GCN Radio - February 27, 2006
Transcribed by sandushinka

To listen to this episode, visit http://www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio

JUSTIN: "Whatcha gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk?" I don't know about you but I'm going to use it to change my flat tire. And then go listen to GCN Radio.

Hey folks, this is Justin. You are listening to GCN Radio, the number one LGBT Christian internet radio show . . . in the world. That's according to a recent unscientific survey of about 2 or 3 people.

Brian, my esteemed and fantastic co-host and the producer of GCN Radio, is not here. Brian has been sick and had other obligations at work and so we weren't able to do a show for you last week and, since he wasn't able to be here this week either, I'm trying my best to do a show by myself. The bad thing about that is I don't have the production experience that Brian has. Or the patience that Brian has so I'm going to do my best to bring you a show but I apologize in advance if the production quality isn't quite up to par. We'll just wish for Brian's speedy return.

But we are very fortunate because we have an awesome guest host filling in for Brian this week. And he's coming to us through the magic of the internet all the way from Colorado. His name is Kennan. Kennan, hey, how's it going?

KENNAN: Hi Justin.

JUSTIN: So here we are and normally Brian and I have a nice serious, insightful show. We discuss all kinds of issues relating to GLBT Christians.

KENNAN: Well, yeah, we can have a fun show. It's not like the others shows aren't fun but this is just . . .

JUSTIN: Well, it's very raw.

KENNAN: The Friday afternoon club -- sort of where we get together at somebody's house, and eat finger sandwiches, and talk about the week and try not to gossip.

JUSTIN: Right, right. But I did want to bring up something that I thought was interesting. I was reading this -- this is actually from just a couple of days ago. There's a new study that was just published in the journal Human Genetics where some scientists were looking at a particular process involving X chromosomes in women. And it's relatively complicated, probably not interesting to anyone other than the scientific types. But the upshot of it all is that they found this particular process, this particular way of dealing with the chromosomes, turned out -- in the relatively small sample of women that they had -- to be about 6 times more likely to occur in women who had multiple gay sons as opposed to other women.

So again it's a relatively small sample size. It may be that if they do this study again with a larger group of women that this affect may disappear. So it may mean nothing at all. But if this trend were to turn out to be, if we were to continue to see this in larger groups, it could be some fairly strong evidence for a biological origin for sexual orientation, at least in men. And it would suggest that your sexual orientation is at least partially related to your mom, biologically. So I thought that was kind of interesting.

I should probably go ahead and say a little about you and why you're on the show today as my guest host -- partly because you're our tech guy for GCN.

KENNAN: Kind of.

JUSTIN: Our kind of tech guy, is that what you said?

KENNAN: Kind of.

JUSTIN: Kind of tech guy. So Kennan, our kind of tech guy, who kind of does tech stuff, kind of for GCN.

KENNAN: Well, I think it's interesting. For me I've never really felt . . . I mean I'm in a time in my life where things like doing work for the kingdom are important to me. And it's something that I believe that a lot of Christians need to strive toward -- doing what they can in their everyday lives. And I've never been able to serve, I guess, in a technical way. I'm not serving in a major way but I'm trying to use the gifts that I've been given for something more than just going to work and earning bread. That's kind of where I am there and I just hope that I can keep doing more and strive to do more.

JUSTIN: And that's a good thing. And I think you're right that we all have gifts to give. I think it's a tragedy though that so many gay and lesbian people -- not just gay and lesbian people -- but so many of us have gotten the impression, at one point or another, from our churches that we don't have anything to contribute to the church. You know what I mean?

KENNAN: Yeah, what are the organists doing there? Um, hello?

JUSTIN: It's amazing how many organists, I have to say I know it's a stereotype, but it's amazing to me how many organists I've met who are gay.

KENNAN: It's like it's one of those things . . . the impression that I get when I talk to people and they talk about their organists. There's that undertone of they know, they know. So it's kind of weird, it's almost like a double standard.

JUSTIN: Well there is a sense in some families and in some churches of you know, but you don't talk about it. And then there are other situations where really nobody has any idea. Where everybody is trying to find someone the right guy or the right girl, without any clue that this person is not looking at that sex.

KENNAN:In my experience it's been interesting because, truth be told, I don't consider myself the butchest individual on this planet.

JUSTIN: How could you say that as a musical theater person?

KENNAN: I know, I know.

No actually my coming out story is a little bit interesting because when I told my mom -- and my mom's adorable, I love her to death and she's a big hero of mine -- when I told her I was . . . she was in shock. She had no idea. And I was like "Mom I'm in like every musical I can get in" and she's just like "I just thought you were theatrical." It was cute. Theatrical, I guess, if by theatrical you mean flaming homosexual.

JUSTIN: That must have been really hard for her though.

KENNAN: It was but in a different way. I think it's a way that a lot of gay youth need to understand when they come to their parents, that my mom, she had a hard time dealing with it because it was a lot to get her head around.

There were some components that were hard for her that we don't necessarily think about. It's not the usual "oh, no grandchildren" or what does the Bible say. My mom was telling me that she was worried about things like HIV in the community and suicide because she knows what the suicide rate is and she was very worried about that.

And I think there was also some personal conviction. It's kind of like I was reading a comment by one of Andrew Sullivan's peers in his blog and he was talking about how not necessarily homophobia but a homosexual sort of humor is almost an ingrained thing in our culture. I think my mom kind of felt a little guilty of some of that too. Because when you think it's that normal, you don't think it could happen in your backyard. Of course you're going to join in some of the jokes and laughing and stuff like that. So I think those are kind of two aspects that maybe gay youth, or not necessarily youth, but if you just haven't come out to your parents, that those might be some issues that your parents might be dealing with other than what you might be thinking.

JUSTIN: I think that's a really good point that not all parents are dealing with the same kinds of issues. We had in our first season of GCN Radio, we had a mom on the show talking about what it was like for her. In fact I'd love to have some more parents on the show. I think that would be really interesting so if you're out there and you're listening and you are a parent of a gay person or if you have a parent . . .

KENNAN: . . . or want to be a parent of a gay person . . .

JUSTIN: Or if you have a parent who might be interested in being on the show at some point and just talking about that struggle, let us know, give us a call. I'd also like to hear if you've got an interesting story of coming out to your parents and how they responded -- whether it was a positive response, a negative response, a really funny response, a really sad response, I'd like to hear some of those stories.

So you can send those to us, give us a call. If you're in the US or Canada, you can call us toll free, 1-888-GAY-4-GOD. And remember that's 888 not 800. Someone tried to call 800, I don't know who they got. 1-888-GAY-4-GOD. And you can record a message on our voice mail there and let us know some about your experiences. Or if you're just too terrified of the phone and you just can't stand to do that, you can hit us up on our website at http://www.gaychristian.net/gcnradio/ . And there's a little text box there where you can provide some comments. And we'd love to hear some of your thoughts on that. We might play them and read them on a future show. So I'm just going to get that out there.

But I remember when we had this mom on and she was talking about some of the things that she went through. And I couldn't help but think that some of the things she experienced were very similar to what I know a lot of other parents experience. But some of them may be different. Some parents may be really worried about feeling that the Bible says that it's wrong. Whereas others may not be so worried about the Bible but may be more worried about HIV, or their child not being accepted.

KENNAN: And I think it's just interesting too. I was very surprised to hear my mom talk about suicide rates because that kind of let me know that my mom wasn't necessarily living inside a cocoon in that she was very more aware of that role than I even thought.

JUSTIN: Well, it's amazing sometimes. You sometimes don't even know. I've talked to people who they came out to their parents and their parents already knew. And they were like "oh, we already knew."

KENNAN: I know. It's like "oh my gosh our son is gay, I wonder if he knows."

JUSTIN: Right. But then I've heard those people say, "Oh, a mother always knows" but it's not true. Not all mothers know. Some parents are absolutely shocked.

KENNAN: And it's not the case that they're in doubt either they sincerely, genuinely don't know. Which is nice because maybe I wasn't as stereotypical as I thought.

JUSTIN: Well, you just never know. Every situation is different. Well, I didn't even know we were going to talk about parents. And here we are talking about parents. You just never know on this show.

KENNAN: I know. I would love to hear from dads.

JUSTIN: You'd like to hear from dads?

KENNAN: We had a mom on and if there are some dads out there. Don't be shy, you know you're a man.

JUSTIN: That's right, we'd love to hear from some dads and stories about dads as well.

KENNAN: You don't have to come on and try and put on a show, just come on and be honest about how you're feeling and what you're feeling, what you're going through. You know we'd all benefit from hearing that.

JUSTIN: That's right. And just give us a call at 1-888-GAY-4-GOD. I've got to get that number out there a lot. I say it, Brian and I say it on every show and we have to spell it out for people. And then I hear it in my head, "call us, 1-888-GAY-4-GOD."

KENNAN: And we need to get those little GCN business card tracts so GCNers can hand them out to their friends or churches or whatever.

JUSTIN: Yeah, I'd love to. There are a lot of projects that GCN has in the works for the next year. For those who maybe found us on iTunes or a podcast directory somewhere and may be listening to a podcast or are not be familiar with the organization, GCN Radio is a production of the Gay Christian Network. Our web site is at gaychristian.net and we are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization so we exist to do a lot more than just do a radio show.

And there are a lot of things like that actually, like print materials -- little tracts and things -- that we have on the agenda, that we'd love to do this year. We do need funds. We don't normally talk about -- we try and stay away from the whole fundraising thing, normally, on the show. We don't do the whole public television -- that'd be funny though if we tried to do a telethon podcast. Like we're not going to put on the next . . .

KENNAN: You're not going to get to hear Justin talk again until $100 comes in in the next 10 minutes.

JUSTIN: Right -- have fake ringing phones in the background. Obviously, if you're listening to this show on your iPod you realize that's it's not live. We're not beaming it to your iPod -- or other generic mp3 player. I don't mean to be biased.

KENNAN: Right. But you do.

JUSTIN: I'm sorry you were gong to say something and I totally . .

KENNAN: I was going to say, I mean not to get hung up on the fundraising thing, but I just wanted to comment that I myself have been fed a great deal spiritually through GCN. It's to me, then, a great gift from God that's really helped me through a lot. I have met a lot of base support and mature Christian individuals. It just goes to show that GCN is really doing a lot of great things for people. And for some people it's one of the only resources they have in terms of working through things.

A lot of projects and ambitious schedules are going on. GCN is kind of like a church it needs all the help it can get. And not just financially but in other ways. And I would just urge anybody with the heart for that to talk to one of the team leaders at GCN and see how to get involved. It's a great way to pass on and grow and really reach those who may not necessarily be reached in any other way. I guess that's why I think GCN is so important. If you have time or resources and you have a heart for that, GCN will make the maximal use of it as possible.

JUSTIN: Wow, we really need to have you on for a telethon.

KENNAN: It's for the children of God.

JUSTIN: I was saying earlier I don't really get into the fundraising thing on GCN Radio but if you're listening and this is something that you would like to help support, you can do that through our web site. Just visit www.gaychristian.net and down at the bottom of every page on GCN there's a link for donations. And you just click that link and you can make a monthly contribution, a one-time contribution, you can do it by check, credit card, whatever. And we're going to be posting a bunch more information on the website coming up about some of our specific projects and expenses this year. Just so you have an idea where that money's going and how it's being used. Well, that's all I'll say about that. I didn't intend to get into all that. But thank you, Kennan, for bringing that up because it is something we should let people know -- that there's a way to help.

KENNAN: Well, I think a lot of people think GCN is a website that's self-sustaining and it's not. And it is much more than a website. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the website and resources are available.

JUSTIN: And like if we had more money I might be able to actually have this conversation with you by phone instead of by internet. But it's doing all right. This show does not sound as professional as if Brian were here. Brian, we miss you - come back soon. But in the meantime at least we get a chance to talk and still do a show and let people know what's going on.

I think it's time for us to sign off but Kennan, thanks for being on. I know I totally asked you at the last minute if you would kind of sub for Brian.

KENNAN: I'm no sub for Brian.

JUSTIN: No, there's no substitute.

KENNAN: I'm glad to be here but there's no substitute for you, Brian. Come back.

JUSTIN: Brian should be back soon, hopefully next week. But it's much easier for him to do this show without me than for me to do the show without him. You just have no idea. But anyways, as always thanks for listening. Hopefully those of you out there in GCN Radio listener land have heard this show before. If not, listen to some of our other episodes because this is not typical.

However, we're happy to have you listening, no matter what. And we welcome your comments. Whatever's on your mind, whatever you have to say about the show, we'd love to hear it and again that number is 1-888-GAY-4-GOD or visit us on the web at gaychristian.net/gcnradio. And we will listen to some of your comments on a future show.

Kennan -- tech guru, musical theater maven, and what else can we say about you? Thanks for being on the show.

KENNAN: Yeah.

JUSTIN: And for the rest of you, thanks for listening and you can catch us again next week at gaychristian.net/gcnradio. Until then, I'm Justin. That's it. See you next week.