“I grew up in a Reformed environment. My family and friends were Reformed, I read the Reformed Daily and went to church”, says 23-year-old Gerard Amersfoort. He went to the Pieter Zandt School Community in Kampen. That he would also go to a reformational high school seemed a logical step. “That the identity statement had to be signed too. But then I found out that I was different. That I like men.”
At school he was told: it’s okay if you’re gay, but you can’t have a relationship. “That felt like a present that I should never unwrap. Finding out during puberty that you are homosexual is already a struggle, let alone in a reformational environment.” Because this is not considered lightly. “In fact, there are two options: either you choose your faith, but then deny your own feelings, or you choose to live your sexuality with the risk of losing everything.”
Ultimately, Amersfoort opted for a combination. He moved to another city for his studies and got into a relationship with a man there. “My faith has remained stable, but my image of God has changed: my God is much more loving than I thought.”
Nieuwsuur also spoke with an experience expert. “My parents had signed a statement. Homosexual, a sin. I locked myself up, it doesn’t belong. I wasn’t allowed to talk about it. Not even at home”:
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