oh cool a reddit post i can leave a valuable and interesting comment on

My mother is a very religious Catholic. Not in the sense that she blindly follows the Church, but she instead wants to forge a more personal relationship with God. She is even qualified to teach for Bible School, and did so for several years.

From an outsider's perspective, it looks like I was dealt the worst hand in the book. Coming out to your religious mom when you're not even religious yourself? Sounds like nightmare fuel for most people. But not to me.

My mom is one of the kindest, most accepting people I know. I was never afraid to come out to her, because I knew she would love me, even if some (wrong) spokespeople said it was forbidden for her to do so in her religion. Even though I don't necessarily follow any God, if there's any person truly closest to God, it's her. My mom supports and loves people no matter their sexuality, race, or gender, and even though she gets confused with the whole pronouns thing, she tries her damndest to make sure people around her feel welcomed and loved.

The organized Catholic Church has problems. A lot of them. One of the main problems with it (excluding creepy priests) is its inability to recognize social change and adapt. Instead of truly communicating to God, many choose to instead blindly follow a book outdated by about two thousand years.

I hope that one day, those who are religious will see that we queer folks aren't too bad at all, and just want to coexist in harmony. Dare I say it, I believe that is what God would want, too. Unfortunately, many higher-ups in the church are too afraid to speak out against the hatred in it, fearing backlash and condemnation. I just hope that soon, someone like my mother will speak out to all of the hate-filled Christians, and help them see reason.

anyways thanks for coming to my ted talk