“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…” [Hebrews 12:1]
Some people were once gay but are no longer.
Some people have been changed.
Some people consider themselves refugees from the LGBT subculture.
We introduce them to you.
Are people “born gay?”
Is it true that “gay is good?”
Can people change their patterns of sexual behavior and attractions?
What does “gay” even mean?
These are some of the questions our witnesses answer.
If you wonder about yourself or a loved one, get acquainted with these people.
Read their stories. Look up their ministries. Consider their testimonies.
Hudson Byblow
Rev. Charlene Cothran
Paul Darrow
Doug Mainwaring
Robert Vazzo
Elizabeth Woning
Witness (definition from Dictionary.com):
(verb): to see, hear or know by personal presence and perception
(noun): a person who gives testimony, as in a court of law
Hudson Byblow is a teacher and Catholic speaker. He shares his journey from being bullied and abused and thinking he must be gay, to being a free man, living in the freedom of Christ as a Catholic, joyfully striving to live a life of chastity.
Reverend Charlene E. Cothran is President of The Evidence Ministry, Inc., a ministry of the Zion Baptist Church of Palm Coast, FL. Charlene is a former advocate for gay rights and former active member of: the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Lesbian Conference, and the National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum. She was recruited by the VICTORY Fund and was the co-founder of In The Life Atlanta (Black gay pride), founded Hospitality Atlanta, and was the publisher of an internationally distributed gay and lesbian lifestyles magazine, VENUS.
After 29 years of lesbian life, Miss Cothran experienced a radical transformation in 2006 months after an encounter with Jesus Christ during Chicago Black Gay Pride event.
By her new life and work, Charlene offers evidence that God is still in the business of changing lives! She is now a pro-family activist, an international evangelist, and a conference speaker. She offers expert testimony for legislators fighting for religious freedom in the US and abroad.
Paul Darrow moved to Manhattan immediately after graduating college and became an international fashion model, a pleasure-seeker and an atheist. His former hedonistic life, glamorous careers, same-sex attraction and ties to high society have provided him with invaluable insight into today’s alternative lifestyles.
Shortly after converting to Catholicism, Paul was surprised to find himself being filmed as a subject for the award-winning movie Desire of the Everlasting Hills, which was distributed to all the bishops at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He has appeared on EWTN and is a frequent guest on talk radio from coast to coast. Whether giving presentations to high school and college students, priests, seminarians, penitentiary inmates or Catholic groups across the U.S. and in Europe, Paul shares his unusual testimony in order to be a living example that God’s grace is more powerful than even the greatest of human temptations.
Desire of the Everlasting Hills: EverlastingHills.org
Doug Mainwaring is a journalist, an author, and a marriage, family and children’s rights activist. He has testified before the United States Congress and state legislative bodies, originated and co-authored amicus briefs for the United States Supreme Court, and has been a guest on numerous TV and radio programs.
Robert Vazzo, Marriage and Family Therapist, began his career working with Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, a pioneer in working with men with unwanted same-sex attraction. He has lived and worked in France, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey and maintains an active interest in multicultural counseling. His philosophy is “Live life from your True Self and Witness the Creative Power of God.”
"Today I am happy, joyful, and feminine—all things that I never was while living as a lesbian. I am no longer sexually attracted to women. Rather, I am a strong advocate for their empowerment to overcome the effects of injustices against them."
Equipped to Love, Christian ministry to practicing and former LGBTQ+
elizabethwoning.com, Elizabeth’s blog
CHANGEDmovement.com: #OnceGay stories
(contains remarks by Elizabeth Woning & Laura Lowder)
The Ruth Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
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