a sanctuary for the ones told they don’t belong
You are not
a sin.
A handful of verses have been used to condemn LGBTQ+ people for generations. Read them in their own languages, in their own ancient context, and beside the people they were aimed at, and they stop saying what you were told they said.
Not anti-Christian · Anti-cruelty
The short version
Three things worth knowing before you argue with anyone.
The word isn’t in the original
The word “homosexual” did not appear in any English Bible until 1946. It was a translator’s decision, not a biblical one, and no biblical author had any concept of sexual orientation.
Context changes the meaning
Every passage used against LGBTQ+ people is about violence, exploitation, idolatry, or ancient ritual purity. Not one describes two people of the same sex in a faithful, mutual relationship.
The weight of scripture points elsewhere
The Bible’s central moral demand is love of God and neighbor. Its recurring story is God widening the welcome to outsiders, again and again, to the people the religious gatekeepers had written off.
The exegesis
The verses they quote, and what they actually say.
A ritual code for ancient Israel, not a universal law.
This is ancient Israel’s ritual and social code. It addresses status and purity within that world. It was never written about two women or two men in love.
The passage is an argument about idolatry, and it is not finished in chapter 1.
Romans 1 is an argument about idolatry, written before sexual orientation existed, and chapter 2 condemns the person who uses it to judge.
English Bibles contain a word Paul never used.
“Homosexuals” entered English Bibles in 1946, translating a rare Greek word whose meaning is disputed. That is a translator’s choice, not the text.
If you were hurt in a church
You are not the problem they told you that you were.
Being told that God made you wrong does real damage, and it is not your fault for feeling it. There is a way to keep your faith, or to lay it down for a while, and still be whole.
Find support and healing“Any theology that leaves you afraid of the God who is love has already told you something about itself, not about you.”
1 John 4:8, 4:18
You are not the first person to walk out of that room and keep your faith.
Read what other people were told, what they found when they went back to the text, and where they landed. Then add your own. Someone arriving here at 2am needs to hear it.