"He just said, 'Joel, there is no biblical basis for hell. You're not going to hell because hell doesn't exist. And God does not care what your sexuality is, who you love.'"
"And at that moment, I think I needed someone, especially someone who had authority in the church, to tell me that and assure me of that because I don't know that I would have believed anybody else. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that saved my life, because I think how, if I continued to live in the mindset of 'let's just live to the fullest and then eventually go to hell,' I think that's a really dark place for a 17-year-old to be in."
"During Booster's High School years, his parents discovered he was gay when they read his diary. It included information on his experiences with other boys. Unsurprisingly, this did not go down well with his folks. In fact, Booster says his dad attempted to perform an "exorcism" on him at one point."
"Booster subsequently moved out and began couch surfing or sleeping in his car. He reflects on this period of his life in a candid conversation with David Begnaud on the latter's The Person Who Believed In Me podcast."
Joel Kim Booster built a career as a comedian, actor, writer, and producer after experiencing difficult personal circumstances. Born in South Korea, he was adopted by an American couple and raised in Plainfield, Illinois, in a conservative Evangelical Christian environment that included homeschooling until age 16. During high school, his parents discovered he was gay by reading his diary and reacted negatively. His father attempted an exorcism, and Booster moved out, couch surfing and sleeping in his car. At 17, an extremely progressive Methodist pastor told him there was no biblical basis for hell, that hell does not exist, and that God does not care about his sexuality or who he loves, which he credits with saving his life.
Read at Queerty
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