In the 2007 film For the Bible Tells Me So, a mother explains how her interpretation of the Bible and homosexuality led her to reject her daughter, a lesbian, who consequently committed suicide.

Out this month on DVD, the film has reignited dialogue on how GLBT people reconcile faith and sexuality.

Religious doctrine, relying in part on the Bible’s book of Leviticus’ claim that homosexuality is an abomination, has long been used to marginalize the GLBT community. Few pay mind to the modern interpretation of the word “abomination,” which is synonymous with “atypical” and “un-kosher.” Likewise, few disregard other Biblical abominations, including eating shell fish and mixing linen and wool.

“Man shall not lie with a man as with a woman,” is the passage in the Bible that continues to divide the church from the GLBT community.

The fallout of the interpretation of the Bible has led to tragic results. Studies have shown that GLBT youth are up to three times more likely to attempt suicide than straight-identified youth, and a family’s religious beliefs which lead youth to feel condemned or like sinners is a key factor.

The largely religious ex-gay movement claims homosexuality is a choice, and has, in addition to promoting groups such as Focus on the Family, created camps that promise to “cure” GLBT children, teens and adults.

GLBT people who are raised in churches that say homosexuality is a sin often reject religion. Others find congregations that don’t rely on literal interpretations of each of the Bible’s books. Still, others return to their home church or house of worship to educate and lead their congregations toward openness and tolerance.

“LGBT people have been wounded by their own or other communities of faith, and being comfortable speaking of it is difficult,” said Kerry Chaplin, interfaith organizer for California Faith for Equality. “But there are stories of courage, and how many maintained hope and kept their faith as a source of strength. So there is pain but there is also hope.”

Once cast out, many GLBT people are reluctant to return to their faith. Some, however, demand recognition and a place at the table.

In 2003, Episcopalians made history by electing Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Opponents warned that the appointment of an openly gay man could split the 2.3 million-member U.S. church and lead to a rift with the Worldwide Anglican Communion.

Whether the rift will grow is yet to be determined. At the Lambeth Conference later this year, the Episcopal Church will decide whether to sign on to Biblical orthodoxy or walk away from the Anglicans and be downgraded to “associate” status.

Similarly, Affirmation, a group of more than 2,000 GLBT Mormons last month sought an unprecedented meeting with the new church president and other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to bridge the divide brought by the church’s anti-GLBT teachings. Encouraged by softening rhetoric of church leaders, Affirmation believes that a new approach could prevent Mormon parents from disowning their GLBT children and reducing the number of suicides among young GLBT Mormons.

The fight for inclusion came to the forefront in the 1960s, with the founding of Dignity (for GLBT Catholics) and the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), a non-denominational Christian church which welcomes the GLBT community. Except for the most conservative churches, nearly every major American Christian denomination has created organizations for GLBT congregants.

In the past 40 years, the issue has shifted from basic inclusion or recognition to participation, said Bernard Schlager, interim deputy director and director of national programs at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry.

“Many Christian congregations say they’re welcoming today, but now we have to consider their actions as well,” Schlager said.

“The next steps are to find out how to draw upon the gifts of LGBT people at all levels. In 10 years, I see a greater LGBT presence in ordained leadership and more congregations publicly welcoming LGBT leaders into their congregations. Some churches are likely to slip over the ordination issue and some congregations may form alliances.”

Schlager emphasized that education and dialogue are crucial for making communities of faith more open to GLBT people. To that end, workshops such as Out Front San Diego, held in conjunction with the Mission Hills United Church of Christ last October, has been a crucial part of spreading understanding, sharing fears, and developing road maps for bringing along congregations of various faiths to a place of openness and acceptance of GLBT congregants.

For more than two decades the United Church of Christ (UCC) and Disciples of Christ has made a strong effort to reach out to the GLBT community. The church’s edgy “God is still speaking” television campaign a few years ago drew critical praise and attention. The church has also granted GLBT people full participation in Open and Affirming (ONA) congregations. The ONA program maintains listings of UCC churches, campus ministries and seminaries that fully welcome and include GLBT people.

Though UCC has been at the forefront of GLBT inclusion, only 10 percent of UCC churches are truly ONA, according to Rev. Scott Landis, pastor of Mission Hills UCC. “The fear of homosexuality in the church is really a fear of sexuality in general,” Landis said. “Church leaders don’t talk much about opposite gender sex, let along same-gender love.”

Since taking his post as senior pastor last year, Landis has made strides in talking about it with his congregation and with other faith institutions in the San Diego area. Although UCC Mission Hills is not a GLBT church, Landis has tried to advertise the church as a safe place for GLBT congregants to worship.

“The church was stagnant when I arrived, and I had told the search committee that I saw myself as an evangelist to spread God’s radical love, and that meant reaching out and helping (GLBT) people take the risk in coming back to church,” he said.

Seeing the church as a place of worship and a forum for social justice, Landis has adopted a policy: he will sign marriage licenses for heterosexual couples, although he still performs marriage ceremonies in his church.

“I decided not to be complicit in what I think is a discriminatory practice,” he said. “That has ticked some people off, but for me it’s a justice issue.”

Other leaders, such as Rev. Felix Villanueva, the pastor of UCC in La Mesa, emphasize that it’s not a matter of simply declaring that a church is inclusive. It takes work, said Villanueva a former military chaplain, who is married.

“I always had gay friends, but I wasn’t sure where they fit into the church,” he said. “Then I wasn’t sure whether they fit into leadership roles. And then I wondered about marriage. My wife comes from an evangelical background, so it’s been a challenge for her, but a great learning experience for both of us.”

Villanueva said through an ongoing dialogue with his congregation, he has been making strides in dispelling fears that “open and affirming” practices would actually turn the whole church “gay.”

Until the late 1960s, GLBT Christians were faced with a choice: leave their churches behind, or hide in the closet.

Rev. Troy Perry, who in 1969 performed the first same-sex marriage ceremony in the United States, founded the MCC under the premise that all would be welcome. He encouraged gays and lesbians cast out of their own communities of faith to join. Perry believed his work would be complete when there was no longer a need for GLBT castaways to seek solace in a gay church.

The multi-denominational MCC is now a presence in 23 countries with 250 affiliated churches. According to Rev. Dan Koeshall, senior pastor of MCC San Diego, the church needs to continue broadening its appeal, but Rev. Perry’s vision of a world where a “gay church” is no longer needed is a long way off.

“Even in open and affirming churches, many prefer gays and lesbians in traditional roles to be couples, monogamous,” he said. “But what about single, sexually-active people, or those in other types of relationships?”

Koeshall said MCC can be a bridge builder, and also needs to be vocal on contemporary issues.

“We can’t call ourselves the ‘gay church,’ and expect people to automatically come because of that,” he said. “We need to broaden the agenda, attract more young people, and not be stuck in the past.”

He said efforts such as promoting sustainability and green principles, for example, could help boost the church’s relevancy as it fulfills its original mission.

Increasingly, activists who want to push communities of faith to be more open and affirming have been relying on straight allies to spread the word.

California Faith for Equality is focused on educating, supporting and mobilizing California’s faith communities to promote equality for GLBT people and to safeguard religious freedom. The group has led several recent panel discussions throughout southern California to inform faith leaders what they perceive is the Bible’s real message on same-sex marriage.

The group is part of a Let California Ring coalition of 45-plus GLBT and non-GLBT organizations which have joined to encourage ongoing conversations in an effort to shift public opinion.

Another ally, Soulforce, uses a more confrontational, “take it to the streets,” civil disobedience approach to change opinions and counteract anti-gay religious dogma. Launched by openly gay Reverend Mel White 10 years ago, the national organization regularly enlists straight allies to refute “untruths”: One such outreach effort launched in conjunction with National Coming Out Day last fall was called Seven Straight Nights, a week of straight-led vigils across the country.

A little more than a year ago, Ani Zonneveld started the group Muslims for Progressive Values to address homosexuality as it is perceived as a sin. The young organization meets every two weeks in Los Angeles to discuss social issues, pray and explore the Koran. It holds a progressive camp for children, and holds seminars and workshops. Though not an GLBT organization, Zonneveld says that progressive values must include justice and equality, and must welcome gays and lesbians.

“The Koran mentions justice and equality over and over,” she said. “Because of that there is no way I can discriminate against gay and lesbian people. That’s not what Mohammed is about. That’s not what Jesus is about.”

While Zonneveld expresses little hope in changing the recalcitrant Muslim leadership, she expects that grassroots organizations like hers will help reinforce younger, more progressive Muslims to think for themselves and not blindly follow doctrine.

Such interfaith activism and dialogue may not succeed in moving the most conservative religious institutions toward embracing GLBT congregants, leaders say. But not only do GLBT people of faith need to reach out to change their religious institutions, they should keep alive the possibility of re-embracing those institutions as well, said Rabbi Denise Eggar, of Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood.

Rabbi Eggar said the political goals of the GLBT community won’t be accomplished without spirituality.

“To participate fully in society, one needs freedom to express their spirituality,” she said. “Gays and lesbians don’t have to reject faith anymore, even in the Catholic Church, and even in orthodox Judiasm. Every human being has deep spiritual needs. Spirituality is a way of creating order, so that we can make meaning in our lives, even if we don’t belong to a church and even if we don’t believe in God.”

Toward the end of the film For the Bible Tells Me So, the mother who did not accept her daughter’s sexuality joins Soulforce in a peaceful protest outside Focus on the Family headquarters.

Her 10-year journey from religious intolerance to unconditional love cannot bring her daughter back, but, she says, the dialogue she’s started with parents and children who have learned that “gay is sinful” may mean that her daughter did not die in vain.