Absolutely! I learned I was gay in church, sitting with my family listening to an anti-gay sermon inspired by the anti-gay activist Anita Bryant. (She died last month, and while I didn't exactly cheer, a great evil has left the Earth and I can't be sad about that.)

I spent the next many years of my life feeling intense moral condemnation from the Baptist Christian community that was really the only close community I had ever known.

Of course that left a mark!

I had to struggle for even the most basic self-respect, thanks to twist it, evil, superstitious, ignorant religious teachings.

And to this day, in the United States, queer people have to struggle against that Christian condemnation.

We have to struggle against internalizing the Christian idea that we're sinners, that we're abominations, or that in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, we commit acts of grave depravity and that we are intrinsically disordered as human beings.

And, we have to face the reality that religious leaders like Pope Francis who uphold this ignorant, evil teachings are seen by society is great examples of moral goodness.

Pah!

So, we have to fight like hell for our own self worth. And a lot of us don't manage it.

You raise some very important issues, thank you so much.