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  Truth For Youth - Born That Way. Comic #04-03. Art by Johnathan Kolsch - © 2004 Revival Fire

Born That Way - Truth For Youth #04-03 (HOMO.03)
Art by Johnathan Kolsch - © 2004 Revival Fire Ministries

In this tract, The Truth for Youth tries really, really, really hard to not come off as homophobic bigots. But even though the words used are nicer, the basic idea is the same under its fair cloak.

First Published: December 16th, 2010

 

Page 1 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Oh, dear. I'm sensing a serious number of stereotypes about to come galloping over the horizon. I will say I am somewhat proud of this comic's attempts to not depict all gays and lesbians as mincing/butch drag performers and to make both sides of this argument look radical and crazy. But since the main character (and by extension the author) clearly feel that one particular side is right it kind of cripples the effort.
Andrew	Yeah, this is better than some of the Chick stuff dealing with the same issue. I think Revival Fires took some pains to come across as balanced, even though in the end the actual message is the same.

 

Page 2 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	GGGRRRRR!!!! ANG-REEM!!!! Shouting heads!!! Ah, the even handed discourse that is childish name calling.
Andrew	“Your America is over, scum!” That sounds like a wonderful line that would come from a mad scientist in some old B-movie. Here it just reinforces the standard evangelical fear: Gay people are gonna take over America and, do, you know, uh, gay things with it. Tim Todd’s trying to set this up as sort of a “both sides are wrong, so I must be right.” Even though you know they must agree on some level with the gay-bashers- but “violence is bad”.

 

Page 3 ⇑ ⇓

Andrew	“Can’t we all just get along?” Oh Rodney King, your legacy lives on. Ok, the Bible says to avoid angry and violent people. But, uh, I think common sense says that the inside of a riot might not be the safest place to be, Bible or no Bible. Why the hell were they involved with this protest/counterprotest anyway? Methinks this line is only here so we can establish some basic facts about our characters.
Jessica	It always amazes me how religious people think (or depict) how atheists/non-believers talk. Of course it's all tied up in the persecution complex American Christians have been trained to have these days but I don't think anyone over twelve years old would un-ironically refer to something you couldn't put on bread as "baloney."

 

Page 4 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Yeah! High school kids have have no business here! You need to at least be in college before you can properly participate in a riot! You just can't work up the required level of privileged indignation until you've been to University.
Andrew	“Fight!” This panel goes much better with the Mortal Kombat movie theme song. You know, I think there are usually more cops present at stuff like this, just on the off chance people become violent.
Jessica	"That crazy lesbian hit Zeke!" <sigh>

 

Page 5 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Good job looking out for them by dragging them to a politically charged rally. Wouldn't a matinee have been a wiser choice?
Andrew	Indeed- once again, I ask “why are they here?” It’s like some sort of Inception-type thing, where if you can’t remember how you got to a certain place, it must be a dream. Unfortunately for us, this comic is sadly real.

 

Page 6 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Check out the potty mouth on Santo! I wonder if he kisses his mother with that mouth؟ And here we also have yet another character that spouts dialog displaying a sensible response to the situation, but is painted by the author to be completely unreasonable.
Andrew	You know, I think it’s interesting that Santo is portrayed as both secular and anti-gay. We don’t really learn the religious beliefs of the pro-gay sister, though. I wonder if they were reluctant to deal in a serious way with religiously motivated violence against gays. In fact, none of the anti-gay protesters are shown as religious- no "God hates fags". Somehow I suspect this comic's depiction of gay-bashers is no more accurate than its portrayal of gay people.

 

Page 7 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Totally. No Christian, anywhere, would ever pass judgment on another person.
Andrew	And now we’ve got our two sides, set up as somehow equally wrong.

 

Page 8 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Just a piss-steaming ball of sunshine, this one.
Andrew	And with the world’s worst timing, here’s: Sebastian, who I don’t think has said a word up to this point.
Jessica	I know being in the closet can be a real drag, but seriously kid I don't think this is the best time or place to be coming out to your raging homophobe of a (brother/cousin/friend?)

 

Page 9 ⇑ ⇓

Andrew	Santo’s a serious charmer, isn’t he? The motion lines coming out of his head make me think of ant antennae, like this is some kind of warped version of A Bugs Life or Antz.

 

Page 10 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	You know, the live and let live approach she proposes here is actually quite reasonable. Unfortunately you'd be really hard pressed to find any significant number of Christians willing to buy into it. It isn't just about practicing your religion, it about making everyone else practice it as well. So they aren't born that way, eh? So it must be a lifestyle choice, right? Isn't that what you ass-hats are always braying about? Well then how about you take just a few hours and try being a lesbian? Make out with our friend Louisa here. I am sure you can CHOOSE to make it feel completely natural to you. I'm sure your friend Santo over there would be taking pictures.
Andrew	I’m not the expert on these matters, but I didn’t think “homosexuals” was considered especially bad. “Homosexual people” might be better. Kind of old fashioned, but there are far worse epithets. Also, “gay” is just slang, not some kind of term cooked up by the “Homosexual Agenda.” How does “gay” condone homosexuality over some other word? I guess it’s a little euphemistic, but think about it this way- when was the last time you heard anyone talk about having a “gay time”, or a “gay evening”, or visiting a “gay city”? That word only means one thing today, so it’s not like anyone’s hiding behind it.
Jessica	Oh yeah, Pro-Choice is just a code word for "Abortion Supporter." And that's not nearly as loaded a term as you people who like to refer to them as "Pro-Death." No one wants more abortions, even Pro-Choice supporters, it's just better than the alternative of having NO choice. I have just one thing to say to our friend Angelique here.
Andrew	I don’t suppose abortion opponents would much like the term “anti-choice”, would they? That would give the wrong connotation, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t that kind of, you know, totally let the cat out of the bag?

 

Page 11 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Okay. Seriously. Screw this chick. What you do with your partner, regardless of what genitals they may or may not have is not God's business or societies business. That's between you two alone. Christ, butt-out lady!
Andrew	And for no reason at all, here comes some tear gas. Butterfingers on whatever cop threw that, I guess.

 

Page 12 ⇑ ⇓

Andrew	Uh, so people become gay because they think it’s a good way to show love for their fellow man? Does that make any sense? It couldn’t be because, you know, they’re attracted to people who happen to be of the same sex? Our chilly lack of love for God? So that’s what this is about! God thinks gay people are frigid! How dare you reject his love gift! God’s gonna stalk you until you realize how much you really love him!
Jessica	Divine retribution, I see.
Andrew	That’s a serious chunk of rock. Santo’s lucky he still has a head.
Jessica	Not so much for us, though.
Andrew	Apparently “divine retribution” is exactly it, according to Proverbs 22:8. “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.” KJV, of course. So take that, Santo, your rod has failed.

 

Page 13 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	There's nothing an EMT is going to be able to do to make that guy okay. No way, no how, no sir.
Andrew	Kids, I think Santo’s brain has been reduced to chunky salsa.

 

Page 14 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	"..so yeah, Sebastian. You're going to Hell." The habit of equating all sins with one another always rubbed me the wrong way. Lying = Homosexuality = Bestiality = Pedophilia = Rape = Murder. And these people are supposed to be the morally superior ones.
Andrew	I notice that nobody tries to deny that Santo getting blitzed in the head was somehow divine retribution. “Yeah, actually that guy kind of had it coming. I get to keep his stuff.”

 

Page 15 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	I didn't catch the part about his "friend" Richard the first time through here. If he has one of those, then I don't think there's a lot of confusion as to whether he's gay or not. I always thought that "Hate the sin, love the sinner" line was a load of horse-shit. It's okay to be homosexual, as long as you don't commit any "homosexual acts." It's just another way to say you think something someone does is icky and wrong without sounding like a raging bigot. These people don't even have the balls to straight up hate gay people. They have to try to couch it in this P.R. bullshit.
Andrew	Ooh, an “ex homosexual”. Yup, you kind of look like a gay pornstar. Dig the moustache. “Nobody thought of it that way.” I have no idea, but I’d be surprised if, over the course of human history up until the last 30 years, people have been saying, “yup, I chose to be this way, cuz it’s cool. Nevermind that it complicates my life and marks me as an outcast for much of society, I choose it… anyway!”
Jessica	And there's always a guy who happens to have "come out of homosexuality" and is ready to tell our characters about how he used to be a puppy-raping arsonist before he swore off the cock. The implication here is that homosexuals, as a movement (they have an "agenda" too, don't you know) at some point decided "Hey! Let's tell everyone we were born this way! That way they'll buy our lies and we can keep on corrupting the children!" The sad part is how many people buy that.
Andrew	“Their PR arsenal?” Who’s “they” anyway? The gay mafia? Does Tim Todd ever wonder why gay people might want people like him off their backs?

 

Page 16 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	Everyone is "suckered" into homosexual acts. No one realizes they are attracted to members of the same sex. Roving gangs of Homo-agents just pressure and brainwash you until you're no longer a good little heterosexual in an attempt to bolster their ranks in the on-going culture war. Just typing this crap makes me nauseous.
Andrew	The whole religiously inspired “ex-gay” thing is a giant mess, and I’m not quite prepared to get into it right now. Still, for Todd and his ilk, it’s clear being a homosexual is all about actions, not feelings or desires. You have sexual contact with another member of the same sex: boom, you’re gay. If you stop doing the same, boom: you’re not gay. Just like that.

 

Page 17 ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	What is with the repeated association of homosexuality with hatred? They are nothing like one another. Saying it's like having sex with animals or children is vile and disgusting, but at least there's a quasi-coherent train of thought that could lead these dullards from one to the other. But this just makes no sense!
Andrew	We have a natural predisposition to sin… because God is just a huge joker like that! I’ll resist the urge to quote from The Devil’s Advocate again.
Jessica	And to top off this steaming turd-pie, they hock a reparitive therapy organization. I shuttled over to Exodus International, but after just a few minutes in their FAQ section I got this uncontrollable urge to start writing some hate mail, so spare yourselves the trouble. It's nothing different than the clap-trap this comic is packed with, only there's a hell of a lot more of it. I weep for society.
Andrew	So… what happened to Santo? And Louisa… she has nothing to say about all this? The entire point of this was to tell a little kid that being gay was wrong?

 

Conclusion ⇑ ⇓

Jessica	I just... I don't even...
Andrew	Well, they tried. They really tried. They wanted to carve out a space for evangelicals to stand on separate from Fred Phelps and his entire bunch . Maybe somebody realized the "God hates fags" approach tends not to get the desired effect. Instead, in this comic we have lots of “love the sinner, hate the sin.” Still, if the “sinner” is “sinning” then it’s kind of the same difference: “you are going to hell”. Then we’ve got a lot of hoo-hah about reparative therapy and ex-gays and all that. This comic attempts to capitalize on people’s desire to find some kind of middle ground on issues, a compromise that makes everyone happy. “If both parties are extreme, then the truth must lie someplace in the middle.” For some things, this works. But it doesn’t work for everything. Think of the civil rights version. “Black people want equal rights. White supremacists want black people to have no rights at all. Maybe the best outcome is some sort of compromise… like maybe black people get rights Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but not other days.” Stupid? Yes. But so is this comic, which is so reluctant to state what it actually believes because (horror) it would give people the right idea.

 

Further Reading ⇑

• National Religious Leadership Roundtable respond to closing of Exodus International at National LGBTQ Task Force
  
  
• Product page at Revival Fire Ministries
  


• ⚜ Vintage Page