Bobby Lopez

[Valin]

The Eric Metaxas Radio Show

Jan. 32 2020

Bobby Lopez shares his incredible story of transformation from being exploited as a young teen to finding his way out -- but then being dismissed many years later from his teaching position at a major seminary for daring to expose the destructive lifestyle he experienced in his youth.

More at bobbylopez.me

[Valin]

Same-Sex Abuse Should Not Be Invisible

But it is, even in the Me Too era, argues Robert Oscar Lopez.

Robert Oscar Lopez

January 9, 2020

I appreciate the attention Colleen Flaherty gave to the nuances of my recent firing from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Southwestern case presents questions about academic freedom, race, the humanities and hidden misconduct in the Christian education world.

But Flaherty repeatedly smears me as “antigay.” In so doing she perpetuates the silencing of same-sex abuse survivors. My work comes from a combination of personal experience, investigative reporting and academic research.

Here’s how all this started. I was raised in a gay home and sexually abused at the age of 13 by two older boys. For 15 years after that, I was immersed in the gay community and maintained a queer identity as recently as five years ago.

As I expressed pseudonymously in this piece (which arguably got me fired), I endured a great deal of trauma -- not at the hands of homophobes, but rather in the heart of gay-affirming, mainstream gay culture. Peers pressured me that I must be gay because of my mannerisms. During it all, I hated homosexual intimacy.

(Snip)