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MEL BERBATOVIC

An interview with Mel Berbatovic, 20 year old male, who has battled his homosexually with his religion. Gathering an inside to life and his experience’s though a few question. What’s religion were you bought up on? “Islam (Not strictly though).”

How did telling your family come about and how did they react? “Well I guess it kind of got to the point where it was time for them to know, and I had kind of fully accepted it myself for a couple years at that point. They didn’t react well, but I think that’s partly because of where they grew up. I don’t think they’ve ever properly met a gay person, and I think they were under the impression that it was a choice because apparently ‘there are no gay people’ in their home country - which is quite upsetting because statistically that can’t be true; but that’s a topic for another day!”

We’re you really religious before telling your family? “Not really. I was only partly religious when I was quite young, but only because I was brought up to believe in God. I had been exposed to the classic ‘Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve’ type nonsense, and I remember always wondering why God didn’t like gay people - because I certainly didn’t do anything to make myself gay. I think when I kind of fully understood that I was gay is when I called bullshit on the whole God thing.”


Has coming out effective how you view your religion? “Meh, not really. I think my views on religion had been certified before I had come out. But being gay has definitely had an affect on the way I view religion and the way it is preached in this day and age. The bottom line for me is I don’t think anything that classes something natural, like being gay, as a sin is anything to call home about quite frankly. While I understand no sex before marriage is also natural and is a sin in religion, I draw a distinction from the fact that the latter is a conscious choice that is made, whilst being gay is definitely not. So my view on religion is that it has either been gravely misinterpreted through the years, or is just based on a series of quite dangerous lies whose knock of negative effects seriously outweigh any potential positives.” Do you think your religion as whole accepts homosexually? “Hmmm. I think religion as an abstract idea definitely doesn’t endorse the darkness that people have translated it to in this day and age, but I would argue that religion/Islam currently doesn’t accept homosexuality. I understand that people might not ‘like’ the idea of homosexuality because they find it alien and uncomfortable concept, but I think religion provides the platform for people to impose this view on others, and fundamentally shame people for the way they are - without having to take responsibility. I think it stops people from having a mature and interesting conversation about homosexuality and what their ACTUAL thoughts about it are, because it mentions it someplace in the Quran.” In regards to the above question if answered no have you ever thought about changing your religion or belief? “Yeah - being Gay was the first thing that made me question God. Which was then followed by all the scientific facts. Which ultimately led to the realisation that it’s a fucking glorified fairy tale with the ultimate purpose of enforcing (no longer relevant) rules, making people feel like there’s something looking after them, and that there’s something to look forward to after death.”



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