Being an ally is an ongoing process. There will be times when you make mistakes. But the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and to keep trying your best.

For so long, I believed the accepted theology around human sexuality. When light finally began to flood my suffocating closet, I found it so freeing and affirming to stand and reason with God...

"As a gay man, I suffered spiritual abuse. . . . Despite the pain, I'm grateful. I survived when so many have not."

Tom Duffy, 40, a firefighting pilot and Seventh-day Adventist lay leader, was killed Monday in a helicopter crash while helping fight a wildfire in the Mount Hood National Forest.