Nothing Wrong With US

I read this article today and was reminded of something Jonah said in reaction to an active LDS woman's assertion that Josh Weed is a "blessing and an example to all the Mormons who are gay and lost."  (I told you Jonah is obsessed with Josh Weed.)

Jonah told her  (and again, I'm paraphrasing some of this), "Well, I just want to say that as a gay Christian man, I don't feel like I am lost.  Josh states that he is gay, so why don't you consider him lost?  I guess it's because he made the choice to marry a woman. We all have our own journeys in life and believe it or not, God made us out of the same perfect mold that you came from. I don't see myself or any of my gay brothers and sister as the broken clay molds that God put aside to fix later. I feel that our Heavenly Father made no mistakes.   I am made whole because I am assured by God's word that I was created in his image just as you are . The only challenge we really face in life is not our homosexual orientation, but it is this idea that we as gay people have something wrong with us that we need to fix or overcome.

"Yes it's true we all have trials and tribulations in our lives, but being gay should not be looked at as one.

"If you think that this is a moral choice or just a choice all together let's go back and read what Josh Weed has said in his blog: 

"'I want to make it very clear that while I have found a path that brings me profound joy and that is the right path for me, I don’t endorse this as the only path for somebody who is gay and religious. I will never, ever judge somebody else’s path as being “incorrect” and I know many people who have chosen different paths than myself. '

"My partner and I are just as special as Josh and Lolly.  We dated each other for a few years and after that we were engaged on my birthday in Cedar City, Utah.  The whole time during our courtship we remained virgins.  Yes, virgins - as in never having sex of any kind until after our commitment ceremony in 2008.

"Can you believe it?  Both my partner and I had never had sex with a man or women before then.  That same year my partner was excommunicated by The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints.

"Today I am proud to say that he is still attending church and knows that it is possible for us have a happy Christian home just like Josh and his family.  We both look forward to our eternal life together someday.

"It's true we are also a rare kind, but I am here to tell you that there is really nothing here to fix except for the idea that we as gay people can't have the same eternal home or connection to God as the rest of my brothers and sisters.

"So pray for us like any other person out there. Let your prayers not be to fix us, but that God guide us all to a better understanding, that we are all created equal and that one day we all may have the same right's across the board."

You tell her, Jonah.

There's such a consistent attitude that there is something wrong with being gay.  Just recently there was a big hoopla in the Davis County school system about a library book called In Our Mother's House being sent to the restricted section because some mother was offended because the book's subject matter dealt with a lesbian couple and their child.  Never mind that the book was put in the library precisely because the school has a student whose parents are a same-sex couple, and the library wanted to foster an attitude of inclusiveness that would concentrate on all families in the district and not some.  Never mind that the mother could have used the book as a teaching moment for her kid to say, "Well, some families are different than ours" instead of making a stink about it, which only serves to to instill in the child a feeling that there is something wrong with same-sex couples.  The child who checked out the book probably wasn't bothered by the family in the story until Mom made her feel like there was something wrong.

Or there's the story of Mia Love, who's running for congress here in Utah, who declined to participate in an interview with QSalt Lake (Utah's gay newspaper) not because she dislikes gay people but because she was worried about how her opponent might make it look like she associated with gay people, which might not appeal to her constituents.  Never mind that her opponent, Jim Matheson, spoke to QSalt Lake himself.

I just get so tired of this attitude that gay people individuals and couples are broken or wicked or evil or second-class or are taboo or unworthy or "struggling" or "enduring a trial" or not whole.  I assure you, we're fine just the way we are, and many of us are quite happy (and those that aren't are often that way because their religions and families make them feel that way - i.e. it's not the condition of being gay that is the problem, but how people are made to feel about it by their religions, families, friends, societies, and cultures.

Get over it, people!  This rolling stone can't be stopped, and when it finally gets to the bottom of the hill, you're going to feel ashamed that you were on the wrong side of history.