Michael Elliot Glatze (; born 1975) was the co-founder of '' Young Gay America'' and a former advocate for

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

. He subsequently renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian pastor.

Biography

Glatze was born in Tacoma, Washington. His mother was a non-denominational Christian and his father was

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

.Nicolos, Joseph. His father died of a heart condition when Glatze was 13, and his mother died when he was 19. Glatze earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

where he majored in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and creative writing, with a minor in music. While working at ''

XY Magazine ''XY'' is a gay men's magazine which has been published in the United States since 1996. XY started as a gay male youth-oriented magazine and social network. Its name is a reference to the XY chromosome pair found in males. ''XY'' published iss ...

'' in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Glatze met Benjie Nycum. Glatze and Nycum coauthored the book ''XY Survival Guide'' (2000). They later co-founded their own magazine, '' Young Gay America''. In 2003, Glatze starred in '' Jim in Bold'', an LGBT-related film, with his then-partner Benjie. In 2005, Glatze was quoted by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine saying "I don't think the gay movement understands the extent to which the next generation just wants to be normal kids. The people who are getting that are the Christian right." Glatze turned toward Christianity after a health scare due to

palpitations Palpitations are perceived abnormalities of the heartbeat characterized by awareness of cardiac muscle contractions in the chest, which is further characterized by the hard, fast and/or irregular beatings of the heart. Symptoms include a rapi ...

. Worried that he was affected by the same heart condition which claimed his father's life, he sought medical help. The palpitations turned out to be due to

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

, caused by celiac disease. He joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

in the first half of 2007 but left the church shortly thereafter. He has received media coverage in other publications and in the book ''16 Amazing Stories of Divine Intervention'' as well as several blogs. In 2011, he began studying at a Bible College in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

where he met Rebekah. He married her in 2013.

Ministry

After graduating, he became pastor of a small

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Protestant church in

Yoder, Wyoming Yoder is a town in Goshen County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 151 at the 2010 census. Geography Yoder is located at (41.917560, –104.295060). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all lan ...

. His story is told in the 2015 independent film ''

I Am Michael ''I Am Michael'' is a 2015 American biographical drama film written and directed by Justin Kelly. Based on the journalist Benoit Denizet-Lewis' ''New York Times Magazine'' article "My Ex-Gay Friend", the film stars James Franco, Zachary Quinto, E ...

'' starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto and the short 2017 documentary ''Michael Lost and Found''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glatze, Michael 1975 births Sexual orientation change efforts Former Latter Day Saints People from Tacoma, Washington LGBT Latter Day Saints Living people People self-identified as ex-gay American activists