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I disagree. The columnist appears to have largely reported her words correctly. She's upset that her "private" words were made public, but it's not a reporter's job to help people keep their opinions hidden, or to clean up the mess that results when people talk trash about others behind their backs and get caught.

Assam says that the events happened in July 2009. Noreen didn't even bother to report that fact. Mr. Noreen is not a passive reporter in this story; he's shaping the narrative for reasons of his own. We should always take into account the reporter's slant for stories like this.

I don't remember anybody EVER arguing differently here. Your statement is not equivalent to her charge that she was "clearly asked to leave" (although as she notes "not wirh words").

Which brings us back to Mr. Noreen, who appears to be the one who introduced "asked her to leave" into the story. See what I mean? As it happens, though, there were plenty of folks who called her a liar, and one (you) who called her "evil." There's no need to quibble about the words Mr. Noreen seems to have added, when you're convinced that she's evil.

I think we all agree that she left the church because of her sinful actions, and I presume because her church refused to accept her sinful actions as proper.

Well, that's just simplistic to the point of priggishness. If people were made of Legos, I suppose you could build a nice story like that. Real life is a lot messier.

And yet I see nothing in that story that in any way contradicts what the Pastor said.

Except that he left out a few details about the events in question, didn't he? (In Mr. Noreen's telling, at any rate -- see? He's still important here.) Boyd makes it seem like Ms. Assam is lying -- her story is "absolutely untrue." No suggestion that anything actually might have caused her to leave, no indication that something went on between them.... Just the flat statement that she's not telling the truth. Which is just a little dishonest, don't you think?

I don't give Ms. Assam a free pass on this; I think she stretched the truth. But she's not the only one whose story needs to be taken with a grain of salt. New Life's pastor, Barry Noreen, and a bunch of stone-throwers on this thread need to be called out as well.

As it happens, though, there were plenty of folks who called her a liar, and one (you) who called her "evil." There's no need to quibble about the words Mr. Noreen seems to have added, when you're convinced that she's evil.

We are all evil. None of us can do good. In her case, she calls her evil "good":

A reporter from the Colorado Springs Gazette has outed me to the public and made it appear as if I now, all of a sudden, am wanting people to know what New Life did to me and why I left.
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Yes, it was very ugly and I am still baffled at the way I was treated, but I didn’t say anything to anyone. Why would I now, in 2011 decide to reveal details? I didn’t then and I won’t now

So already she is publicly saying her separation with the church was "ugly", while arguing that she won't reveal details.

I shared with the audience at this private event that I, too, had been hurt by the leadership at my church,
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I shared with the audience that I left New Life and eventually moved completely out of Colorado Springs to Denver.
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I was told by my church and Christian friends that it [being gay] was an abomination.
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I agreed [to speak publicly at the "private event"] because so many gay adults and teens actually commit suicide because their church and/or pastor tells them it is a sin to be gay. To me, telling a gay person that even though they love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength that they are still going to hell is the abomination.
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I don’t regret speaking to the people at that event. What I do not like is that the Gazette reporter made it look like I’m bringing up ghosts from the past when I have moved on. I don’t want to talk about what they did to me. It took long enough for scabs to cover those wounds and I’m not about to pull them off now.

So, in her talk that she insists was NOT about bringing up the past, she says she told her audience that her church hurt her, that they were the abomination, that they hurt her, that the wounded her. But she didn't want to talk about it, even while she talks about it.

I’m not out to bash that church or the pastor. I don’t operate that way. As I said before, if I really wanted the public to know what happened and why I left, I would have said something in 2009.

She says they attacked her for being gay, called her an abomination, but in fact THEY are the abomination, and that they made it clear to her that she wasn't welcome. But no, she doesn't "operate that way".

Meanwhile, she tells faithful Christians that it is OK to perform gay sex acts, that they can be loved by God and honor Him while purposefully committing sinful acts, that people who try to speak the Word of God against sin are "abominations". She leads good people down the same path of sin that she walks. That is evil.

She relishes her sin, and speaks evil about her church when it attempts Godly correction of her sinful ways.

I think we all agree that she left the church because of her sinful actions, and I presume because her church refused to accept her sinful actions as proper.
Well, that's just simplistic to the point of priggishness. If people were made of Legos, I suppose you could build a nice story like that. Real life is a lot messier.
And yet I see nothing in that story that in any way contradicts what the Pastor said.
Except that he left out a few details about the events in question, didn't he? (In Mr. Noreen's telling, at any rate -- see? He's still important here.) Boyd makes it seem like Ms. Assam is lying -- her story is "absolutely untrue." No suggestion that anything actually might have caused her to leave, no indication that something went on between them.... Just the flat statement that she's not telling the truth. Which is just a little dishonest, don't you think?

It probably was a lot messier. I can only guess. Maybe things got more than a bit emotional and some things got said that are now regretted. Maybe she got shunned and avoided by the other church members instead of being told to leave. Maybe she was told that she could no longer be part of the security team. Who knows. Whatever the true story is and the exact details are, it probably was a bit messy.

I don't think anyone is perfect. Without knowing her in person, there is no telling if she is a quiet person who keeps to herself, or someone with a lot of other issues.

I had just asked a few questions about a week ago about lesbians on the police force. Seems there is a lot of drama oftentimes going on in their lives. Most of the time under the surface, but apparently sometimes it boils over.

I guess being homosexual, either gay or lesbian, is very stressful on a person even with the current level of acceptance of gays and lebians in society.

I guess with two women (or two men) the proper emotional balance that God designed for the relationship between a man and a woman, is not there where the two partners are the same sex.

I guess that's why most churches suggest people who are not attracted to the opposite sex lead celebate lives rather than hooking up with a same sex partner.

I guess the emotional differences that draws a man and a woman together and sustains them in a relationship works against the two partners in a same sex relationship.

Kind of like the + and - minus electrical charges of atomic particles or the North and South poles of two bar magnets. The opposites attract but two of the same polarity push away. Kind of a simple example that really isn't exactly biological but I do think that God sometimes leaves little clues in his design of creation as to how he thinks.

Aside from all that, whatever the actual facts are, I do hope that God intervenes and touches her heart and heals her hurt and shows her the way of what His path is for her. I wish her all the best.