FIRST-PERSON: Lesbian set free in Christ

Posted on Mar 9, 2007

by Kelly Boggs

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--Imagine a prominent conservative Christian publicly announcing that he has renounced heterosexuality and will henceforth and forever be homosexual. Add to the scenario the leader declaring he is dedicated to promoting the glory of gayness and encouraging others to become homosexual. Now try to imagine the mainstream media ignoring such an announcement.

Try as I might, I cannot, for the life of me, imagine the mainstream press failing to report such news. Instead, there would be a media firestorm. The news would spread fast and furious from sea to shining sea -- even if the leader was prominent only on a regional or state level.

If the mainstream media types would be quick to pounce on the news of a Christian leader coming out of the closet, and I believe they would, do you think they would be as eager to cover a prominent homosexual activist who embraced Christianity and renounced his or her homosexuality?

You need not ponder the aforementioned question very long. A prominent homosexual activist has become a Christian. She has also become an evangelist pointing homosexuals to a way out of their aberrant lifestyles. And, thus far, the mainstream media has completely ignored the story.

Charlene E. Cothran, a prominent homosexual activist and publisher and editor-in-chief of the black homosexual-oriented publication “Venus Magazine,” recently announced that she had embraced Christianity and renounced homosexuality.

Cothran’s announcement came in the form of a cover article in the February issue of “Venus” titled “Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out.” The magazine, once considered by many to be the leading magazine for homosexual African Americans, has changed its tune.

“Over the past 29 years of my life I have been an aggressive, creative and strategic supporter of gay and lesbian issues,” Cothran wrote. “I’ve organized and participated in countless marches and various lobbying efforts in the fight for equal treatment of gay and lesbians.”

A few paragraphs later Cothran dropped her bombshell, “But now, I must come out of the closet again.” She continued, “I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Cothran goes on to explain in the remainder of the article how a “chance” encounter with a pastor resulted in her giving her heart and soul to the Lord. “A river of tears flowed as Jesus washed me and forgave me and redeemed me for His work,” Cothran wrote.

Coming to Christ caused Cothran to view her lesbianism in a new light.

“As a believer of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us,” she wrote.

“Jesus will cleanse and forgive all confessed sin from a willing heart,” Cothran declared. “Homosexuality is only one of them. It is no greater sin than any of the others, but it is a sin.”

Cothran went on in the article to share 10 ways homosexuals could leave the homosexual lifestyle behind. One of the steps is to “seek the truth within the scriptures about homosexuality.”

“Know that we were NOT born this way,” she wrote, and added, “Gay theology starts with an agenda [‘Let’s make the bible say gay is O.K.’] in order to arrive at its conclusions, but it is a lie.”

“I have given every gift I have back to God, including 'Venus Magazine,'“ she wrote.

Cothran indicated that her new message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and her “new mission is to encourage, educate and assist those in the life [homosexuality] who want change but can’t find a way out.”

The latest edition of the magazine includes testimonies from others who have left homosexuality. The publication even has a new mission statement. It reads, in part, “The new mission of Venus Magazine is to encourage, educate and assist those who desire to leave a life of homosexuality. Our ultimate mission is to win souls for Christ, and to do so by showing love to all God’s people. We believe that homosexuality is outside of the will of God.”

A prominent homosexual activist not only embraces Christianity, but also seeks to evangelize the homosexual community, and not a single mainstream news organization reports it. Many homosexual outlets also have ignored it. What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing, especially if your publication wants to pander to homosexuals by not printing anything that might possibly be damaging to their cause.
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Kelly Boggs, whose column appears Fridays in Baptist Press, is editor of the Louisiana Baptist Message, online at www.baptistmessage.com.