An Open Letter to Pro-LGBTQ+ Advocates
Dear Pro-LGBTQ+ Community,
Believe me, I understand that the topics of homosexuality, transgenderism, and the like are very sensitive, and very personal. I know that full well.
I wanted to write this letter because I know there's some bad blood between "religious people," in my case practicing Catholic people, and those who support the LGBTQ+ Community.
Please understand that this letter isn't a jab at you. This isn't me taking shots at any of you. This is an invitation to one and to all of you. An invitation into a dialogue, a civil conversation, and a place where we can open ourselves up to each other without fighting.
I'd like to introduce myself to you, if you would allow me to.
Can I be open with you?
Now, I have absolutely no desire to sit here and spit Catholic Church doctrine out at you. I'm not about to quote the Bible, or the Catechism, prominent Church figures or anything like that, because I don't even want to guess at how many people have already done that to you.
And please, don't think that I'm just some Catholic that has never dealt with this, and for that reason has little to no room to speak on the topic to you.
I come to you today, because in a way, I am one of you.
I've known that the way I felt about some girls was not average since I was around 12 or 13-years-old. It was scary to me, as I know the realization might've been for a lot of you.
Now, at the age of 20, I've experienced a lot, with much more to come I'm sure.
I've experienced a lot of pain and grief because of my Same-Sex Attractions, and I'm many of you have too.
I know how intense it can be. I know the overwhelming sense of longing; longing to be known, longing to be loved, to be accepted, to be cared for---truly, I do.
I've experienced that pain, that loneliness, that agony.
I know it like an old and very familiar friend.
People will often get confused when I tell them that I'm a practicing Catholic that struggles with SSA. They wonder why I stayed, why I would love a God who apparently says that I can't love who I so deeply desire to.
Like I said, I'm not hear to throw Church teaching at you. You've heard all that before.
But I don't think you've heard about me.
I'm not a Church teaching. I'm not a fact, or a statistic. I'm a human being, with authentic human experiences. Yes, I stayed a Catholic, and I will die a Catholic.
It took me a long while, and a lot of heartache, but I found everything that I was looking for here.
Not every person who has Same-Sex Attractions hates the Catholic Church. I surely don't, and I would love the chance to express myself to you.
I've known sorrow, yes, but I've also known joy. I've walked through the storm, and I've also basked in the light. I practice the Catholic faith, I am attracted to, but do not act on my attractions towards the same sex, and I am a very joyful person.
Maybe I'm the weird one, I'll accept that, but before you slap a label on me, or discount everything that I'm saying because you don't agree with me or think I'm crazy, please, just come in and see.
See my heart, see my wounds, and see my struggles. See me, and see what I have to say.
See that I look at my life so profoundly beautiful, and see that I am all that I am, and I am joyful about that. Know that I live a full life, and a full life is so possible even without acting on my SSA.
This is a picture I took of my hand. I honestly just thought the grass and the rain water looked beautiful together.
It was storming when I took this, and all I'm doing is running my hand through rain water on the ground, but I still think it turned out to be pretty beautiful, don't you? It's amazing how two seemingly unlikely things can be so beautiful together, possibly a lot like SSA and Catholicism (totally cliche, I know, please forgive me).
See my hand as me reaching out to you, and as an invitation to hear an opinion that may be totally different from yours. See the water as a symbol of purity, as I promise my intentions are pure, and I would hope that yours are, too. All I ask, is that you would come a little closer, and experience me as a person. I believe that I might really surprise you.
Like I said, I've experienced a lot in my life. I've come off the battle field severely wounded. Many of those wounds are still open.
But, I like to think that those wounds stayed open for you, so you can come inside, and see me for what I am, and everything that I love.
I like to think my life is something beautiful. I've had a lot of people tell me that. Friends, family, strangers; it's truly incredible and awe-inspiring to me.
Maybe you'd like to take a closer look. Maybe you'd like to know more.
The invitation is open to you.
Please, come inside.