How I Lost My Faith . X - Richard...and THE Pivotal Moment

Richard and I met at Ready Men Labor on East Colfax in October/November, 1984.  He was renting a room at a hotel on Capitol Hill, and I was living in my car.  The morning we met, we made plans to get together in his room after work.  I thought he was pretty good-looking and was looking forward to a good lay.

I remember the two of us sitting on his bed, talking about nothing, really, sorta feeling each other out.  He asked me if I was gay (just to be sure, since he liked cruising straight guys), and then the absolute-strangest thing that had ever happened to me took place—what would be the pivotal moment of my entire life, the one moment  I would change had I the ability to travel back in time and do so:

Instead of saying, "Yeah, now let's get comfortable...," I said:

Yes, I'm gay, but I need to tell you something: I used to study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses since I was 10, and I know what the Bible says about homosexuality.  I've been struggling for years with being gay and wanting to be one of them.

Now, why the HELL something like that would come out of my mouth right when I'm about to get laid is beyond my comprehension.  I hadn't been to a Kingdom Hall in four years; I didn't even know where one was in Denver.  What I do know is that moment altered the very tenor and course of my life.

Richard's response was likewise completely unexpected:

So have I!  I've been struggling with being gay and wanting to be a Witness for years, too!  My mom is a Witness, and I've been studying with a couple down in Houston!

Seriously?!  Are you kidding me?!   What were the odds?  What the hell was going on here?  Richard was seven, eight years my senior, but had been dealing with the same issues for nearly the same amount of time...  I remember my head swimming with implications: Was this a sign?  Was He trying to tell me something?

Nevertheless, I'd come there to get laid, not confess my sins to a complete stranger.  Richard, however, was forced by his conscience to take the "high road":  He could not have sex

with one of Jehovah's sheep.

I remember those words as if he'd said them just yesterday.  I really didn't know what to do; I was completely blown away.  I was gay, I went to have sex, and instead I bonded with a man I hardly knew but who knew my pain and the path I'd trod inside and out.  

I had made a friend for life, and a seed that had long ago been planted in my heart was about to blossom...