Stephen Bennett
Former Homosexual says "No one is born gay"
by Stephen Bennett
CBN.com
– Stephen Bennett
is a former homosexual, who lived the "gay" lifestyle for
11 years. Today he’s married and has two young children. He’s also a
born-again Christian who has a ministry to men and women who want to
be set free from homosexuality. Whenever he’s invited to appear on television
news programs, though, Stephen says most won’t let him tell his story
truthfully. And they won’t let him say that he’s a former homosexual.
He recently spoke with Lee Webb on The 700 Club.
Lee Webb: Stephen, I wanted
to get into this interview that you did with CBS. They interviewed you
on tape for a segment on same-sex marriage that appeared on one of their
CBS Sunday morning programs. And I want to show our viewers how they
identified you and your wife.
Let’s look at that, it says that ‘Stephen and Irene Bennett…say
they will never endorse same-sex marriage for religious reasons.’
Now they went on to say, they included a sound bite with
you saying that you could not…you said that homosexuality was wrong,
but that’s all that they said. Why do you say that that was the wrong
way to identify you.
Stephen Bennett: Because the reason
they brought me on to the show was to share that I was gay. They were
doing a piece particularly on gay marriage and they wanted to understand
our perspective. And as a person who is a former homosexual I wanted
to tell the truth about the homosexual lifestyle.
I said to them specifically, ‘I am living proof that there’s
no basis whatsoever for any kind of legislation equating homosexuality
with heterosexuality.’ For the fact that I was gay. I lived the gay
lifestyle until I was 28 years old, probably for about 11 years. Well,
with over 100 men sexually, many of whom are dead today from AIDS. I’ve
buried countless boyfriends in the ground because of AIDS.
I was in love with another man who was going to be my
partner for life, until a Christian woman showed up at my door one day
with a Bible and said that I could be set free from my homosexuality.
That was back in 1990 and my life has never been the same again.
Webb: And none of that
was included in the CBS segment.
Bennett: None of it whatsoever.
And I shared my Christian testimony just for, maybe about two or three
seconds, because I know when dealing with the secular media most of
the media does not want to know about the Christian response. So we
were able to bring a powerful, powerful message of deliverance. How
no one is born gay, how people can completely change. But again the
media is the major conduit today of the gay agenda. They are out there
pushing their false agenda, that number one, a person is born gay, and
number two, that no one can change, for example, just as a person cannot
change their race or skin color. But I said to the producer at CBS and
the interview, ‘you will never have a former black man on your show,
but today you have a former homosexual.’
Webb: Now, later on
CBS responded to this by saying, ‘look we were just looking for someone
to represent the religious right.’ Is that the way they portrayed themselves
(to you).
Bennett: Not once, not
once. They brought us on there particularly to hear a person’s view
who was a former homosexual. Again, I am living proof that homosexuals
can change, that no one is born gay. We need to equate homosexuality
with that of drug addiction or alcoholism. They are destructive behaviors
that we would never encourage people to continue a life in — we need
to say the same exact thing about homosexuality.
Webb: Now unfortunately,
this is not the first time this had happened. You say it even happened
at Fox, which typically is considered a fairly conservative network.
Bennett: My friend Bill
O’Reilly. I was brought on to the show to talk about homosexuality,
as well as its effects on America’s children, how it’s being promoted.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a debate about Bill O’Reilly and his
theology. He did not receive me very well and unfortunately Bill O’Reilly
is a bit confused on this issue. He came out in full support of gay
rights last year.
All we want to get across to America is for people to
understand the mainstream media is not giving them the truth. Thank
God for people like CBN and other organizations who are out there sharing
that no one is born gay. And especially through the power of Jesus Christ
people can change completely. I am happily married now today for over
10 years to a beautiful woman who knew me when I was gay, who was praying
for my salvation. I no longer am living a lie. I was playing house with
my boyfriend back then. I have the real thing today. I may not be the
mostly masculine person in the world, but, you know what, I don’t need
to be. I’m a man in God’s eyes, in my wife’s eyes, I’m the father of
our two little beautiful children today. Jesus Christ has changed my
life completely. He has taken a story that was a nightmare and turned
it into a fairy tale and I am just so grateful to Him for doing that.
Webb: Stephen, the Supreme
Court of Massachusetts is set to rule on same-sex marriage. Tell us
why you think it would be a bad idea for America.
You know, again,
the only thing I can say is I am living proof that there is no basis
whatsoever for any type of legislation equating homosexuality with heterosexuality.
These people need to realize that change is possible. Encouraging someone
to continue in a lifestyle that is false, that is a deception, is not
going to do them any good. Giving them every right, it’s not going to
do anything. What they’re looking for is that acceptance inside. And
they feel that by getting acceptance from the states and government
and everybody else, maybe homosexual people can find that acceptance
within themselves and I tell you that will never, ever happen.
Webb: You have a ministry
to homosexuals around the country. You speak to churches. You know when
we interview homosexuals they appear to be happy, they say this is the
lifestyle they want to lead but you have noticed something under the
surface, haven’t you?
Bennett: When I was living
the gay lifestyle I portrayed that I was happy. I was in love with my
boyfriend, had great gay and lesbian friends. But the problem with that
was is that deep down I knew something was wrong. Again I firmly believe
that no one is born gay, that homosexuality tragically happens early
on in the childhood. For me it was a broken relationship with my father
that was reconciled after I became a Christian. I love my father dearly,
he loves me and I was able to move on from homosexuality to healthy
heterosexuality. And what we want to share with men and women is when
we go out trying to reach the homosexual for Christ — is that God loves
them. The Gospel is the most important thing that we can reach these
people with, so we need to let people know that God loves the homosexual
but he hates the sin. And homosexuality is a sin in God’s eyes. And
that is my heart’s desire. And I’m sorry but I’ve got tunnel vision
on this issue. We want to reach the homosexual for Christ in America
and make a difference in this country.
Webb: Stephen, you mentioned
earlier that you’re now married. Your wife Irene and your two beautiful
children are in the audience with us right now. Why don’t you introduce
your children to us.
Bennett: That’s my beautiful
wife Irene, and I’m very prejudiced, the most beautiful Christian woman
in the world. And these cute little cuties, my little girl Chloe, born
four years into our marriage, and my little boy Blakey. He was born
on Chloe’s birthday, Jesus gave her a little brother for her birthday.
So this is what God’s done for me. God has just turned my story into
a fairy tale and I’m just so grateful, I just want to serve Jesus Christ
all of my days now and share the truth that no one is born gay and through
the power of Jesus Christ homosexuals can completely change.
Webb: Stephen Bennett,
thank you for telling your story today. We appreciate it.
Bennett: Thank you so much.
For more information on Stephen Bennett and Stephen Bennett
Ministries please visit his web site at http://www.sbministries.org/.