Perspective from Baptist

Hi, my name is Thomas Smith. I'm 55 years old baptist and I have a gay son named Jeffrey. When my son came out his sexuality to me, I was really shocked and couldn't accept that because I had a strong religious belief and I believed that sexual relationship between the same-sex is a sin. I love my son more than anything. However, I just didn’t  know what to say or what to do at that time. So, I called some of the baptists and asked advice, and they suggested me to subject him to a conversion therapy in order to make him heterosexual. That’s why I booked a therapy program for him. Honestly, I didn’t know what kind of therapy will be conducted in the conversation therapy. I just wanted him to be heterosexual and I wanted him to spend a "normal" life. However, now, I can say that it was a huge mistake. About 2 months later I sent him to a conversion therapy, he run out of the conversion therapy and came back home. Then, our relationship changed completely. He avoided interacting with me and hardly talk to me. After all, I couldn’t make him straight. Only one thing that I changed was a relationship between Jeffrey and me. We became like strangers living in the same house.

After he graduated from the college, he moved to NY and became a writer.
When he came back home during the holiday season, we talked for the first time in a while and he told me in tears that he couldn’t be my son anymore if I still have a homophobic mind. At that time, I realized that how I had hurt him by denying his sexual orientation and I didn’t want to lose my precious son from the bottom of my heart.

It was so hard for me to change my religious beliefs, but I can say it was definitely easier than losing my son.

Now, we became close again and I hope that he is going to be happy just the way he is.

Works Cited

聖書は同性愛を本当に罪だと教えているか？ ―キリスト教の疑問. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://true-ark.com/homosexuality-bible-teaching/

ABOUT THE MOVIE |. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.boy-erased.jp/aboutthemovie.html


Written by Mizuki