At age 20 (Gak! In 1979!), I literally had demons of transvestism cast out of me in a church in Hermosa Beach, California. So, this story from Fox61, Connecticut, does bring up some “interesting” memories for me.

A Connecticut church posted a controversial video on YouTube that raised questions about the treatment of children by a leader of a gay and lesbian teen mentoring group among others

The video features church elders performing what looks like an exorcism, of what they refer to in the video as “homosexual demons” …

Select image to view story and video at Fox61’s website.

Nice. You can watch raw video of the exorcism on the YouTubes: Overseer & Prophetess McKinney casting out the homosexual spirit.

It might consider this an entertaining video to watch if I didn’t remember that this is a real young person in a real church who was experiencing this exorcism — If only I could forget having a nonexistent “demon” allegedly cast out of my own soul that wasn’t really a demon at all, or anything in the slightest connected to demonic power.

From personal experience, I can say that having a nonexistent demon allegedly cast out of one’s soul — when sexual orientation and gender identity are integrated elements in one’s soul — is as personally damaging as it sounds like it could be.

The real joy I now have in my life began in February, 2003, when I embraced my female gender identity instead of fruitlessly continuing to fight it. Being at peace with myself has been, and continues to be, such a marvelously wonderful thing.