused or lost. To those people being gay is not okay because it is not what God intended. However, I take the opposite view and focus on the other lessons I have learned through my religious beliefs.

I am gay. It is just who I am and who I have always been. Along with that, I firmly believe that God created all of us and that God does not make mistakes. Because of that, I can confidently say that everything that makes me myself is the exact way that God intended it. I am the son of a glorious and wonderful God and I know in my heart that He loves me. Being gay is not something that has taken me from the Lord, but an element of my life that has drawn me closer to Him. This is what is hard for many people to comprehend.

I have struggled to find people who share in my devotion to Jesus and who have an open-mind and accepting attitude towards homosexuality. It is not a commonality that people possess both of those traits and because of that, I have always felt stuck in the middle of the debate. I have constantly been pulled to one side or the other. I have always been told I can be strong in my faith or I can be gay, but that there was no way that the two could equally coincide. However, I know it to be possible. It is true that I have a long way to go on my faith journey, but there is one thing I know for certain. The Lord truly loves me because he sees my true colors.