Yeah. I’ve seen it.

I’ve read the comments.

And my heart just aches for every queer person who believes that they must change to be loved.

This was in response to a person coming out as no longner identifying as trans & gay after going through conversion therapy at H2o.

I spent today figuring out how to respond to this. Even as the post is public, I still want to protect their identity.

But here are some replies:

@h2ochurchbg’s BGSU Campus Director Joe Kaloger

Katie Tennant is a TEACHER.

Jadon Nichols, who was once a good friend, teaches the HDFS Marriage course at BGSU.

Cati Mack, wife of Alfonso Mack, @h2ochurchbg’s BGSU Campus Outreach and team lead of @FCABGSU

People on @h2ochurchbg staff.

People actively raising money for H2o to plant churches on other college campuses.

Again, this is in reaction to a CONVERSION THERAPY success story.

This is the issue with these types of cult-like churches. It all seems to be in love and celebration. When there is pushback, it is easy to gaslight and accuse those who speak up of “being against the joyful fruits that God brings into our lives.”

It is violence. it is violence it is violence it is violence. It. Is. Violence.

It is violence sprinkled with cotton candy, covered in sweet smelling perfumes, given an instagram filter.

It is violence given to you and strapped on your back with a “love ya!” a “God’s got this!” and a small “He knows better than us!” to keep you going down a path they have created. A parade route created to destroy one’s sense of self.

And one day, in this violence, you stop. You look around and see the shattered pieces of what was once you scattered on this path. The path where apparently “God’s got ya!”

For those still in the Christian tradition, Christ broke his body for us. He did not ask us to break our bodies for him. He never has. He never will. And if someone comes to you with scripture that disagrees, you don’t owe them an alternative exegesis.

Sorry for that sermon y’all. To be honest, tonight has been triggering.

Watching those who I once considered close friends so blatantly applaude the violence their doctrine calls them to wish upon all queer people.

How am I so blatant and able to use the name conversion therapy?

There was this person who I knew through an openly LGBTQ affirming faith organization on campus. They were a pet of it briefly, and we were both attending H2o as well at the time....

At an H2o Halloween party, this person came out to people and asked them to use their new name and was dressing in accordance to this identity. A few days later, I was behind this person at Starbucks and they used this name as well.

A few days later, I saw either Pastor Wiles or Pardi sitting outside of the union starbucks with this person deep in conversation.

It didn’t feel right. So I snapped a picture.

Within the coming months, this person went back onto the closet and left the affirming org.

In the spring of 2019, I was interviewed by BGSU’s Key magazine about the affirming faith-space on campus that I lead. I spoke about how H2o was unaffirminf and briefly described what I had witnessed with this person.

As soon as the article came out. The person that these Faceboom comments are about (not the same as the person I watched being actively in conversion therapy) accused me of describing in detail what happened to them personally.

I had no clue that this happened to them as well. I knew this person briefly, and we had never ever spoken about them getting coffee with a pastor and begining conversion therapy.

Y’all, this means that H2o pastors REGULARLY meet on BGSU property to convince queer people to change their identity.

The students I was friends with in H2o were the “mature leaders” and told me about how they actively discipled younger students into being straight.