Without the Mask: Coming Out and Coming Into God's Light

Without the Mask: Coming Out and Coming Into God's Light by Charlie Bird

The artist was a the mascot at BYU. He also came out as gay while remaining active in church. He looks at his history. As a child in rural Missouri, he found he had many "female" interests. He was empathetic, artistic and liked gymnastics. He was not a big fan of the typical "jock" boy activities. (The question remains - why are the preferences typecast as male or female?) His parents divorced, leading him to become closer to his siblings. He was willing to come out to his sisters first, but it was more challenging to come out to his brothers. He found the challenge of being gay and religious. The LGBT contains people with similar orientations, but also tends to be open to substance and sexual experimentation. Trying to be faithful can be challenging with regards to relationships. He had some experiences where he went out with women, but refused to try to enter a relationship. He did mention there were some people that had working relationships like this. (I wonder if this was more common in the past.) It must be a challenge to remain faithful in religion that condemns the expression of the attractions you feel. (Would it be such a challenge if things were not considered so binary?) The theme of the book is love for people, especially as they work through challenges.