As you have most likely noticed by the title, I am a Christian, and I am in the LGBTQ+ community. I have known since I was 14 that I was not as attracted to men as I was brought up to believe and started to realize that I am attracted to women, too. Growing up in a religious household and brought up in a Southern Baptist church, I was fearful of what would happen if my parents/church found out. Unfortunately, my parents DID find out (thanks to another family member) and I was told how "wrong" I was and that I "can change."

I know exactly what you're going to say next: "Leviticus 20:13! God says it's wrong!" I see your Leviticus 20:13 and raise you Matthew 7:1-5. Let it be noted that in John 8:1-11, Jesus pardons a woman who was accused of breaking a Mosaic law, which says she must then be stoned. This is where one of the most famous verses comes from: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." John 8:7.

While Jesus only used this for that specific circumstance, many Christians around the world use it for a variety of sins. Since I'm still talking about the Bible, might I add that lying and stealing are one of the Ten Commandments, yet homosexuality isn't? How many have lied and stole? I thought so. There are also verses that say we must stone women who cheat or get divorced, but yet more and more Christians are getting divorced and I don't see us stoning them for it.

Being gay, heterosexual, bisexual, transsexual, etc., is not just something you can "fix."

Conversion therapy has been proven to be "harmful and ineffective." Many Christians equate being LGBTQ+ to having a mental illness. This is another problem within itself because as someone who also has mental illnesses, it is not something I can change. There are biological components within my brain that cause me to have these mental illnesses. Loving who you love is not having a mental illness. With heterosexuality being seen as the norm, many LGBTQ+ are abused daily. People are attacked physically and verbally for just existing.

I say all this to say that being a Christian and LGBTQ+ are not mutually exclusive. In fact, Matthew 7:21 says that only those who do the will of God will enter. Titus 3:1-8 is also a great example of only God being the way to Heaven. No worldly influences or practices can get you into Heaven, only by believing in God. God does NOT discriminate who can and cannot believe in Him; he allows ANYONE who believes to inherit His kingdom.

So while you wonder why Karen and Amanda should be allowed to love each other and that they're "wrong," they are out doing the work of Jesus and loving people while you're sitting there full of hate (which God doesn't like, by the way).

"Keep on loving, keep on loving
Love God and love people
So keep on loving, keep on loving
It's all about love
It's how we change the world
Love God and love people" — Danny Gokey