Group founded by gay bishop helps teens feel safe

Nashua Telegraph, NH ^ | August 10, 2003 | Alex Ortolani, Associated Press Writer

[schaketo]

CONCORD – Before Rev. V. Gene Robinson was making national headlines as the Episcopal Church’s first elected gay bishop, he helped Ryan Bolin deal with being young, Christian and homosexual.

“I had a real hard time reconciling being gay and being Christian at the time,” said Bolin, who met Robinson at Concord Outright in 1995. Robinson was working as assistant to the current Bishop Douglas Theuner when he helped launch Concord Outright.

Bolin, 17 at the time, said Robinson was very caring and respectful.

“He helped me out with the bigger picture. He made me feel very welcome and very safe,” he said.

Bolin, who now lives in Minneapolis, said it’s fantastic that Robinson was confirmed bishop of the New Hampshire diocese.

“He’s one of the most unassuming, quiet, nice people. To think that this kind of person would create such an international raucous is mind-blowing,” he said.

Concord Outright was started in 1995 and provides a meeting space for gay teens and their friends to meet and talk with two to three adult counselors about topics such as homophobic peers, drugs, relationships and families.

The group got negative publicity when Robinson’s confirmation was delayed, partly because of an allegation that its Web site was indirectly linked to pornography.

Martha Yager, co-chairwoman of the group’s board of directors, said the Web site had links to resources for people interested in issues surrounding homosexuality, but not porn. She said one of those links led to a bisexual page, which in turn linked to a porn site.

Yager said Robinson hasn’t been involved with the group since 1998 and had no role in developing its Web page.

Knox Turner, one of Outright’s founders, said Robinson got involved because he saw the need to give teenagers a safe space to talk and ask questions.

“This is an extraordinary man. He was so concerned about the kids. He understood the problems they were facing,” he said.

Turner and Robinson were both counselors from 1995 to 1998, when Robinson left because of his hectic schedule. Turner stayed on to work as the program’s administrator until 2000.

“(Robinson) was a great listener. The best facilitators are those people who listen really well . . . Gene was excellent at this. You know a person’s a good listener by virtue of the questions they ask,” he said.

Turner said Outright continues to help teens who are not receiving support either at home or at school. He can recall a number of incidents when the group helped teens who were depressed and even suicidal.

“We don’t have an agenda. We don’t try to change people’s minds. It’s so they can see there are well-adjusted gay adults who are there to listen,” Turner said.

The idea for Concord Outright came from Seacoast Outright, a support group for teens in Portsmouth. There are now nine loosely affiliated Outright organizations located in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Concord Outright meets every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord Unitarian Universalist Church.

[HostileTerritory]

Thank you for the explanation; each denomination has its doctrine on homosexuality and its responsibility to be true to itself, and no one could presume to tell a Christian what to think about it as a sin.

What bothers me so much is the comparison to alcoholism. I don't think it's a useful analogy and opponents of homosexuality do themselves a disservice by recasting every argument in terms of alcoholism. Paloma drew an explicit link between alcoholism and Christianity which I think is silly. Most churches think recreational use of alcohol is ok, but Paloma says that Christians have a responsibility to prevent themselves from becoming alcoholics. If homosexuality is comparable to alcoholism, what it the comparison to recreational drinking--recreational homosexuality? Is use always the same as abuse? I don't think so. That's where the analogy falls apart.

The only Christians with a right to compare homosexuality to alcoholism, and to claim their church would treat homosexuals as they treat alcoholics, must belong to demoninations like the 7th Day Adventists that prohibit alcohol for ALL members. Not just for the select few other than the person making the claim.

[demkicker]

I really don't have anything to say to someone who has missed the point of what I wrote on so many levels.

So many levels, huh? </ bwahahaha> Your name fits you to a tee.

[GladesGuru]

Kewl! What used to be "group sex at an orgy" is now called
"participants joined in role plays". At least they were honest enough to use the word "joined".

Given that this is funded with state monies, there should be detailed records kept of funded activities. Perhaps some enterprising Vermonter might check into the existance of "records" of the 'role plays'. The videos might be very educational for the taxpayers.

Since teacher are expected to have professional skills, what were the qualifications of those instructing the 'participants' in the various sex practices? There should be records of the qualifing tests, and the instructor's scores.

Inquiring minds want to know.

[GladesGuru]

Kewl! What used to be "group sex at an orgy" is now called
"participants joined in role plays". At least they were honest enough to use the word "joined".

Given that this is funded with state monies, there should be detailed records kept of funded activities. Perhaps some enterprising Vermonter might check into the existance of "records" of the 'role plays'. The videos might be very educational for the taxpayers.

Since teacher are expected to have professional skills, what were the qualifications of those instructing the 'participants' in the various sex practices? There should be records of the qualifing tests, and the instructor's scores.

From the original article comes the following sentence:
"The ball was attended by 60 teens and 80 adults."
I wonder what sort of 'adults' attended? Were they 'role playing, too? Were any of the 'adults' members of the NAMBLA crowd?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Kevin Curry]

What bothers me so much is the comparison to alcoholism.

Alcoholism is an imperfect albeit useful analogy. Don't make too much of it.

A better analogy is pedophilia. Pedophiles exhibit addictive obsessions with child sex to the point that they spend the larger part of their lives seeking it out. It consumes them. Even if sent to prison or provided extensive counseling, they rarely overcome their sickness. It is not a healthy state of mind or soul regardless of whether the compulsion is acted upon or not. But at least by resisting the compulsion and seeking God's grace, the actor may obtain forgiveness and be reconciled with God.

[xm177e2]

Notice some of the quotes above about how “caring”, “respectful”, “he made me feel very welcome and very safe”, etc. are played up.

Yeah, I mean, it's not like gay teenagers are ever treated disrespectfully or made to feel unsafe or unwelcome. It's perfectly inconceivable that an adult homosexual would want to do something nice for teenagers whose situation he was once in.

[upcountryhorseman]

It would have made more sense if ait was pointed out that
homosexuality is an aboration and offer therapy and
couseling.

[txzman]

"Is use always the same as abuse? I don't think so. That's where the analogy falls apart."

If you'll notice, I used the term "abuse" not use when I talked about what God sees as sin. This precept goes back to the earliest Old testament teachings about god's relationship to and with man.

[Jim Noble]

I don't understand the alcohol analogy

Hre's a better one.

I am oriented to adultery. I don't know why I am this way, I can't help it. Maybe I was born that way.

However, for both scriptural (#6), emotional (I love my wife) and practical (Smith & Wesson) reasons, I refrain from acting out my orientation.

And I certainly never asked the Episcopal Church to develop a rite for blessing the motel keys.

[lavaroise]

GAYS #1 THREAT ARE GAYS.... END OF STORY

now where is that whitemale heterosexual scumbag scapgoat to beat on.....

[Paloma_55]

Kleptomania?

Nobody is saying it is OK to steal either. I wonder if the Episcopalians will have a Klepto Bishop any time soon?

For some reason, the homosexual lobby has gotten huge support from the media and Democrats over the last 30 years and now even the Republicans are starting to bend over for them.

Pat Buchanan has a really good analysis of the issue in WND today.

[Paloma_55]

And I certainly never asked the Episcopal Church to develop a rite for blessing the motel keys.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34026

Pat Buchanan nails this one pretty good.

[HostileTerritory]

Is kleptomania commonly considered a bad thing because:

1. It is a sin against God

-or-

2. Kleptomaniacs hurt innocent people directly by stealing their stuff?

If the answer is #2, how is this like criticism of homosexuality which relies on its being a sin?

[HostileTerritory]

Pedophilia is a good analogy for homosexuality (or any sexuality) in that there's an inner drive that has to be controlled or completely suppressed. By this standard, we could say that overeating is like pedophilia.

It's a bad analogy for convincing people to join your cause against homosexuality. The reason people hate and fear pedophiles is not that they're committing a sin against their souls, but because they're raping children and doing harm to innocents. You could make a tortured case for consensual sex between adults as a form of rape, I suppose, but I don't think it would be convincing.

But I know you've heard this already.

[Bluntpoint]

Ask yourselves:

Would this guy even be a priest today if he had left his wife and children for another women?

[Kevin Curry]

It's a bad analogy for convincing people to join your cause against homosexuality. The reason people hate and fear pedophiles is not that they're committing a sin against their souls, but because they're raping children and doing harm to innocents.

"Consent" is a phony basis for distinguishing between the two sicknesses, as will become very clear in the coming decade as pedophiles trod the vile road gays have blazed to force public acceptance of their sickness. Pedophiles will argue that "consent" is an objective standard that must be measured according to the actual cognitive ability of the particular so-called "child" at issue. You'll be hard-pressed to refute their logic.

A homosexual act is not made "good" because two adults are involved. Each man not only destroys his own soul, but destroys the soul (and usually the body) of the other man. The rest of us end up paying to clean up the mess.

No, people who kneejerk their way to "gay is good, pedophilia is bad" rationalization are reason-dulled lost souls themselves. I no longer care whether they are "convinced" by rational argument. As you point out, they are too far gone and soul-dead to be "convinced." But truth stands as its own justification whether a single dead soul is "convinced" of it or not.

So I will continue to state it.

[Kevin Curry]

Would his ex-wife have been as accepting of the other woman? No, she would have been grieved or outraged beyond consolation.

That's what boggles my mind: that she accepts this grotesque soiling and rupture of their holy marriage vows because the "other woman" is a man.

[Bluntpoint]

NOW would be in full protest mode had he cheated on her with another women.

Fudge-packing?

Well, that just does not rise to the same level.

[AppyPappy]

Did the kids who caught AIDS from gays who donated blood CONSENT to catch AIDS? I bet not.

[Kevin Curry]

Let's suppose the good bishop Vicki is actually bi and is currently floating on the homo side ol' man river. "This is who I AM," he sniffs as he caresses the hand of his male lover. Love me! ACCEPT ME!!! Boo hoo."

Now let's suppose he gets a hankering to cross back over to the hetero bank. "Wait a minute . . . I was confused. This is who I AM really," he coos softly as he gazes longingly into the eyes of his lady, "Love me. accept me."

The question is, has he committed a sin by now abandoning his male partner? And if his"lady" is not his ex-wife, has he compounded his sin concerning his ex-wife?

Or is everything hunky-dory as long as he is honest with who he REALLY is as that odd "truth" shifts and changes over time?

Now suppose he abandons them all for a goat . . . . "This is who I AM!" he bleats to the world, "Love me! Accept me!!!"

We'll leave it there.