Love and acceptance

Echoe Matthews is a beloved teacher. She is an incredible teacher with a heart for students and a love of kids. This is apparent in her free book, The Gay Christian Parent, which she self-published after decades of teaching and counseling in Tennessee’s largest predominantly gay community. It is timely, it is well-written, and it touches on issues affecting parents and their children, especially as they come to terms with their own sexuality and as they seek to have children of their own.

One story tells the tale of a traditional-minded older parent who took his son to Sunday school but had never been to church. When the teacher asked if he would like to be placed in the boy’s class, the father said no, not because he is gay, but because he doesn’t think that the bible calls for gay marriage. The teacher then asked the father why not. He replied that the boy couldn’t go to heaven because he was a gay man. The teacher asked him why he didn’t believe gay marriage was allowed in the Bible. He explained that he had been involved in sinful sexual activity with men. This is hatred.

Unfortunately, the mother was so traumatized from the experience, she filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education claiming discrimination based upon gender and religion. Her argument was that the government should not teach that a sin is something that excludes someone from love, whether that someone is straight, gay, bi, lesbian, or whatever. Thankfully, we live in a country where people are allowed a free speech column when it comes to their feelings, and she did have the right to speak her mind. Her supervisor denied her complaint. Hopefully other moms and dads will stand up for their children and tell the Bible’s truth – that all people were created equal, and that gay, lesbian, and bisexual people deserve love, friendship, and acceptance, regardless of who they are or how they choose to express it.