Who are we lesbian and gay Christians?

Text taken from XL of La Repubblica of 6 June 2011

June 11th is the culmination of Roma EuroPride 2011 and the event will conclude with a concert by Lady Gaga.
In recent days many diversities have coexisted in the Pride Park in Piazza Vittorio in Rome. And among them the gay Christians of New Proposal. The association has existed for twenty years but only in 2011 were its initiatives included in the official Pride programme.

Their very existence has provoked some annoyed comments on our Facebook. Perhaps for this very reason it is good to know them better. We gave them the opportunity to talk about themselves, as they deemed most useful.

Reflections by Andrea Rubera of Nuova Proposta Roma

Today, June 6th, we are on the sixth day of Euro Pride and it is a very important moment for us Christian homosexuals. John McNeill, ex-Jesuit, theologian for the liberation of homosexual people, arrived in Rome yesterday. John is a fundamental person, I believe, for every Christian homosexual...

His books, including Betting on God or The Church and homosexuals, now unfortunately out of print, were among the milestones in the path of self-acceptance of all of us, a path that led us to reclaim an image of God as a Merciful Father and to be able to think of having the right to a full life plan, like every other person.

We invited John because the world premiere of the film Taking a Chance on God will take place tonight at Pride Park, which traces his life from the beginning to his support for the liberation movement of GLBT people, from the condemnation of the Catholic Hierarchy to his removal from the priesthood .

Now John is 85 years old and in a wheelchair but despite this he will be here in Rome, to once again testify to his closeness to all of us and to renew his invitation to "Bet on God", despite everything, despite everyone.

In these days we plan to also tell ourselves through testimonies: those we did in Piazza Navona, outdoors, for the prayer vigil in memory of the victims of homophobia.

A particular Our Father, in which every verse opens the key to the autobiographical story, the intimate narration, the revealed heart.

“Our Father…”. The words by Natasha of New Proposal

“Lord, I am here with my homosexual brothers and sisters this evening under the sky of Rome. I know that you are the Father of all, and that you love everyone as if they were your only and favorite child.

We homosexuals often consider ourselves second-class children, we don't feel worthy of being called your children... Why? Maybe because we have been told since we were little that being homosexual is wrong, that it is not normal, that it must and can be healed. We hear that perhaps it is just a moment, perhaps it is better to talk about it with a psychologist...

This provokes in us the idea of ​​having to free ourselves from this diversity, of having to be different from what comes naturally to us from an early age.

It happens then that in the period of adolescence, when for the first time we feel affections, attractions towards people of the same sex, a lump of fear forms in us, of estrangement towards ourselves, sometimes even of true hatred towards ourselves, because we feel born wrong, dirty, perverted.

We think it's right to hide who we really are from everyone, that it's better not to say, not to expose ourselves, to dissemble, to lie, to pretend nothing happened, hoping one day to wake up heterosexual and having only believed in a bad nightmare.

It so happens that we keep this part of us inside, like a cursed secret, and we fear it, we consider it an enemy, because it prevents us from being like others, it prevents us from feeling normal...

This hatred is called internalized homophobia and is the sedimentation of the many derisive words and discriminatory gestures that we have heard uttered in the various areas of our lives, in the family, on television, at school, at the oratory...

So, Father, how can we, your children, feel too? How can we consider ourselves worthy of your Love if we hear ourselves told that the strength of love we have inside is DISORDERED, is AGAINST NATURE, is MORALLY UNACCEPTABLE and can never turn into a true and strong love, but only inevitably remain a psychological pathology resulting from of emotional immaturity?

Some of us can't cope and succumb to all of this: suicides, mental illnesses, reparative therapies that delude ourselves throughout our lives into being able to change our orientation and only cause more and worse damage.

We live in fear of being recognized, of being discovered, we live living a double or triple life... Dear Father, give me and give us the strength not to believe all these lies, even if they are often uttered by those who hold important and crucial roles in our lives: parents, family members, politicians, priests, catechists, colleagues...

Dear Father, let Your voices win above all these, the only one that has always assured us that we are truly equal, that we are loved by You in an explicit and strong way.
That you don't just love us as people, but you created us as we are: You created us homosexuals.

Make us understand that not only are we worthy of living our orientation in the light of day, but that we are also capable of a project of fruitful love for ourselves and for those who live next to us... Make us feel deeply that our love is not bad …

Father, allow us to hear your voice full of passion for us, the voice of a Father who assures us that we too are part of your plan of love and that we are fully your children... yes, brothers, we REALLY are!».