Thursday November 12, 2009
Interview: Former Gay Youth Leader Re-Emerges to Tell His Dramatic Conversion Story
By Patrick B. Craine
November 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two years ago Michael Glatze sent shockwaves through the homosexualist establishment when he declared publicly that he had left his life as a prominent homosexual activist, become Christian, and embraced "normal human sexuality."
However, after being subjected to intense criticism and ridicule following his conversion, Glatze decided to "go inside," "be silent," and "process" for a time, but now says he feels compelled to share his story anew. In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), Glatze said that, far from reverting back to his old lifestyle (as many of his critics in the homosexual community said he would) he is "extremely happy, and able to have a very good, normal, healthy life."
Glatze started identifying as homosexual at 20. After that he went on to found a popular homosexualist youth magazine - Young Gay America - in his early 20s, and had become a nationally-recognized media source on homosexual issues by 30.
During that time, however, he began to have doubts about homosexuality, and in 2005, after a decade working in the homosexual movement, he gave it all up, deciding it was "wrong and immoral." Just prior to leaving his position at the magazine, as he recounted in 2007 when he first went public with his conversion, he wrote on his office computer: "Homosexuality is death, and I choose life."
After announcing his conversion, Glatze says he was "trashed by people who didn't know me to such an extent that I felt I needed to go inside, more, to further understand everything I was discussing."
"The fury that comes from 'gay' people against people like me can be vicious and vile, and it can hurt," he told LSN. "They stop at nothing to make me feel ashamed for my current stance on homosexuality, and to try to make me doubt what I have experienced in my life."
"I got to a point where I decided to be 'silent,' and turn down offers to speak, and process," he said.
Since then he says he has "relied on God, and God alone." "I have enjoyed living a relatively 'normal' life," he said. "I go to church. I've dated girls. And, I continue to understand the ramifications of the homosexual sin in increasingly deep ways, as I encounter others in the grip of this sin, learn more about human nature, and watch my own experiences - comparing them to the way I might've responded or acted in certain situations just a few years ago."
Now ready to share his story again, he says he is insistent on grounding his identity in God rather than defining himself according to his status as "ex-gay." "I don't want to be some kind of spokesperson that makes this issue seem too much about me," he explained.
"There are countless individuals who have successfully left the homosexual lifestyle, have gotten away from the habits of homosexual sin, and who have happy and healthy lives," he continued.
He says he has been edified by "many, many e-mails from people in various parts of the world who related to my story ... who encouraged me to keep going down this road, who are happy, who have left homosexuality far, far behind, who have kids, [and] who have beautiful spouses."
"Part of the problem with 'getting the word out,' is that we're actually just talking about normal human experience," he said. "It's not the kind of thing where you feel the need to take hours out of your life, run around shouting, 'People breathe air!'"
The truth is "obvious," he explained. "Heterosexuality is normal human sexuality, while homosexuality is a deviation. These are obvious things. What is so ground-breaking is how successful activists have been at clouding out reality."
"I think as the angry media continues to perpetuate the myth that homosexuality can't be cured, ... I want to continue to send the message of truth in opposition to that lie," he said, "supported by the fact that I have just continued to be happier, more confident, and much, much more healthy - and much less, less gay - since 2007 and the years before."
(Read a column by Glatze himself.)
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Prominent U.S. Gay Activist Now Publicly Speaking Out Against Homosexuality