The Men From L.I.A.R.

I haven't been paying attention to the blogs for a while. So my heart almost broke when I read Zach's story.

This 16 year old Tennessee boy came out to his parents in May. For his efforts he was sent packing to a fundamentalist's answer to Guantanamo Bay, called the Love In Action Refuge.

A fundamentalist de-programming camp for kids 'struggling' with homosexuality (or more truthfully, struggling with parents and churches who have failed to find the grace to love their child as God created him or her), it would be more apt to refer to it by its acronym - L.I.A.R. Especially so since none of the staff appear to have any qualifications in teen sexuality counseling, and the organization is affiliated to the highly discredited, anti-gay Exodus International.

And while I don't feel in the mood to comment on that particular brand of self loathing here, there appears to be no more virulent opposition to equality and dignity for GLBT people than that originating from homophobic gay men and lesbians who cannot learn to love themselves (and therefore others) as God loves them.

You can read more of Zach's story here and here. I went through something of the same sort when I was 18, only for it was self-imposed and therefore more delusionally 'real' for all my wanting to believe a lie. I know Zach can and will pull through this, no matter what his parents or the Baptists do to him. Still, I will quietly shed a tear and say a prayer for Zach and all the other brave kids in the world like him. To such belong the Kingdom of God.