Echoe Matthews is a beloved teacher. She is an incredible teacher with a heart for students and a love of kids. After decades of counseling and teaching in Tennessee’s largest gay community, she wrote her own book, The Gay Christian Parent. It is timely, it is well-written, and it touches on issues affecting parents and their children, especially as they come to terms with their own sexuality and as they seek to have children of their own.
One story tells the tale of a traditional-minded older parent who took his son to Sunday school but had never been to church. The teacher asked the father if he would be willing to take the boy’s place in his class. He said no because he was gay but because he didn’t believe the bible allows for gay marriage. The teacher then asked the father why not. He replied that the boy couldn’t go to heaven because he was a gay man. The teacher asked him why he didn’t believe gay marriage was allowed in the Bible. He explained that he had been involved in sinful sexual activity with men. That is hate.
Unfortunately, the mother was so traumatized from the experience, she filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education claiming discrimination based upon gender and religion. Her argument was that the government should not teach that a sin is something that excludes someone from love, whether that someone is straight, gay, bi, lesbian, or whatever. Thankfully, we live in a country where people are allowed a free speech column when it comes to their feelings, and she did have the right to speak her mind. Her supervisor denied her complaint. We hope other dads will stand up and defend their children. The Bible says that all people are created equal and that everyone deserves love, friendship and acceptance.