Every day as I read queer blogs I become more and more disheartened.  A majority of the comments made end up turning into some religious debate between self identified gays and self identified Christians. Note that the two never mix! It is one group against the other ranting about how the one is “going to Hell” and that the other needs to stop “forcing religion” onto others.  In most cases I am always up for a good debate, however, this is one debate that is way past its prime. The same ten statements are being said over and over for example;
 
Homosexuality is a sin, it’s in the Bible. (Leviticus 18:22 & Genesis 1:28 as examples)
Vs.
The Bible was written down by a man, men can be wrong, and it can be interpreted wrong, therefore homosexuality is not a sin.
    
The US was grounded in Biblical Text so its laws follow and should continue to follow this pattern.
Vs.
The US was grounded on religious freedom so your religion should not rule my life.
 
This debate should be dead! Anyone who ever took a speech class knows that one should only continue debating if they have new information to present, which is obviously not the case for either party in this debate.  More problematic than the fact that this debate should be dead is the problem that both communities are alienating some of their own community members.
 
I identify as a Queer Christian.  Now before some of you stop reading and begin to reply to this post with the same debate please hear me out. 

Each and every one of us has multiple identities, being Queer and Christian is only a tiny fraction of who I am, however it is these two identities that have caused so much turmoil in my life.  

When I am with my Christian friends I am in the closet. I cannot come out to them as being queer because I cannot stand to have any more people condemn me to hell and try to “save” me; after all they are not the one with the power to do that anyway.  At the same time, every day when I am  with my queer friends I have to be in the closet, the Christian closet.  While I want to be proud of my beliefs and share them with others I feel like I cannot because once again I will end up in the same old debate.  
 
So what does this self-identified Queer Christian want you to do? Well there are three things;
 
Realize that everyone in the room you are in does not have the same belief system as you. Just because we do not speak up does not mean that we agree.
 
Realize that rude remarks, statements and actions are offensive to not only the group you are aiming them for but also to some members of your own community.  If we keep tearing down members of our own community without thinking about it we will never have the strongest community possible.
 
And Finally!
 
Come out of the Closet! Those of you that are Queer Christians like me, Stand Up, Be Proud and do not let either community push you down and force you to hide. I know that I too need to work on this but together we can be strong and make both communities more compassionate.