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Timothy Kurek, Straight Christian Man, 'Comes Out' And Pretends To Be Gay For A Year
Not what you think.... watch the video.... interesting and progressive approach coming from a group that has traditionally been so hateful to LGBT folks
complete article and video here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/timothy-kurek-straight-christian-pretends-gay_n_1963657.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
from the article:
Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people weren't the only ones celebrating National Coming Out Day on Thursday. A Christian man from Tennessee appeared on ABC News to talk about his own coming out experience but -- he's straight.
Timothy Kurek "came out" to his family and friends and lived as a gay man for a year in order to experience what life is like as an LGB person. The Liberty College graduate told ABC News, "You learned to be very afraid of God [in church]... [And you learned] the loving thing to do is to tell my friend who is gay, 'Hey, listen, you are an abomination and you need to repent to go to heaven.' I absolutely believed in that lock, stock and barrel."
But four years ago a lesbian acquaintance of his relayed the story of how her family rejected her when she came out to them and Kurek was moved to take action.
"I feel God really kicked me in the gut," he said. "She was crying in my arms and instead of being there for her, I was thinking about all the arguments to convert her."
Soon after Kurek decided to go under cover and "come out" as a gay man.
"I came out to everybody! My friends, family, everyone," Kurek told HuffPost blogger George Elerick. "I just knew that I needed to understand, as realistically as possible, how the label of gay might change my life. The social experiment itself demanded all or nothing."
Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people weren't the only ones celebrating National Coming Out Day on Thursday. A Christian man from Tennessee appeared on ABC News to talk about his own coming out experience but -- he's straight.
Timothy Kurek "came out" to his family and friends and lived as a gay man for a year in order to experience what life is like as an LGB person. The Liberty College graduate told ABC News, "You learned to be very afraid of God [in church]... [And you learned] the loving thing to do is to tell my friend who is gay, 'Hey, listen, you are an abomination and you need to repent to go to heaven.' I absolutely believed in that lock, stock and barrel."
But four years ago a lesbian acquaintance of his relayed the story of how her family rejected her when she came out to them and Kurek was moved to take action.
"I feel God really kicked me in the gut," he said. "She was crying in my arms and instead of being there for her, I was thinking about all the arguments to convert her."
Soon after Kurek decided to go under cover and "come out" as a gay man.
"I came out to everybody! My friends, family, everyone," Kurek told HuffPost blogger George Elerick. "I just knew that I needed to understand, as realistically as possible, how the label of gay might change my life. The social experiment itself demanded all or nothing."
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