Stories of faith of Christians Queer

Text by various authors, published in First Congregational Church of Camden, KM (United States), January 31, 2025. Freely translated by the volunteers of the Gionata project.

Bob Garcia: From an early age I knew I was different. Only in adolescence did the term "gay" enter my vocabulary. I was raised by a devoted Catholic mother who, while struggling to understand my sexual orientation, has always expressed me an unconditional love.

It was my mother's faith, combined with her love for me, who allowed me, much later as an adult, to reconcile my identity queer with my faith.

I see my queerness as another expression of variation in our species, in an evolutionary context. I remember the nuns who taught me that the evolution was completely consistent with God, whose grace and ability were unlimited.

The ban on the Church against being queer has very discouraged me until I found a welcoming place, where I was embraced as the son of God: other people of faith showed me how to live as a person in my tradition of faith. Once again, love has illuminated the way.

Anna Weber: When you are in fifth grade, you tend to believe in people. 10 -year -old children are, in my experience, relatively confident. They have not yet been affected by the cold lies of the world.

So, when I was in fifth grade and a boy no longer older than a year more than me he told me that I would go to hell because I liked guys and girls, I believed him. I did not understand exactly because, but I thought that what he was saying should be true.

I could not conceive because who I liked or loved would have had a negative impact on my relationship with God only because of their gender identity, but this boy had, according to my childhood standards, exposed the facts in a fairly convincing way.

That moment was the first time that I was told that God could choose who receives his "unconditional" love; The first time someone had told me that there was something intrinsically sinful in being queer. And it was the moment when I finally started to understand why the word "lesbian" was an insult in the school courtyard.

Although she was lucky to grow in a church that welcomes anyone and everyone, this did not prevent me from questioning the validity of my faith. My sexuality has brought with it the fear of no longer being a "good" Christian, that she is no longer loved by God.

But the interactions with people who believe that I have to repent have not helped my understanding of what it means to be Christian, what it means to be loved by God. It was a welcoming ecclesial community that led me to openly explore the meanings behind the scriptures, in Safety to discuss topics that, in other communities, could be completely closed.

The conversations and the study of the scriptures within my Church reveal how sexuality and my faith can coexist joyfully. I know I am loved. It is a feeling, a warmth, a strength and hope. And I really believe I never be closer to God, never more loved by God, than I am completely, with all my heart and without apologies, faithful to myself.

Rachel Geithner: I believe God is beyond the genre. We are all simply human. Our kind is deep in our souls. I was born with an anatomy that visually seems male, but my soul has always been feminine. I am a transsexual lesbian woman. But in reality, I am human.

I was raised in the church, I sang in the choir and I was active in all the youth groups. The Church saw me as a male when I knew I was female. I was baptized when I was about 11 years old. Yet, when I went out of the closet as a woman at 38, my Battista church told me that I could no longer be a member. But I knew that God loves me and that I am female.

After the gender reassignment intervention, I had a sacred experience in which I returned to my body and I was surrounded by a great sphere of calm and peaceful light. God never abandoned me. People have avoided and abandoned me.

After my speech, I was baptized as Rachel, the beloved daughter of God, to Broad Bay Kun to Waldoboro, in Maine. It was so moving: I cry again when I think about it. I felt a sense of completeness and the Holy Spirit has become alive in me.

I love who I am and I love God with all my heart and my soul. God is my strength and my light; God is my existence. I know that when I saw the light after my intervention, God was there to tell me that everything would go well. Then the light disappeared, I returned to my body and my life started. I know the true self, the self -visually and spiritually honest self.

I tried long to find a church that would accept me. It is so beautiful to be part of a church that welcomes everyone. I hope that all LGBTQIA+ people can find God's love.

Pastor Malcolm Himschoot: I came to know God as my creator, when I made the transition and made my body a house in the early 2000s.

I was a young adult tired of being alone, ready to free myself from my internalized phobia, and so I went more deeply in spirituality. I realized that we all have a part in the continuous creation that surrounds us, that the Spirit of God makes it possible.

So I recognized a very creative creator in God! There is warmth and celebration between us who has never been endangered by my being a transgender man.

In 2004, a director used my story as a religious person to convey that message to the world. The world was not ready for this, but at the time more people responded with pity and disgust, rather than with fear and politicized aggression, as today. The film was called "Call Me Malcolm" and led to a wider conversation on the relationship between faith and gender identity.

Traveling to the country to present the film in the churches, I saw how important it was for transgender and gender people does not comply know that there is a safe space in which to explore their spirituality.

Many of us have lived experiences of rejection by religious institutions, but the message of the unconditional love of God does not change.

I found in my pastoral vocation a call to serve and testify this love. For me, being a transgender man has never been in contradiction with my faith; Indeed, it allowed me to understand more deeply the mystery of creation and divine grace.

Today I continue to work for a more inclusive church, a Church that fully welcomes LGBTQ+ people as an integral part of the community of God.

We know that the scriptures have often been used to justify oppression, but I learned that the Word of God is alive and calls us to love, justice and truth. We must not allow the light human prejudice to the light of grace.

Whenever a queer person feels he can be loved by God exactly for what he is, I know that the kingdom of God becomes closer.

Original text: "Queer Faith Stories"