Gay Bishop: Religion Is Killing Teens

Gene Robinson, the gay bishop of the New Hampshire diocese in the Episcopal Church, writes on The Huffington Post that antigay religious leaders are responsible for bullied gay teens taking their lives.

Robinson says that antigay speech — like that heard from Mormon leader Boyd Packer — convince young gay people that they are worthless, and contribute to some taking their lives.

"Just as many gay kids grow up in these conservative denominations as any other," Robinson writes. "They are told day in and day out that they are an abomination before God. Just consider the sheer numbers of LGBT kids growing up right now in Roman Catholic, Mormon, and other conservative religious households. The pain and self-loathing caused by such a distortion of God's will is undeniable and tragic, causing scars and indescribable self-alienation in these young victims."

The bishop says even gay children not reared in religious households absorb messages of hate and damnation from homophobic religious leaders.

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