..Ed Shaw is an evangelical pastor in Bristol and is gay \u201d\u201d or, as he puts it, he \u201d\u02dcexperiences same-sex attraction\u2019. It\u2019s a less misleading term, he tells me. \u201d\u02dcIf I say to people in conversation, \u201cI\u2019m gay,\u201d\u009d they tend to presume that I\u2019ll be delighted if they match me up with their gay friend Barry.\u2019 Which isn\u2019t what he\u2019s looking for: \u201d\u02dcI\u2019d love to meet any of their friends, but I don\u2019t want to be match-made with people because I\u2019m not interested in that sort of relationship.\u2019<\/p>\n
Shaw is one of the founders of Living Out, a website written by gay people who are also traditionally minded Christians. As he points out, this is quite a large constituency. The \u201d\u02dchorror stories\u2019 about churches rejecting LGBT people dominate media coverage, he says: Living Out exists partly to record more positive experiences.<\/p>\n
Shaw\u2019s is one of them. \u201d\u02dcAs a pastor,\u2019 he says, \u201d\u02dcI thought being open about my sexuality would be a disqualification for the job, and would mean that people would stop coming to me.\u2019 Instead, they started calling on him more than ever. \u201d\u02dcBecause they think, this guy finds life tough, it\u2019s not easy for him, he might be able to help me..<\/p>\n