What's
a
fine
upstanding
Church-going
girl
to
do
about
getting
a
date
these
days?
While
you
could
scope
out
a
potential
husband
or
wife
at
a
weekly
service,
the
ever-faithful
internet
certainly
provides
opportunities
for
people
to
get
together.
One
of
the
newer
sites
for
gay
and
lesbian
Christians
is
GayHarmony.net.
Founded
by
Justin
Cannon
in
October
2005,
the
site
advertises
itself
as
a
spot
for
people
to
find
a
date,
friends
and
Bible-study
partners.
The
currently
free
site
has
over
800
members,
200
of
whom
are
women,
hailing
mostly
from
the
U.S.
but
including
12
other
countries.
"There
really
isn't
a
place
for
gay
Christians
to
network,"
says
Cannon,
a
21
year-old
French
studies
major
at
Earlham
College,
a
Quaker-based
private
institution
in
Richmond,
Indiana.
"The
networks
like
eHarmony
don't
let
GLBTQ
folk
on
there.
Gay.com
doesn't
tailor
itself
to
a
religious
community."
CANNON'S
SITE
IS
an
alternate
take
on
eHarmony.com,
a
large
personals
site
boasting
over
8
million
members
all
looking
for
a
soul
mate.
eHarmony
currently
does
not
allow
gay
and
lesbian
seekers
to
be
a
part
of
its
service.
Dr.
Neil
Clark
Warren,
an
evangelical
Christian,
created
the
site
in
2000
using
years
of
clinical
research
as
back-up
for
his
methodology
in
hooking
up
potential
spouses.
In
an
August
2005
interview
with
Terry
Gross
on
Fresh
Air,
a
weekday
radio
news
magazine
that
airs
on
National
Public
Radio,
she
questioned
Warren
about
his
exclusion
of
gays
and
lesbians
in
his
seemingly
culturally
inclusive
dating
service.
"I
look
back
on
my
38-year
career...I've
never
had
a
same-sex
couple
in
therapy,"
said
Warren.
"We've
done
a
deep
amount
of
research
on
about
5,000
married
people,
but
never
on
people
who
are
same
sex.
We
think
the
principles
are
different."
Dr.
Michael
Radkowsky,
a
clinical
psychologist
practicing
in
D.C.,
disagrees
with
Warren's
claims
of
difference
between
gay
and
straight
couples.
"If
you
want
to
have
a
good
relationship,
you
don't
do
it
differently
in
one
or
the
other
case,"
says
Radkowsky,
40
and
gay.
Warren,
who
has
ties
to
the
conservative
Christian
group
Focus
on
the
Family,
told
USA
Today
last
year
that,
since
gay
marriage
is
illegal
in
many
states,
"we
don't
really
want
to
participate
in
something
that's
illegal."
WHILE
MAINSTREAM
DATING
websites
are
part
of
the
problem
for
gay
Christians,
standard
gay
dating
services
may
not
offer
everything
a
church-goer
needs.
"I
found
it
difficult
on
those
sites
finding
people
for
whom
faith
is
really
central
to
their
lives,"
Cannon
says.
"I
think
it's
important
for
[gay
Christians]
to
have
someone
who's
gone
through
a
similar
experience."
Cannon's
site
is
for
Christians
of
every
stripe,
and
glancing
through
some
of
the
personals
shows
the
wide
array
of
religious
backgrounds
of
the
800
members.
Chris
Shogamanesh,
a
21
year-old
Baltimore
community
college
student,
grew
up
in
a
Catholic
household.
He
says
GayHarmony
fills
a
niche
for
people
who
are
looking
for
something
other
than
sex.
"I
needed
a
place
to
basically
try
to
find
someone
or
some
people
to
be
friends
with
that
were
on
a
spiritual
level,"
says
Shogamanesh.
After
trying
FriendFinder.com,
a
broad
personals
site
that
includes
options
for
gay
men
and
lesbians,
Shogamanesh
found
that
most
people
were
only
interested
in
seeing
if
he
was
hot
because
of
his
mixed
Italian
and
Iranian
descent.
"I'm
the
type
of
person
that
it's
not
just
about
image
or
sex,"
he
says.
Cannon
acknowledges
that
while
his
site
could
lead
to
a
physically
intimate
relationship,
the
entire
premise
is
focused
on
providing
an
opportunity
for
gay
Christians
to
meet
on
the
same
level
with
one
another.
Reverend
doctor
Candace
R.
Shultis,
the
pastor
at
D.C.'s
Metropolitan
Community
Church
for
the
past
11
years,
says
that
talking
about
issues
of
faith
is
very
important
for
potential
long-term
couples.
"When
you
meet
someone
and
start
to
seriously
date,
discuss
all
kinds
of
issues,"
she
says.
"How
deep
is
your
faith?
What's
your
religious
background?"
Cannon's
religious
background
was
fraught
with
struggle.
After
confronting
depression
and
suicide
throughout
his
teens,
he
finally
acknowledged
to
himself
that
he's
gay.
Cannon
says
the
response
about
GayHarmony
has
been
overwhelming.
"I've
had
people
e-mail
me
and
say
'It's
about
time,'"
he
says.
"I'm
averaging
about
200
members
per
month.
Hopefully,
that
will
keep
getting
larger."
