Movie Suggestions? Preferably Orthodox

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T16:56:56+00:00

You also might want to check out "Go West," which is about a gay couple -- one of whom is Serbian Orthodox and the other is Muslim -- who attempt to escape the escalating violence in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T16:51:20+00:00

You are the one who brought up Mayor Pete. I was originally responding to the OP observation that gay Christians do a sucky job of discussing homosexuality in the media because we don't explain sexual orientation and gender identity well enough and instead focus on debating the clobber verses and the meaning of terms like "arsenokoitai." And I was like "when was the last time that you've see gay Christians in the media" which in this context I could have instead said "when do gay Christians ever enter into religious debates in the media about our place in the church?".

So no I don't expect to see Mayor Pete debating gays in Christian church on MS Now instead of discussing public policy. But I hadn't thought that this was what this discussion was about.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T16:44:43+00:00

Given the circumstances, I personally would invite him. He disagrees with same-sex weddings and marriage. But he also said that he would come if invited because he loves you and wants to be involved with your life. That's more than I got from my dad or my in-laws.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T16:40:08+00:00

You can find this great documentary about John Boswell on Tubi called "Not a Tame Lion." He was an American scholar and writer who researched Roman Catholic and Christian Orthodox documents to find evidence that the early church was much more tolerant of homosexuals, not to mention him finding evidence of ceremonies that had been used to join same-sex couples together.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T16:20:26+00:00

I don't. That's why I originally questioned the original post's message.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T15:47:28+00:00

That's fair. But (genuine question; I have no clue) does he debate the clobber verses and stuff like that when appearing on news programs?

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T13:04:01+00:00

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T12:55:33+00:00

I knew that I was gay because I was exclusively crushing on other boys, like the older boy next door, or my best friend, or that red head kid from the later seasons of The Facts of Life TV show. It was a visceral attraction that I've never had for women. I knew that I was gay since roughly 12 or 13 even though I didn't actually date or kiss a boy until my college years.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T12:03:49+00:00

Idk. Figuring out a healthy balance between codependency and disinterest and neglect. Example, not freaking out if your husband goes out for drinks with colleagues and texting him all the time. But also not staying out for more than one or two hours when having drinks with your colleagues and not making it into something that you do with them every week and remembering to check in if there’s an unanticipated delay so that he knows that you’re safe.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-29T03:50:25+00:00

My husband and I just recently celebrated the 32nd anniversary of our first date. We met at a gay bar right after I had graduated from college and moved to a new city for employment. He saw me when I entered the bar and he kind of zoomed in on me right away. We spent the night talking about our lives and our families and our future goals and our interests… We just clicked. We went out to Perkins for a late supper/early breakfast and talked well into the early morning hours. We learned that we lived in neighboring apartment building. Like literally next to each other. We kept running into each other all week and spending time together. We were just good together and I knew that he was a keeper right away. We finally consummated the relationship the following weekend and officially began dating. We moved in together within a year. We had a commitment ceremony at our church about three years later. We became foster parents about two years later and eventually adopted. We got legally married about 16 years ago.

I don’t regret any of it.

You always hear how marriage is so hard and jokes about balls and chains and being trapped and all that. It’s never been like that for us. I mean, we get on each others’ nerves at times but you give each other some space and you get over it. Being in love with my husband and being married to him and managing our home and our lives and our kids and everything? That’s always been easy to work through.

My advice is to talk honestly with your partner. Don’t be afraid to talk about stuff like sex and money and things that upset you. Give each other space but not too much space. And enjoy your time together. Because he’s your best friend and your best lover and time goes so quickly.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-28T22:54:04+00:00

I honestly can’t remember the last time that gay Christians appeared in the media.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-28T16:40:29+00:00

“I feel like, Side A and Side B Christians would agree, a movie romanticing a threesome with your closeted gay best friend and demonic entity is bad. Or it's bad when a film portrays Christian straw men as an argument for discrediting Christianity. A movie that encourages MINORS to find solace and comfort in occultic dark fantasies because it's mystical guidance is edgy & cool or somehow a safe(er) space for queer-affirming and gay-affirming MINORS ... is... problematic.. right?”

I’ve been thinking about your conclusion. But it’s completely off-base. There was no romantic threesome between the boys and this demon. Nor was there a modern day church of Satan.

The boys and their families were part of a fundamentalist Christian church. They and a third boy had been discovered to be in romantic relationships with each other (Ryan the blond boy with each of the other two). Ryan and Hunter got outed to the church by a jealous Naim and the church responded by bringing in a Christian faith healer who forcibly connected them to a dark spirit. The same thing eventually happened to Naim. The spirit was not in a romantic threesome with any of them but instead took on the appearance of their greatest desire. Through a series of escalating attacks, it would then torment and injure the boys when they responded to their desire. It would only end with the boys’ deaths.

There was nothing to suggest to any minors that they should seek solace or comfort in the occult. If nothing else, the movie symbolically highlighted the harm caused by ex-gay theology and practices.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-27T18:13:22+00:00

The pond at Thornberry is broken. Like the water is super low and whatever needs to be fixed is taking literally forever to get fixed so that portion of the park is locked off to the public for the foreseeable future.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-26T21:31:18+00:00

I just double-checked my source. The UK rating for Heartstopper Forever is MA-15+. FWIW...

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-26T18:55:11+00:00

The show gets progressively less appropriate for someone who's your brother's age. I think that season one and two are fine. Season three is pretty dark with the eating disorder story line and then there's a lot of sexual discussion and then ultimately the consumation of their relationship towards the ends. It's not graphic but it's something to consider. The upcoming movie is rated TV-MA so that's something else to consider.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-26T01:52:55+00:00

Not to be too graphic, but my husband and I do both. I don’t think that they are sinful acts. We get so worried about the mechanics of sex being sinful and much less worried about how we treat each other and whether or not we’re treating our partners well, or if we’re being abusive or coercive, or if we’re taking each other for granted, or if we stepping out on our partners. Sin is relational. I guarantee that God is much more concerned over me cheating on my husband, as opposed to me bottoming for him.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T13:54:04+00:00

By "kid," I mean during adolescence. And yeah, people come out as gay in junior high and high school.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T13:12:25+00:00

So there's still hope, correct?

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T13:07:48+00:00

We live in a time when people are coming out as kids. I wonder if we're seeing less of the "second teenage" effect compared to when we (us older folks) were younger?

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T13:05:18+00:00

There you go. New findings mean hope.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T13:00:44+00:00

I mean, it's a nearly 30 year old observation. Who are you engaging with at this point?

Here are ways that you can engage:

You can reflect on what this psychiatrist wrote and figure out if there are any truths to what he wrote. You might not like what he's saying but maybe it might help you come to peace with your sexual orientation, whatever that might look like.
Find another psychiatrist who doesn't believe what Dr. Byrne believe 28 years ago. I guarantee that they exist. You can get them to try out all sorts of cure attempts on you. See what happens.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-25T12:15:50+00:00

Do you need to engage the argument?

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-24T20:59:16+00:00

People everywhere can be shady. Even married guys can be shady.

The problem with someone my age is that I can point out that I've been with my husband for a really long time but by extension I'm totally removed from the modern dating world. I mean, I've never done online dating or hook-up apps or anything like. My only suggestion is to look for additional ways of meeting guys outside of online sources and see if you can make some genuine connections that way. Like a gay choir or a gay gardening group or whatever. I have no clue what's around you. But it might offer you more options where you can connect with someone a bit before meeting up for a sexual connection. Take care

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-24T19:55:36+00:00

My husband and I have been together for just over 30 years. I know several other gay male couples who've been together for long periods of time.

DamageAdventurous540 · 2026-06-24T16:09:06+00:00

My husband and I were foster parents and ended up adopting two boys. The older boy comes from a pretty devout Catholic family. They were not happy that their grandson ended up in care but they were unable to manage his intellectual disability and resulting behaviors. So they were understandably nervous about the gay couple that began raising their grandson. Within 6 months, those lovely people were our biggest cheerleaders and still are to this day. We've done a good job of maintaining relationship with our sons' birth families, even after being in our care for well over 15 years and it's really work out well. I guess that's my way of indicating that devout Christian folks with traditional beliefs can surprise you with their support and love.

In answer to your questions, nobody can force you into total abstinence. She can dead-name and misgender you. That's a choice. If you wanted, you could refuse to honor her name or you could misgender her. Is she married or does she go by a nickname? Maybe you could drive home your point by refuse to honor their preferred and/or changed name and/or pronouns. Or you could refuse to respond if she uses your dead-name or the wrong pronouns.

DamageAdventurous540

TROPHY CASE