June 9, 2023 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John (2SoJ)
Pride: That’s Why I Am Talking
by Phillip Lee
The month of June is being celebrated by many individuals and churches that affirm and cheer on LGBTQ Pride.
But what if the LGBTQ life hasn’t been or is now a season of pride or the party for some of our neighbors, loved ones, or ourselves – that the world says it is?
Personally speaking, it is not (pride) I remember and experience that in some respects continues to haunt me even today.
There are some life realities gay pride could not even begin to heal. Completely and totally by God’s grace, I have survived homosexuality.
While those words correctly define my personal reality regarding homosexual practice, my friends did not survive. If you are experiencing same-sex attraction and are considering embracing the feelings and attractions of such, before jumping into a behavior and identity with highly probable and serious consequences, please get the facts – all the facts.
Sexual pleasure, good in and of itself within the proper context, is nevertheless not an essential requirement for human well-being.
Today, there is no guarantee that social policy is exempt from foolishness. Ultimately, the social pressure that exists to protect “gay” from discrimination has resulted in a tragically dangerous code.
While I personally deplore any and all forms of “gay-bashing” and other hate crimes against homosexuals, the extreme medical risks and the fundamental psychological problems often associated with homosexual practice, cannot be undermined or dismissed.
Today, in America, very little is being offered which promotes the truth about homosexuality and the general public has and is slowly but certainly beginning to believe the many untruths with regard to the topic of homosexuality. This did not happen by accident.
In December 1973, by a narrow vote, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM) by the American Psychiatric Association. The vote was not based on scientific research but on political pressure from homosexual activists. So much for an individual’s right of self-determination to address their unwanted homosexual feelings and behavior. In a nutshell, the problem is the politicization of psychiatry, psychology, and most definitely, the Bible, to the extent that the freedom to investigate and treat homosexuality has been and continues to be under serious attack.
For some of us, World AIDS Day is not just on December 1st of each year, but rather each and every day of the year.
The phone conversation occurred in 1995. Frank, my very best and only surviving friend of a group of 22 men, called from the hospital in San Francisco. Immediately, I knew something was very wrong.
In 1985, I moved from San Francisco back to Bakersfield, when in October of that year I surrendered my life to Christ and everything got turned upside-down – actually, right-side up.
There was nothing short of a miraculous desire to get to church and remain in church. The only thing I wanted to read was the Bible, attend classes and always be among Christian men and women, worship, and talk, talk, talk, talk, about Jesus.
Occasionally, I would talk to Frank on the phone to check on how life was going. However, our conversations became more and more strained because all I wanted to talk about was the Bible and what was going on at church. Frank, on the other hand, wanted to talk about the party last night and all that went on.
Drifting apart we most definitely were but continued to maintain a long-distance connection if only to hear one another’s voice for a few seconds. We had been close good friends for many years in San Francisco.
One afternoon I received a phone call at work from Frank. His voice was extremely weak, but he still managed to say…
“Phillip, we don’t understand what has happened to you, but you have found something, and whatever it is, keep it up. Keep it up because you have found something. Do it for me and the others. Whatever you do don’t ever come back to this. Promise me, Phillip.”
"I promise, Frank."
Two days after my last phone conversation with Frank, his mother called to tell me he had passed away.
So, so many are gone, and they left much too soon. I miss each of my friends. I miss them terribly.
Thirty-eight years ago, I made a promise. A promise I have kept, and I intend to keep.
During my 17 years as ‘gay,’ I personally witnessed far too many lives devastated and some taking their own lives over the celebration of ‘gay.’ In each and every case the ruin and carnage were not brought about by the individual trying to resolve their same-gender attraction.
Personally speaking, it is a fact because of very real discrimination, homosexual activists created a brilliant strategic plan to gain across-the-board acceptance. Yet their plan was and is based upon a flawed paradigm to persuade people they were born with same-gender attraction and they cannot change. This strategy has worked. But the biggest losers just may be homosexual men and women who may get everything they think they want, but will they be denied what they truly need?
The welfare of both individuals and society as a whole depends upon our facing reality honestly, compassionately, and courageously – which requires facts – all the facts.
Pastor Phillip Lee Executive Director of His Way Out Ministries
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