BJUnity

Coming out of the closet as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender is one of the hardest things anyone can do, particularly so for anyone with a fundamentalist background. The internal conflicts are difficult enough to resolve, but the external pressure from family and friends who do not take the news well is often almost too much to bear. The fear –and often sad reality– of being shunned by those we love the most speaks to a heart-breaking, needless, and senseless truth about fundamentalism: that “separate living” is more important to many fundamentalists than any sense of familial love.

Here at lgbt-BJU.org we believe outing anyone against her or his will is a despicable practice which we will not condone, nor will we participate in it. Your sexuality is a private matter. It is your right to decide how, when and to whom you reveal that information. Please know that if you reach out to us, your privacy is assured. We are here to help you find your own personal integrity as an LGBT person. We offer compassion, understanding, and love on your unique, individual journey to self-acceptance, fulfillment and wholeness. You are not, and you will not ever have to be alone in this anymore.

Over the past two months, we have been richly blessed to connect with our LGBT friends who are alumni of other conservative Christian colleges and universities. We want to take a moment to “shout out” to our friends at CedarvilleOUT, many of whose stories are eerily similar to our own, and our friends at ONEWheaton, who have been so graciously supportive of our efforts and who have modeled a compassionate approach to these sensitive matters of faith and sexuality. There are many such organizations forming across the country for LGBT alumni of conservative Christian schools. If you need help locating your school’s LGBT group, send us an e-mail and we’ll do our best to help you locate them. If you are from another fundamentalist institution that doesn’t yet have such a group, we are here for you as well. Our e-mail address is lgbt.bju@gmail.com. We are here to help you in any way that we can.

We are extremely grateful to Libby Ann for this past weekend’s mention on her blog… and we welcome all her readers who have taken the time to read our stories. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us get the word out!

Last week, we also received the following encouraging letter from José Vilanova, the founder and chair of ONEWheaton. We are so very grateful for his and their support.

Dear LGBT Alumni of Bob Jones University —

I just sat and looked at my computer screen incredulously as your website spoke to me. I wish I could give all of you, individually, a huge hug, thank you for your courage and work, and tell each of you how proud I am of you.

When in college, I was an (award-winning) member of the debate team at Wheaton. I remember debating teams from Bob Jones and feeling that gay students had it worse there than at Wheaton. Please consider that your very presence on the blogosphere will save lives and “heal the earth” (tikkun olam).

I suppose I’m totally speechless that your group exists.

Please know that you have OneWheaton’s full, unconditional support.

Wishing you ALL the best,

José O. Vilanova, Chair and Founder

OneWheaton

http://www.onewheaton.com