OLD TESTAMENT, Leviticus chapter 18 verse 22. The false Hebrew god speaks to Moses:
‘You shall not lie with a male as lie with a woman; it is an abomination.’

OLD TESTAMENT, Leviticus chapter 20 verse 13. The false Hebrew god speaks to Moses:
‘If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.’

NEW TESTAMENT, Romans chapter 1 verse 26-27. A letter written by Paul the Apostle to the Romans:
‘For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.’ (King James Version)

NEW TESTAMENT, Romans chapter 1 verse 26-27. A letter written by Paul the Apostle to the Romans:
‘Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.’ (New International Version)

NEW TESTAMENT, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9-11. A letter written by Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:
‘Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.’ (King James Version)

NEW TESTAMENT, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9-11. A letter written by Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:
‘Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.’ (New International Version)

From a young age I knew that I was different. As a young child I was a girly boy, because I had a girly voice and I played with dolls and My Little Ponies. When I was about 7 years old, I loved dressing up, so sometimes I wore my mother’s dresses which were way too large for me, and I loved making wigs. I never wanted to be a girl, but dressing up was just fun to me when I was a little child, although I stopped doing it when I was about 10 years old. I simply lost interest for women’s clothes. Maybe because I discovered other hobbies. When I was 12 years old, other children in my neighbourhood started bullying me and calling me a faggot, because I was a 12 year old boy with a girly voice. When I went to high school students bullied me for many years. I was bullied for my brown skin color, but also for being a sissy. They didn’t want to sit next to me, because they believed that I had aids, but I had never been intimate with another boy or man at that time. So it was prejudice and fear. I was so innocent at that time. When I was 17 years old, I didn’t even know what gay sex exactly meant. I had no idea what kind of sex two men could have with each other. But I was very much aware of the fact that I was gay.

I’ve always felt attracted to other men. When I was 6 or 7 years old, I already started getting crushes on other boys at school (Nutsschool Morgenstond in The Hague, Netherlands). For example, there was an older boy with dark hair at my school, much older than I was, maybe he was 11 or 12 years old, and I thought he was so beautiful. During the lunch break I went to our playground, I was only 6 or 7 years old, and I couldn’t help looking at this gorgeous older boy with dark hair. This older boy had a blond friend who was the same age (11 or 12) and this blond guy became my big friend at school and he protected me. But there were also some other kids (mostly girls) who became my friends. I had a great time at elementary school.

Many years later, when I attended a catholic high school (St. Janscollege in The Hague), things had changed. At high school there was nobody who protected me. There was nobody who comforted me when I felt sad. Not even school teachers were able to stop the bullying. So I had to learn to stand up for myself. In 1993 or 1994 when I was 15 years old, a few boys at school asked me if I was gay and I said ‘yes’. Then they got angry and started calling ugly names to me. Soon everybody at school knew it. After this bad experience I was afraid to come out of the closet, because I was afraid for people’s reactions, although everybody already suspected that I was gay, because I came across effeminate because of my girly voice. But still it took me a long time to come out. Eventually on 7 October 2000 when I turned 22 years old, I finally came out to my parents and other family.

Even today I’m still being discriminated against when I apply for a job. So many employers rejected me and said I was too “soft” for the job. People always think I’m too soft, because I have a soft and feminine voice. Whenever I talk to people on the phone, they always think I’m a woman, so then I have to tell them I’m a man. There have been many prejudices against me and my career has really suffered because of that. I have a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Art History (Leiden University). Yes, I know that for most art history graduates it’s hard to find a job in this era, but that’s not the only reason I can’t find a decent job in a museum or someplace else. There’s also a lot of prejudice against me, because whenever people see me and hear my voice, they immediately think I’m gay. Somehow they always think I’m too soft for the job. They won’t take me seriously, because they think I’m just a sissy. I can’t help having a soft voice and looking skinny. I’m not a macho looking man, but I know I’m tough enough for any job!

For many years I’ve wondered where these prejudices come from. Well, I think this hatred comes from religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions have caused so much suffering in this world, not only discriminating against homosexuals and lesbians, but especially discrimination against men who are naturally feminine. People will accept a gay man much quicker if he keeps acting masculine (straight-acting), but they will reject a gay man who comes across a bit feminine. This is crazy, because there’s some femininity in every man and there’s some masculinity in every woman. That’s nature! Every child is created by a man and woman! You’ll get dna from both sexes. Don’t feel ashamed of that!

I was born in The Hague, Netherlands on 7 October 1978 and raised in a catholic family, because my mother and father come from catholic families in Suriname (South America). I was baptized in a catholic church in The Hague on 6 January 1980 when I was 1 year old. But my parents were not strict catholic, so I was lucky. I had a lot of freedom. My parents split up in summer 1983 and then my mother married a Dutch man (my stepfather) who is not religious at all, but my mother and I kept our faith. I started having doubts about christianity when I was 18 years old, because the whitewashing of Yeshua (Jesus) seemed suspicious to me. Another reason, many christians always use a double standard and they are so pretentious. They condemn a loving kiss between two men, but they enjoy watching violence in Hollywood movies, video games and on television. Many christians in the United States also support gun possession. Their way of thinking is just so ridiculous. It’s all brainwashing and I will not tolerate it any longer!

The false god in the Bible needs to go! When I was a little boy reading the Bible, Genesis chapter 22 (Binding of Isaac), I always thought it was very strange that this so called “god” tempts Abraham to sacrifice his own beloved son Isaac. What kind of god would ask something like that to a mortal? What a bully! Obviously, this god wants to put fear in people, so he’s not loving at all. It’s a clear example of power abuse (reference to #metoo movement). Just because a god is more powerful, does that make it okay to abuse his power in this way and to bully our loved ones? Hell no! Of course I know that Abraham did not have to sacrifice his son eventually, but still the idea that a god would dare to ask something like that is so disrespectful and evil. A true loving God would never ask something like that, because it’s unnatural to kill your own child! This biblical god is evil and we have to let him go! He acts like a typical alpha male bully who doesn’t have any respect for the LGBT community. Biblical god, you are dismissed!

There’s only one positive thing coming from the Bible and that’s Yeshua (Jesus). The way Yeshua helped outcasts and sick people is a story that has touched me. I believe he really cared for those people. I just don’t understand, how could the Hebrew biblical god Jahweh be the “Father” of Yeshua? Yeshua seems like such a good loving person, while his so called “Father” is the complete opposite. His “Father” seems so aggressive, violent, misogynistic and homophobic. Are Yeshua and Jahweh really the same person? Well, I hope not!

Written by Ryan Maurice Roemer on 29 March 2018.