We believe in things unseen.

I don’t remember the first time I thought I might be gay. I don’t remember the first time I heard someone say homosexuality is a sickness and a sin. I don’t remember the first time I heard someone say transgender people are disgusting. My life–and the culture around me–was so fiercely anti-queer that it is hard to isolate individual events.

When I was in middle school and high school, gay marriage was not legal anywhere. I could hardly imagine what my life would look like. I was not sure I would ever tell a soul.

Many of my friends attended the same evangelical Presbyterian church as me. Whenever homosexuality came up in current events, my parents always affirmed the status quo: it was wrong, it was dangerous, it was weird. My youth pastor told us we didnt even need to discuss the issue because it was so clearly sinful. When I eventually could stand secrecy no longer and came out, a good friend sent me 26 Bible verses to read and consider. My parents asked that I see a counselor, he in turn asked if I would consider reparative therapy (I said absolutely not).

There was nothing around me I could look to and say “This is how I might do life.” I had never heard a pastor say it is ok to be gay.

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Update: The following post was issued as breaking news on our blog. We invite you to read Soulforce’s full response to the passing of Bishop Paul Egertson here.

From Lutherans Concerned North America:

[Former Soulforce board member] Paul Egertson died suddenly yesterday afternoon, January 5, 2011, in his home in Thousand Oaks, California. Egertson, staunch ally and advocate for full inclusion of LGBT people in the life of the church, had championed the ordination of LGBT candidates for ministry and an end to the policies and practices of the church that relegated LGBT people to a second-class.

While bishop of the ELCA Southwest California Synod, he participated in the 2001 ordination of Pastor Anita C. Hill of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota. For this act, he subsequently resigned his position as bishop, and tirelessly advocated for the policy change that finally occurred as a result of the decisions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly.

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MSNBC produced some wonderful, insightful, education videos. Watch these two below.

When bullying becomes a crime

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

My son likes to wear a dress. Big deal!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We recently an email from a person who has been considering the ways in which their faith interacts with questions around sexual orientation. This person shares how our booklet What the Bible Says–and Doesn’t Say–About Homosexuality was an instrumental tool in the discernment process. Read for yourself!

Just read What the Bible Says — and Doesn’t Say — about Homosexuality. I am persuaded that the Bible is inconclusive about sexual orientation, and your interpretation is certainly corroborated in another text I have read. I am a straight born-again Christian, and I’ve got to admit–perhaps obviously–that I at first assumed homosexuality was a sin simply because it is a common assumption taught in churches. However, it was others sympathetic to the civil rights of homosexuals that challenged my view and the authenticity of my entire faith based on my assumption.

I had concluded on my own that obviously homosexual marriage is constitutional and that Christians were literally killing the faith as a whole, often by hating and almost always by not at least standing up against the oppression of homosexuals, simply because they were oppressed and just as Jesus would have done. But now I am beginning to see that there is even more to all this than I suspected.

Take heart that your message does resonate, even in unconventional ways!

Another person in Christ.

What the Bible Says–and Doesn’t Say–About Homosexuality is available on our website, as a free PDF download, and for purchase as a paperback booklet. You can help us continue to produce life-changing (and life-saving!) materials by donating today.

One of the great strengths of Soulforce is our grassroots history. Participants come together for collaborative actions and then return to where we came from; sometimes to the same place, but never unchanged. As a participant in the 2007 Equality Ride, I have the pleasure of counting 50 amazing young activists as my close friends and collaborators. Wick Thomas is one such fierce activist and Wick, along with 2010 Equality Ride Kimmy Devries and Q Camper & board member Yantézia Patrick, are among the organizers and participants in amazing action happening in Kansas City to stand up against the harmful words and actions of Lou Engle and TheCall. I’m excited to pass along news of their upcoming actions:

Kansas City Evangelical Preaches Toward Gay Genocide
EQUAL Stands Up Against Hometown Hatred

Kansas City, Mo. (December 17, 2010) EQUAL will be hosting a direct action to raise awareness of Lou Engle and The Call’s hateful ministry toward gay people in Uganda during his speaking engagement at the IHOP OneThing Conference at 6:00 p.m. on December 30th at the Downtown Convention Center.

Kansas City based preacher Lou Engle has moved his ministry, The Call, into Uganda influencing and promoting the current Anti-Homosexual legislation, which calls for life imprisonment or the death penalty for gay and lesbian Ugandan citizens. This bill has been strongly linked with the preaching of American evangelicals such as Lou Engle. In May 2010 Engle traveled to Kampala (the capital of Uganda) to preach about “homosexuality, witchcraft, and corruption.”

During the conference, Lou Engle addressed youth in the crowd and told them that when America allowed homosexuals freedom, it was the end of the nation. He called upon the Ugandan government to be firm and hold on to its righteous stand against “evil.” Engle’s involvement in Uganda comes with his long history of violent anti-gay and anti-abortion preaching. At past TheCall rallies, like the one in support of Proposition 8 in California, Engle called for “martyrs” to stop the “homosexual agenda” at all costs.

EQUAL will be answering the call for help put out by Ugandan gay rights activists-
“Gay people are already fleeing their homes and have to move from house to house because of threats to their lives. Americans need to stop Lou Engle from coming to Uganda.” –President of Sexual Minorities Uganda, Frank Mugisha

EQUAL will be holding this demonstration to ask the young IHOP conference attendants to help us put a stop to this pending genocide and to raise awareness of this Kansas City based preacher whose influence means the death sentence for many gay Ugandan citizens.

To see more about the event please visit http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124849544243942

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Founded in 2007 as a grassroots organization for youth and run by youth, EQUAL (Empowering Queer Activists and Leaders) supports Kansas City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth so that they may develop into socially conscious leaders and healthy, empowered people. EQUAL mentors youth to organize social justice leadership development trainings and conferences, organizes a network of area gay-straight alliances and recognizes and nurtures the skills and talents of the youth with whom we work. We are currently planning to open a safe and welcoming drop-in youth center that will provide a variety of social and health services to Kansas City’s youth. For more information, please go to www.equalcenter.org.