Michael Glatze and his
bride Rebekah

I’m willing to bet that you know someone who is homosexual. That’s an easy wager to make considering the current landscape of our society. But I’m also willing to bet you don’t know an ex-gay person.

Considering the fact that homosexuals only comprise roughly 3.5% of the American population, the fact that most of us know someone who is gay is incredible. The six degrees of separation are quickly shrinking. However, a rapidly growing segment of the homosexual population is those who now call themselves “ex.” And yet you probably don’t know someone who identifies in this way.

The reason you probably don’t know someone who identifies as ex-homosexual is two-fold. One, they make little effort to announce to everyone they meet that they were at one time homosexual but have since left that lifestyle. Simply put, it’s not that important to them to share. And second, concerted efforts exist to repress anyone who dares claim to be an ex-homosexual.

For the homosexual community it’s a zero-sum game in which the truth has been so perverted that militant homosexual activists refuse to acknowledge the possibility that someone can “leave the homosexual lifestyle.” For this reason anyone claiming to formerly be a homosexual is harassed and ridiculed to such an extent that many refuse to talk about it.

Enter Michael Glatze.

For those who’ve never heard of Glatze, he was a very prominent homosexual activist that founded Young Gay America and became editor of the group’s magazine when he was just 22. He was a darling to the homosexual lobby that saw him as somewhat of a poster child for their cause in the early 2000’s. Then, to the shock and horror of his fellow activists, Glatze announced in 2007 that he was no longer gay and was leaving that lifestyle; a move he attributed to God. Since 2007 Glatze has attended Bible school and, just this year, married a woman named Rebekah.

Do you think his former associates and colleagues that spend their days demanding tolerance and respect congratulated Glatze and wished him a long, happy life? Not a chance. Upon releasing a few photos of his wedding Glatze was immediately ridiculed and harassed by homosexuals and activists.

Homosexual activist Wayne Besen, known for criticizing Glatze previously, said of his wedding and his bride:

“Apparently, this happened for publicity hound Michael Glatze, who married his prop, er bride, Rebekah, on October 26…The victim is attractive and seems rather sweet. I hope she knows what she’s getting into.”

The President of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, Peter LaBarbera responded to the criticism by Besen by saying:

“They are basically celebrating failure. They’re all about focusing on the failures, because they can’t admit that homosexual identity and behavior is something you can change…I think if the average person knew about Michael Glatze, their whole view of the homosexual issue would change. And maybe that’s why people like Besen are so desperate to do anything they can to ridicule, to demonize, to mock, to deny that they even exist.”

He’s right. If more Americans knew that it is indeed possible to change and to leave the homosexual lifestyle the support for the homosexual agenda would dwindle. People would begin to understand that laws are being created based on shifting sexual preferences rather than innate human sexuality.

Glatze publicly confesses what homosexual advocates fear the most: homosexuals can change. Sure, I know that. But I’m just a right-wing, hate-filled, bigoted, Christian. How can I be trusted? That’s what homosexual activists want you to believe. So when a guy like Glatze, a man that was once knee-deep in the movement to normalize homosexuality and legalize same-sex “marriage,” says it, they start to tremble. Glatze writes:

“I do believe that homosexuality is a flaw, a mistake, a distortion and something from which one can be completely restored. I do know that this viewpoint flies in the face of people’s personal decisions, as well as some popular politics in this world. And I am additionally aware that this viewpoint labels me as some kind of ‘right-wing fanatic’ who ought to just be ‘wiped out.’ I do pray to God for my safety every day.”

These words from an ex-gay person will cause more fear and trembling among the homosexual movement than any other. They don’t fear the words of heterosexuals because they can hide behind angry rhetoric and name-calling. But when “one of their own” comes clean and admits this truth how can they respond?

More often than not the response is angry, hate-filled, and even threatening. While they demand tolerance and respect they aren’t even willing to give it to someone who fought for their cause. So threatening can they be that Glatze felt it necessary to ask for safety for both himself and his new bride. He said:

“[T]his is a plea for my own and Rebekah’s personal safety. I would like to ask that instead of desiring to plot my death, you may consider the possibility that I do have a legitimate right to life and a legitimate right to my own a) spiritual decisions, and b) life decisions – not to mention the wisdom and perspectives those decisions have given me.”

A sobering indictment of the movement calling for tolerance.

The bottom line is that it is entirely possible to leave the homosexual lifestyle. That doesn’t mean becoming heterosexual and marrying a woman, as in the case of Glatze. But it does mean understanding the true nature of human sexuality and its purpose expressed daily. For some this will mean simply struggling with and repressing same-sex attractions. For others it will mean living a celibate life in accordance with the tenets of faith. Regardless of what expression this finds in each individual it is important to know that it is indeed possible.

This message is so important that evangelicals, all of whom are or have struggled with same-sex attractions, have started a website to help. The site, LivingOut, is the efforts of evangelical men that know what it is like to live as homosexuals or to struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions. Because they have “walked in their shoes” they now use their life experiences to reach out to those who struggle between same-sex attractions and faith.

The men make clear that there is a difference between experiencing attractions and acting on those feelings. One, they say, is a tempting part of life while the other is sin. They write:

“The Bible is very clear that all sexual relations outside marriage (a life-long exclusive monogamous heterosexual public covenant relationship) are morally wrong (Leviticus 18:6-23, 20:10-21; Romans 1:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:9,10; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Timothy 1:9,10; Revelation 22:15). This includes fornication, adultery, same-sex relations and all other sorts of sex imaginable, even if you are deeply in love with the other person. Claiming that we are just ‘being true to our feelings’ in this area is just as wrong as claiming that our feelings justify any other form of sin. As Jeremiah put it ‘the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure’ (17:9) It is God’s Word that must guide us, not our feelings.”

I’m thankful for a ministry that emphasizes the fact that all sexual sin outside of marriage, including pre-marital sex, adultery, and pornography, is wrong. It is wrong to somehow ignore the whole teaching of Scripture on the issue of sexuality while myopically focusing on homosexuality.

In the end the men highlighted in this article are nothing less than anathema to the homosexual movement. They are men who have or currently do identify as homosexual or possessing same-sex attractions, who simultaneously reject the homosexual lifestyle in favor of biblical sexuality and marriage. That is simply not acceptable to homosexuals who crave tolerance and assure us they cannot change.

Frankly, I think we need to hear more from these men. I wonder how the view of homosexuality would change if every person knew someone like Michael Glatze.