I was sitting in Perkins a few days ago, and a friend called my name from another table: “Hey, Frank!” he said, “April Goodwin wrote an editorial about you in the Daily, and apparently you’re going to burn in hell.”

It’s not exactly the thing you expect to hear while you’re drinking your coffee and eating your pancakes.

As it had been a while since the article was published, I searched out its archive on the Daily Web site.

Indeed, it did appear, by April’s accounts, I was going straight to hell because I’m bisexual. I read the article over a few times and decided a response from the hell-bound was needed.

Since April and I met sometime in middle school, we were fast friends.

We both had a hefty pile of problems during our freshman year in high school and leaned on each other for support.

I always admired her for her constant bright smile and her endless ability to bounce back from adversity, and I still don’t see enough of her these days.

We always argued against each other in history class but still left every day confident that I was going to run for president in 2016 and she would be my running mate.

When I revealed to her that I was bisexual on that fateful November night in 1993, it was not an easy decision. It was easy to tell, but deciding WHO to tell was the difficult part.

I chose April because she was compassionate, understanding and a loving person. I think her editorial proves this.

She exemplifies the all-too-uncommon “Love the sinner, hate the sin” line of thought.

Her heart is in the right place, but her convictions are misplaced.

The God April believes in will damn me for being bisexual and cast me into hellfire for an aspect of my person over which I had no control.

The God I believe in loves me for what is in my heart and who I truly am.

My God looks at me and says, “Perhaps he has made mistakes.

Perhaps he has strayed from the path. But he has a good heart, and he has done good things, and for this, he will be rewarded.”

Almost every major religion speaks of a Judgement Day.

Assuming that this is true, I, like all people, will be judged.

When I am judged, let me not be judged on who I slept with.

Let me not be judged on the drugs I did. Let me not be judged on the words I said or the things I did. Let me not be judged on how I lived my life.

Instead, let me be judged on how I felt when I slept with that person. Let me be judged on what I was thinking when I did those drugs.

Let me be judged on how I felt when I said or did those things.

Let me be judged on how I thought about how I was living my life.

And if it comes to pass that there was malice in my heart when my mistakes were made, or that I sought to hurt people or myself more than I sought to help them, or that I felt no remorse when I did wrong, then let me go to hell.

But I don’t feel that this will come to pass.

My God knows that, in my heart, I am good.

In my words, in my actions, there has always been good inside me. And when I did wrong, I felt guilt and I felt sorrow, and I confessed my trespasses to my God, and I was forgiven.

A God that damns for what someone does in good conscience is not a true God but a childish, selfish god.

So, I will continue to live my life as I have, in good conscience, confident in the fact that I’ll be able to give April a big hug in heaven and tell her “Told ya so!”

And if April is right? Well, as many people can attest, if what she says is true, being bisexual is the absolute LAST reason I’m going to hell.

Frank

Ames

[Editor’s note: All letters must contain a complete signature. A special exemption has been made in this case to protect the identity of the sender. However, the identity of the sender has been confirmed.]