"These church organizations, which have offered ‘treatment’ for homosexuality, create a distance between their non-heterosexual children and their misguided parents, as has been the case for me." I am a gay 37-year cisgendered male living in southern Sydney and raised in a fundamental Christian family. My family believes gays can be cured. They attend a [...]
"The years of self-hate had led me to the darkest point of my life. I had no neutral support to help me reconcile my feelings with the teachings of the church. I was shattered, alone, and deeply confused! My mindset and mantra at this time was focussed on the question: “Is my family better off [...]
"Essentially the Pastor was giving me two choices. Either to be a part of his church as we were before, mother and son, or continue to affirm my child’s gender and lose my entire church family. I chose my trans daughter." I am the proud mother of a trans daughter who is now 18 years [...]
Faith, Sexuality and Gender Identity - creating new narratives LGBTQIA+ Leadership & Allyship Summit "Anthony's presentation 'Faith, Sexuality and Gender Identity' was a compelling, powerful, and surprisingly hilarious keynote at our LGBTQIA+ Leadership and Allyship Summit in Sydney. Not only was he the equal top-rated speaker for the event, he tackled a deeply personal but [...]
"As much as I am grateful for the life I have lived so far, I also am frustrated at the fact that I wasn’t able to live my life to my fullest potential or experience its fullest joy. My parents’ beliefs and attitudes have meant I have missed out on so much." Once my Chinese [...]
"My family still don't comprehend the extent of what happened to me and the church continues to flourish, embracing homophobia in their sermons and social media posts." In 2016, I was approached by a neighbour who went to my high school and invited me to a particular megachurch. His brother was the youth pastor. I was [...]
"Telling someone who is already psychologically struggling that they are “holding onto sin” is horrifying. Saying to that person that the reason they are not changing is that they don’t have enough faith or don’t really want to change can be life-threatening. I attempted suicide numerous times during that period of my life. I ended [...]
Hillsong and LGBTQ It seems a lot of people want to know about Hillsong and LGBTQ. I've learnt not to trust all journalists. Most are good, but not all. Some have "used" my story to push their own agendas. I was more interested in "the cause" than wanting to enhance their careers with a sensationalist [...]
What is conversion 'therapy' Everything you wanted to know about conversion 'therapy'. What is conversion 'therapy'? Where did conversion 'therapy' come from? How did conversion 'therapy' evolve? What are the conversion 'therapy' impacts? Why should conversion 'therapy' be banned? Questions? This presentation was given at the Included 2021 Conference hosted by Salvation Army members [...]