Interpreting religion and passages of the Bible on issues like homosexuality has always been controversial.
According to Mickey Wilson, it should be as simple as the commandment “Love one another even as I have loved you.”

Wilson underwent gender reassignment surgery a little over 15 years ago. He spoke at the OUTSpoken conference at the University of Lethbridge on March 10 about when paths cross between sexual identity and religion.

Identifying himself as “trans-queer,” the retired pastor says that the Bible was “never intended to be a book on human sexuality.”
“We look at those six or seven passages. We focus so much on what they say about sex, we miss what they say about God. The Bible is a story about God’s love for the world and not a handbook about sex.”
Wilson said many times through his speech that his faith means everything to him and that the Bible isn’t what discriminates.
“The Bible is completely silent on the issue of homosexuality.”
According to the Student Christian Movement of Canada, certain passages of the Bible have been used out of context to fuel what they call “homophobia in the churches.”
Wilson wouldn’t read the passages out loud nor would he discuss them during the question period.
He also discussed lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans-genders committing suicide, saying the Bible is “the story about a man who was willing to give his life. We have people taking their lives because they’re not welcome in the church.”
According to the student organization, many Biblical scholars now agree that the handful of passages used to discriminate against queer people have been misused and taken out of context.
“Often, scriptural references to homosexual acts are actually about sins of excess, infidelity or cruelty, and have nothing to do with sexual orientation”.
“We aren’t just heterosexual beings who choose to be gay. We are a whole class of people.
“It puts you against queer Christians and they are forced to step back from their faith. It’s as scary to come out as queer in the Christian community as it is to come out as Christian in the queer community. Both are really hard.”
He stated that in spite of how homosexuals have been treated by churches, there needs to be healing.
“We need to heal. We need to find a way to bridge this divide because peoples’ lives are in the balances. Families are broken. Churches lose valued, important people.”
According to Wilson, the mending of ways needs to come from both sides.
“If Christianity is being asked to change their minds, I wonder if we should be prepared to reconsider our own interpretations (of religion).”
His final words described the Bible and the experience with God as “renewing, empowering.”
“If it does say anything, we’re supposed to love each other.
“As we search for truth I believe we can use the Bible as the final authority on how we treat each other.”