When a Homophobic Ex-Jehovah's Wns Fell for a Gay Cowboy | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• BEG A GAY JEHOVAH'S WNS MA DANIEL FEEL LIKE HE 'DIDN'T BELONG ANYWHERE'
• WHEN A HOMOPHOBIC EX-JEHOVAH'S WNS FELL FOR A GAY COWBOY
• EX-JEHOVAH’S WNS TO GAY COMMUNY: “EVERYTHG I LEARNED…IS A BIG PILE OF SH*T”
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• EX JW SHUNNED FOR BEG GAY- EX JEHOVAHS WNS ESSENTIAL T-SHIRT

BEG A GAY JEHOVAH'S WNS MA DANIEL FEEL LIKE HE 'DIDN'T BELONG ANYWHERE'

Growg up gay and wh the Jehovah's Wns muny, Daniel Tnton says his life has been filled wh isolatn, sadns and trma.

"He says members of the ngregatn would refer to homosexuals as "the vil" or "mons". "That was how homosexuals were always portrayed at the meetgs and bible discsns, so beg aware that you were gay, you really were odd. GROWING UP GAY.

Sce homosexuals ually e to that regnn as young teenagers, their youthfulns mak them pecially sensive to beg scribed by the Watchtower as disgtg perverts that need to ntrol their Satanic urg. M0nk3y Growg up as a Gay Jehovah's Wns Atralia. The Hardship of beg a Gay Jehovah's Wns.

WHEN A HOMOPHOBIC EX-JEHOVAH'S WNS FELL FOR A GAY COWBOY

I halfway expected them to say that they didn't approve of “homosexualy” and that they found disgtg, but what I didn't expect them to say was for them to tell me that “Gay do not exist. There is no such thg as homosexualy.

Is a lk to a webse ntag a mmerisg story of a gay Jehovah's Wns that went to Bethel, wh tragic nsequenc.

EX-JEHOVAH’S WNS TO GAY COMMUNY: “EVERYTHG I LEARNED…IS A BIG PILE OF SH*T”

He provis special sight to the ner workgs of the Organizatn, the stggle Jehovah's Wns go through wh never feelg good enough, and his journey as a gay Jehovah's Wns.

paper Insi and Outst: Multifaceted Stigma and Remptn the Liv of Gay and Lbian Jehovah's Wns. for a tailed look at growg up as a gay Jehovah's Wns. A few weeks later, our ngregatn’s pridg elr lled me on the phone and asked if I was “a homosexual” and planng to live as one, as if the two n be separated.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

I was as homophobic as they e. Not only was I verbally homophobic, but my life was still absorbed by relig doctratn and guilt.

In the privacy of my unspoken md, I characterized my secret homosexual sir as "gay, " a much gentler term for the sir that I didn't want, and a stark ntrast to the ephets I ed public discsns of other homosexuals. Everythg I believed about homosexualy had been learned om my father and my relig upbrgg wh the Jehovah's Wns, and none of was years prr to meetg Buck, I had n away om home and untentnally abandoned the Wns relign the procs.

At that time, I was nvced that all gay men, except for me, wore drag. Gay men often sported earrgs their left ears, I had been told. I knew I was a homosexual, but there was no chance I would ever act on those sir, even when nonted by another wboy named Buck who wanted to wrtle naked.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Buck uldn't possibly be gay, I thought. My relign had assured me that God hated homosexuals.

They know nothg about my years of prayer, when I believed that God would cure me if only I prayed a ltle harr, and they have nvced themselv that my homosexualy is an activy, not an inty. Homosexualy is simply a choice, they thk, kd of like wakg up the morng and choosg between rn flak or Lucky Charms.

EX JW SHUNNED FOR BEG GAY- EX JEHOVAHS WNS ESSENTIAL T-SHIRT

I did not choose to be gay. Heck, there are even social gathergs for ex-ex-gay Christians -- people who once claimed to have been cured of their sexualy by prayer, and then me to realize that nference two years ago, I asked a qutn durg a workshop: How many people had moved on to another relign after leavg the Jehovah's Wns?