Why Is Leaving the Gay Lifestyle for Jesus and Traditional Marriage So Controversial? (Part 1)
This is the first part in an investigative series into reparative/conversion therapy and same-sex attraction.
TLC's "My Husband's Not Gay" special has caused a great deal of reaction and raised questions about homosexuality and same-sex attraction. McKrae Game, a self-described former homosexual, spoke with The Christian Post about his own experience with the gay lifestyle and working with others wanting to leave that life for a more meaningful relationship with God.
The special featured four Mormon men, three of whom are married, that struggle with same-sex attraction but do not identify as homosexual. It was met with a great deal of criticism and requests to TLC not to air the show. GLAAD deemed it "dangerous" and a man, known as a Gay Christian, started an online petition that received over 120,000 signatures, asking the channel to cancel the program. However, TLC stood by its decision and aired the show, raising questions about same-sex attraction and relationships within the Mormon Church and Christianity.
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The timing could not have been more coincidental, as a pastor in Pennsylvania came forward to discuss his own marriage and struggle with same-sex attraction. Allan Edwards is married and expecting his first child in July but admits he often has same-sex desires. He and his wife spoke about the situation before marrying and decided to deal with things as they came.
"I think we all have part of our desires that we choose not to act on, right?" Edwards told NPR. "So for me, it's not just that the religion was important to me, but communion with a God who loves me, who accepts me right where I am."
In a different, yet similar vein, McKrae Game is a self-described former homosexual who now counsels people struggling with same-sex attraction and focuses on furthering their relationships with God instead of changing their attraction. He spoke with CP about the recent interest in same-sex attraction, leaving the homosexual lifestyle, and why he felt the call to tell his personal story.
The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Post's interview with McKrae Game.
CP: Why do you think there's a great deal of interest and news about same-sex attraction now?
Game: They [TLC] didn't call me or anyone I know to do the show and I felt like these men and these wives, to the best of their ability, displayed integrity and honored God. But there again, they are in a religion of works [Mormonism] while we are in a grace-driven faith. We're not in a religion. It would have certainly looked different if it was Christian men with same-sex attraction, but I don't know why they did this.
God can work through anything. Can God work through Mormons? Sure. I don't think any of us is sure as to why this show came up now. Homosexuality is the golden calf of this liberal world we live in now, so if the homosexual community would not burn the building down, I think it would have been a good series and not just a show that people found interesting. People love watching controversy, and today the person who's wanting to live for God and not practice homosexuality is controversial.
CP: What do you say to critics or those who are skeptical about you leaving the homosexual lifestyle?
Game: First, there has not been any scientific evidence to support any genetic causation. I do believe we are born with personalities and I do believe that we are born into families with sinful-bent leanings, but I don't believe my flesh forces me but my flesh leans me toward sinful behavior. I used to be a landscaper, and I've never worked for anybody, and I've always had employees who struggled with alcoholism, stealing, drug addiction, and as I spoke with them, they tended to always have my same upbringing. It seemed to me that the only thing different between us was how we responded to our environment. So I believe it is our perception, reception and reaction to our environment that lead us in different directions.
I developed same-sex attraction, where they developed opposite sex attraction and alcoholism, stealing, or drug addiction. I didn't grow up having a Godly heritage, but you know, I've had a great many people I've worked with that did have a Godly heritage but ended up with same sex-attraction … it's not necessarily genetics but a perception and reception to the environment they're in.
Not having a good relationship with my dad and thinking my sister hung the moon, which secretly caused me to cross-dress from 5-12, trying to search for who I was. … I grew out of that pre-puberty, but it took me a really long time, I'd even say until I accepted Christ into my life and He started telling me who I was and reading God's Word and it telling me who I was. And even further, getting into relationships with godly men, and sharing our stories, did I realize that I am a man now called of God.
This whole argument of born homosexual is just a concocted story of people who are unwilling to honestly look at their lives in comparison to other people's lives. They want to look at science so they can take any form of blame off of themselves. And it's not about blaming our parents … but it's God who names us and separate from God naming us and telling us who we are. If we're going separate from Him, we're going in the wrong direction.
CP: Why tell your story? What's your goal?
Game: God wanted me to. What is my goal? Really, I think the better question for me is what is God's goal?
It really started a couple of months after committing myself to Christ. One small thing after another, God would tell me to tell my story, and people's lives were impacted. I have always felt compelled by God to be honest and transparent and open, and it's nothing new. The only thing new is that I write about it and blog about it, and share it on social media. But I always share it like I do when I have spoken at churches.
Some people are offended and don't like how I speak. I never knew there was such a thing as a former homosexual when I walked away from homosexuality. I just knew I was going in a direction that I saw as profitable for my life. I had been in that lifestyle for three years and I just couldn't see myself growing old with another man and I couldn't see myself being alone for the rest of my life. Even though I was raised in a very dysfunctional family, I saw a man and a woman as being a family. I've just always shared from a place of authenticity as I work with people.
For more information about Game or his group Hope for Wholeness, click here.
Continue reading The Christian Post for more about Game's experience and reparative/conversion therapy.
