Driving Equality

Day 23

I left camp this morning and headed to Kansas City, Missouri. Upon enter civilization, I received a hoard of voice mails, text messages, and emails. Sorry to everyone I missed during my hiatus on the river. When I arrived in Kansas City, I scoured the town for free WIFI. (I had to update this blog.) I couldn’t find any WIFI in town and am now sitting in a parking lot, syphoning WIFI from a hotel. Before leaving Kansas City, on my way to the airport to pick up Potter (got 30 minutes), I was sitting in the van with the door open, eating pizza. It was a huge pizza. I asked for a small, but the guy told me they don’t do smalls. OK. I guess one size fits all. He said it was the best pizza I was ever going to have. “Wow. That’s confident,” I thought. It was good pizza, but the best…

Anyway, I was sitting in the van eating, parking in the post office parking lot when two young, cool, hip-looking guys walked by. They liked that I was sitting in the back of the van, chilling out, eating pizza. They took my picture. I told them I was driving around the country talking to folks about gay rights. That is when the really cute boy (Hi Kalen: I know you are reading this because I gave you my business card. Yes, you are really cute), holing a guitar case in one hand, lifts his bible so that I can see it. “OK, here we go,” I thought. 

We started talking about the bible, religion, and gay rights. That is when I stopped them and asked if I could film the conversation. They both agreed to be on film. I broke out the equipment, set up in the parking lot, and away we went. We had a great discussion about religion and homosexuality. Kalen and Kyle were two of the nicest people I have met on this journey so far. Unfortunately, they believe that being gay is wrong. Kalen told me that he used to be attracted to other guys, but that he was saved by Jesus and that attraction had been lifted. (Too bad, did I mention he was really cute). 

I asked them if they thought that gays and lesbians should be denied equal rights because of their personal religious beliefs. They said that the state should not condone sin. I asked them if they thought same-sex attraction was a choice. They said that it was not a choice to be attracted to the same-sex, but it was a choice to act on it. I asked why being gay is so wrong, if god made us gay then isn’t it natural? Kalen read a passage from the bible that said it pretty clear: women shall not sleep with women and man shall not sleep with man. 

What if that was just written by somebody who was homophobic because he was attracted to the same-sex and had internalized homophobia? What about the parts of the bible that says it is OK to have slaves and to kill your daughter? What if they were wrong? Kalen and Kyle were really cool guys. I hope they come around and see the light. It’s OK to be gay! (Kalen: you have my phone number. Feel free to call anytime you want to explore the “gay lifestyle” a little more. I wish I could take you to Provincetown and make you realize that gay is good and that god would want you to be just who you are, the way he made you, instead of suppressing it.)

After our conversation, we prayed. They prayed for me to open my heart and let Jesus in. I prayed for them to open their minds and let the truth in. 

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