Sally Gary has loved God her entire life, but she has also had plenty of family and personal problems that shaped her identity and what she ultimately saw as a same-sex attraction that did not agree with her faith or her generation's attitude toward homosexuality. Some may say that her orientation based on life experiences cannot define all homosexual relationships, but Gary does a pretty good job of actually agreeing with that. She does not seem to budge on what the Bible says, nor does she really provide any straight answers - "Loves God, Likes Girls Part 2" anyone? But what she does make clear in the final moments of her book is that homosexuality does not fit into the "just stop doing that" category.
In several gems throughout the tail end of her memoir, Gary writes of her deep needs for positive relationships and loyal friends to talk her feelings out. She says she doesn't have all the answers, and she believes there's more to God's reasoning than "that's what so and so passage in the Bible says." She also spoke of the pressures of society during her younger years when the normal attitude toward homosexuality was disgust, leaving people like her to struggle on their own. She needed someone to just listen, and she eventually found those people in her life, but it took time. I have to wonder what she thinks now that so much has changed.
Some may have a difficult time reading Gary's memoir because it contains nothing but short chapter after short chapter of memories. But I related to quite a bit in her story, and so found myself unable to put the book down once I really gave it a chance. And I do hope that Gary's ministry, Center Peace, more directly answers some of the questions left hanging at the end of "Loves God, Likes Girls," while still providing a place for open and safe discussion.
*Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review of it.
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