An Open Letter to a Gay Person

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

An open letter to a gay person

Dear gay person,

Congratulations for being a perfectly normal human person.

You are not sick or mentally disordered.

You are not bad.

It is not your or your parent’s fault that you are gay.

It’s nobody’s mistake.

Indeed, there is no fault or mistake involved at all.

The Bible does not condemn you.

Of course not.

How could it condemn you,

when it says that you were wonderfully made,

and created in God’s own image?

How can the Bible condemn you,

when you are God’s beloved son or daughter?

Instead, feel bound by the Bible’s core moral teachings:

be prayerful, reverence God, respect others.

be loving and kind, be forgiving and merciful,

be honest and be just.

Work for harmony and peace.

Stand up for truth.

To do that is to follow the Bible.

To do that is to follow God’s way.

To do that is to love God with all your heart and soul.

To do that is to be a true disciple of Jesus.

Please do not try to change your sexual orientation.

Do not try to ‘heal’ what is not an illness.

The truth is that you can’t, anyway,

even if someone someday were to pronounce you ‘healed’.

You are different.

Of course, you are different:

some of us are left-handed, others are right-handed;

some are tall, some are thin;

some of us have pink skin, others are light brown or dark brown.

It is in accepting who you really are that will help you grow as a person.

You may need help from a qualified person to do this

(but before you consult any, do make sure that they are indeed qualified).

If you try to ‘heal’ yourself of your sexual orientation,

you will be doing yourself irreparable harm.

Do not try to suppress it.

Do not marry to hide it.

You would be doing harm to the one you marry too.

Do not try to change your orientation

just because one section of society does not accept you.

It is society that needs to change; it is society that needs healing.

One day, you may meet someone

with whom you can build a long-lasting relationship,

a relationship that is special, intimate, beyond friendship,

a loving, fruitful relationship in which you can help each other to flourish.

Of course, you are free to lead a chaste and celibate life.

That will be your decision,

but that does not mean you are no longer gay.

Even some straight people do that,

but that doesn’t mean they are no longer straight either.

Whatever your decision, please count us always as your friends.

Drachma LGBTI and Drachma Parents Group

Ittra miftuħa lil persuna gay

Għażiż/a,

Nifirħulek talli inti persuna kompletament normali.

La int marid u lanqas għandek xi diżordni mentali.

M’intix bniedem ħażin għax inti gay.

Mhux tort tiegħek u lanqas tal-ġenituri tiegħek li inti gay.

Tabilħaqq, mhu tort jew żball ta’ ħadd li xi ħadd ikun gay.

Il-Bibbja lilek ma tikkundannakx.

Dażgur li ma tikkundannakx!

Kif tista’ l-Bibbja tikkundannak,

meta skont il-Bibbja stess inti magħmul b’mod tal-għaġeb

u int maħluq fuq ix-xbieha ta’ Alla nnifsu!

Kif tista’ l-Bibbja tikkundannak,

meta int l-iben għażiż jew il-bint għażiża ta’ Alla!

Qis li timxi fuq it-tagħlim ewlieni tal-Bibbja, jiġifieri:

itlob, qim lil Alla, irrispetta lill-oħrajn,

uri mħabba u kun qalbek tajba, aħfer u kun ħanin,

kun onest u ġust.

Aħdem għall-ġustizzja u l-paċi.

Aħdem favur il-verità.

Meta tagħmel dan, tkun qed tgħix skont il-Bibbja.

Meta tagħmel dan, tkun qed timxi fit-triq ta’ Alla.

Meta tagħmel dan, tkun qed tħobb lil Alla b’qalbek u b’ruħek kollha.

Meta tagħmel dan, tkun dixxiplu ta’ Ġesù.

Nitolbuk biex ma tippruvux tibdel l-orjentazzjoni sesswali tiegħek.

Tippruvax ‘tfiq’ ladarba m’intix marid.

Il-verità hi li ‘fejqan’ bħal dan mhux possibbli,

anki kieku xi ħadd xi darba kellu jiddikjara li inti ‘imfejjaq’.

Inti differenti.

Dażgur li inti differenti!

Xi wħud minna huma xellugin, u oħrajn lemini;

xi wħud twal, oħrajn qosra;

xi wħud minna b’ġilda roża, oħrajn kannella ċara jew skura.

Huwa biss meta taċċetta lilek innifsek kif tassew int li tista’ tikber bħala persuna.

Jista’ jkun li jkollok bżonn l-għajnuna ta’ xi ħadd kwalifikat għal dan l-għan,

imma qabel ma tikkonsulta lil xi ħadd, kun ċert li jkun tassew kwalifikat.

Jekk tipprova tfejjaq lilek innifsek mill-orjentazzjoni sesswali tiegħek,

tkun qed tagħmel ħsara irreparabbli lilek innifsek.

Tippruvax toħnoqha.

Tiżżewwiġx biex taħbiha,

għax tkun qed tagħmel ħsara wkoll lill-persuna li tiżżewweġ.

Tippruvax tibdel l-orjentazzjoni sesswali tiegħek

sempliċement għax parti mis-soċjetà ma taċċettakx.

Hija s-soċjetà li għandha bżonn tinbidel.

Xi darba f’ħajtek tista’ tiltaqa’ ma’ persuna

li magħha tista’ tibni relazzjoni dejjiema,

relazzjoni speċjali, intima, lil hinn minn sempliċi ħbiberija,

relazzjoni ta’ mħabba li fiha tgħinu lil xulxin tikbru u tiffjorixxu.

Dażgur, inti liberu li tagħżel li tgħix ħajja kasta u ċelibi.

Dik deċiżjoni tiegħek.

Imma dan ma jfissirx li int ma tibqax gay.

Anki xi persuni straight jiddeċiedu li jagħmlu hekk,

b’danakollu ma jfissirx li ma jibqgħux straight.

Tagħżel x’tagħżel, imma, għoddna dejjem bħala ħbieb tiegħek.

Drachma LGBTI u Drachma Parents Group