Divergent stories about religion and sexuality needed to be told

Anytime it takes more than a year to get something in the newspaper, you really hope it was worth the trouble.

So if the virulence -- and diversity -- of opinion on the two stories that ran in Tuesday's Neighbor section are an indicator, it was worth it.

I'm referring to Jim Fuller's stories of two men who struggled reconciling their sexuality with religion. One man, Christopher Yuan, knew he had gay impulses as a child, fought them, then gave in. He also led a promiscuous and drug-filled life before reaching rock bottom. He was in prison for selling drugs when he discovered he was HIV-positive. But then he discovered the Bible, which inspired him to reject gay relationships and sexual labels.

The companion piece was about Jay Johnson, who similarly struggled with his attraction to the same sex. That was made perhaps tougher because he attended conservative Wheaton College. Ultimately, he let others know he was gay, and concluded that decision could square with his religion. Today, he's an openly gay Episcopal minister.

I'm paraphrasing, of course; both men's journeys were serpentine and complex. Jim wrote his original versions of the stories last year; they were more than double the length of what finally ran. We spent much of our time crafting them to a length allowing them to fit in the newspaper. We realized that each story, on its own, might be seen as a tacit endorsement of either men's views on being religious and gay. Clearly, we thought, packaging both stories side by side had to be a priority for the sake of balancing two diametrically opposing views on a hot-button issue. But the responses we got were all over the map. Here a quick sampling of e mails:

• "I can't believe your paper bought this story. Guy gets nabbed for dealing drugs and finds God. Hmm. I think John Gacy found God in prison. Also, don't all prisoners turn to the Bible? Not that turning to the bible is a bad thing. However, the Bible will NOT make you straight."

• "I find it completely irresponsible and inappropriate of you and your paper in 2007 to be printing outrageous garbage and lies. The fact is being gay is not like turning on a light switch. It's not something you turn on or off. Your subject matter Christopher is a complete fraud, and I find it irresponsible of your writing that you believed this scam."

• "It was refreshing to read this story. I am sure you will receive a plethora of mail from the gay groups saying this just can't be true."

• "Because so much of the media reporting of this issue is strident, it is refreshing to read something as well balanced, well written and well thought out."

Now, I'd like to tell you most of the feedback we got resembled the insightful reader immediately above, that everyone appreciated our effort to provide balance on a delicate topic. Truth of the matter is more of it was like the first e mail -- some genuine skepticism and anger over the telling of Christopher Yuan's story. It certainly was the more provocative, less mainstream of the two. And on our Web site, it was the more widely read, though the Johnson story wasn't far behind.

Frankly, I think there was some sincere skepticism, even internally, at this newspaper, about Yuan's story, and there was widespread opinion on how his story needed to be written. (Yes, on sensitive or controversial stories, several editors might get into the act.)

Ultimately, though, I think the debate came down to this: It's not really our job to pass judgment on the validity of Christopher Yuan's belief that the Bible helped him turn away from being gay. Nor do I think we need to challenge whether Jay Johnson has any business ministering to mostly straight people. Our job is to tell their stories as accurately as possible.

And let you decide who to believe.