Meet 13-year-old Gabriel (last name withheld), a longtime member of the music group at his Lincoln, Nebraska church. Leaders of the church recently expelled him for being gay. Amid the shock of it all, Gabriel found a new community of support.
“I was a proud member of the church,” Gabriel told KETV. For years, he rehearsed with other kids in the house of worship, prepping special music for each Sunday service. Then someone in the church noticed his Pride gear. Gabriel identifies as gay.
“The elders of the church found out I was wearing pride gear,” he recalls. “They told me since I’m a leader, they wouldn’t want me promoting things that they’re against.”
Much to the shock of Gabriel and his mother, the 8th grader found himself expelled from his church.
“He told me what happened and my heart completely broke for him,” said Colleen, Gabriel’s mother. “He loved this church.”
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Colleen took to Facebook to vent her frustrations. Not long after, Colleen’s Facebook post went viral and netted an outpouring of support for the teen.
“It only took a matter of hours. It got really big, really fast,” she says. “It was unreal how positive it was. Overwhelmingly positive. These people are the examples of who we should all be.”
In addition to the kind words to Colleen and Gabriel, a local group known as Drag Queen Story Hour Nebraska posted the story to its own social media pages. It also encouraged followers to send letters of encouragement and support to young Gabriel.
“It felt really good to know that people cared. Even kids sent stuff,” Gabriel says. Stacks of mail flowed into Gabriel’s mailbox, from queer and straight folks alike, each encouraging him to love himself and disregard the actions of the church.
For Gabriel, an important life lesson has come out of the ordeal.
“There’s a lot of good in the world and there’s a little bit of bad in the world,” Gabriel observes. “But when the bad comes, the good comes too…I’ve never felt something more powerful.”
At the request of Colleen and Gabriel, the name of the church has not been released to the public. KETV did reach out to the church for comment on this story, though declined to do so.
Here’s to you, kid.
Cam
“At the request of Colleen and Gabriel, the name of the church has not been released to the public.”
Stop protecting those bigots.
ingyaom
Because that’s what Jesus would have done.
Prinny
Gay and religion don’t mix together.
RosemarysBaby
Sanity and religion don’t mix.
Fname Optional Lname
no, gay and bigotry don’t mix. Pretty sure Jesus, Bhudda and all the rest would not only embrace us but refer to us as the precious few!
TheRedLine
These adults must feel really proud and powerful to do this to a 13 year old.
dhmonarch89
What’s this ‘Identifies as gay’??? Let’s say he is gay- ‘identifies’ makes it seem like it’s a choice- and we’re taking a step back 20 years.
HenryCameron
Haven’t you heard? We’ve all been mistaken about being born this way and not able to change. The new dogma says that gender is just a social construct and sexuality is fluid.
Cato
Because 13 year old Gabriel has a bigger heart and a brighter future than any of the hateful adults who rejected him.
stanhope
What I would say to this wonderful young fellow is to take a step back….look at what happened…look at your (his) intention…ask the question…what would Jesus think….who would Jesus support…..what person in the Bible did Jesus toss out for having a spirit of love? The answers are clear. Do you. You are far better than the lot of them.
wikidBSTN
How can it even call itself a church?
Just a collection of bigots singing and praying and patting themselves on the back for being among God’s chosen. In other words – totally blind.
calpoidog
Don’t know why they would be “shocked” Gabriel was expelled…most of these places make it pretty clear these kids aren’t welcome. Sometimes I wonder why the story isn’t more about parents who subject their kids to this bullshit. I am not taking the church’s side in this and would personally be happier if religion didn’t exist. Just saying most people should understand what they are signing up for.
radiooutmike
I could understand why Gabriel was shocked about it; after all he is still a kid.
His mother, on other hand…should have known. She must have know her own church’s stance on the LGBTQ population. She probably just thought “her boy” would be the exception to the rule.
Which highlights many “Christians” lack of empathy for others. Something is only an outrage when something happens directly to them or their loved ones.
whateverokok
The problem is not the “Christians” or how bad they supposedly are. The problem is with the few corrupt and rotten ones. They tend to be the most vocal and have the most air time. That is because that gets viewers and more clicks than loving stories about the good decent ones. “Christians” aren’t inherently evil. It’s just that the few that are have ruined the whole bunch for so many. Like that saying about apples. Religion isn’t bad either. Organized religion, on the other hand, is though. And there is a clear distinction.
Because religion in itself isn’t a terrible thing. But when you start organizing it and making it more businesslike, so to speak, then it gets to be a problem. It’s a lot a like comic books these days. Comic books started out very simple and easy to read. With some really good stories and even some nice messages thrown in there. but then you add in all of this complicated mythology and you start to really lose what you initially were in the first place.
All that innocence and simplicity has now been replaced with years of mythology and enforced dogma that no one can keep up with and nothing is really what it was meant to be. In other words, everything got twisted. Or more plainly put, religion has lost the plot more times than The X-Files. Well, that’s my two cents worth of nothing on a day that I feel good. Take it or leave it.
jdr11201
Oh no,
This poor boy, didn’t I hear someone say: “He that is without sin, cast the first stone”. I believe JESUS said that!
These folks need to be kinder to their younger flock. “I shall pray for LIGHTING to strike them”. Just kidding, but come on people. I lived in Grand Island Nebraska for a bit but soon realize the error of my ways and hightailed out to Hollywood Ca. 🙂
beading_man
There are LOTS of supporting churches out there, even some founded just for us by us. You will find one that loves you for you!
alexpof
“last name withheld but his picture is right up here”
scotty
if you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people.