CNN reports:

Greg Jr. says he didn’t tell his parents about his sexuality earlier because he’d heard stories of evangelical parents who refused to pay for their gay kid’s college or kicked them out of the house. Once on the streets, these forsaken youths are more likely to experience sexual assault, HIV infection, hate crimes, depression and suicide, according to True Colors United, a nonprofit group formed to address youth homelessness in the US.

The current share of homeless youth who are LGBTQ+ is likely larger than the 40% estimate because many of them end up surfing on the couches of friends or avoiding places where homeless adults gather because they’re afraid of being harmed, says Kahlib Barton, chief program officer with True Colors United.

Many LGBTQ+ youth tend to travel together, living in abandoned buildings and under freeway overpasses and often engaging in sex work for survival, Barton says. Virtually none of them go to the church for help.

“Most youth don’t feel comfortable going to a church because they’re either forced to engage in religious practices they don’t agree with or their sexual identity is not appropriately respected,” Barton says.

Greg Sr. didn’t know any of those stories when he told his son that he had to be “fixed.” He made that declaration 23 years ago, but he still winces at the memory.

“Boy, how I wish I could reel those words back,” he says. “And I can’t. We literally chased Greg Jr. away. Once those words leave your lips, it’s like eating shoe leather. It’s hard to recover from that.”

Their son, though, knew what awaited his parents before they did. When they enlisted the church to “fix” him, he would say something to them that would prove prophetic:

“There is no hate like Christian love.” [Continue reading…]