Straight Christian Lived Full Year As A Gay Man, No Longer Homophobic
Oct. 11 2012, Published 9:30 a.m. ET
By Amber Goodhand - Breaking Celebrity News News Editor
What happens when a conservative Christian man immerses himself in the gay community and lives for a year as a gay man? His eyes were opened to how society treats gay people and Breaking Celebrity News has all the details.
Portland native Timothy Kurek, 26, was prompted to take part in "spiritual espionage" when a close friend revealed her family had disowned her after they found out she was a lesbian and his entire journey is documented in his new book, The Cross in the Closet.
As a God-fearing man, he was raised to believe that being homosexual was an abomination and the only way to Heaven is to repent — but when he caught himself contemplating the idea of "converting" his friend, he felt ashamed.
"I feel God really kicked me in the gut," Timothy told ABC News.
"She was crying in my arms and instead of being there for her, I was thinking about all the arguments to convert her."
With the help of his gay friend Shawn, Timothy "came out" and began living life as a gay man in an effort to understand how society treats gay people, and he was shocked at how quickly he was shunned by his closest friends and family.
"The thing that struck me most was the isolation. Before I came out as gay, I had a very busy social life," he said.
"After I came out, I didn't hear from 95 percent of my friends."
And perhaps most hurtful, was what he found in his own mother's journal when he took a peek to see what she thought about having a gay son.
"I'd rather have found out from a doctor that I had terminal cancer than have a gay son," she wrote.
While