Despite great advancements in our understanding of sexuality and sexual orientation in the last two hundred years, lgbti people are still denied basic human rights, are accused of being immoral and indecent, are subjected to forms of abuse that are not tolerated anywhere else, and suffer from higher rates of poor mental health and suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.

For lgtbi people with faith backgrounds, the story is even darker. Churches and christian leaders continue to paint lgtbi people as deviants that exist outside of human morality and can never be acceptable to God. Cashed up lobby groups regularly appear in the media spreading false accusations about lgbti people and promote unsubstantiated fear over what will happen should our society recognize them and the contribution they make.

Worse still, some churches still run ex-gay ministries or reparative (conversion) therapies that aim to change a person's sexual orientation. When no change occurs, depression takes hold, and a person is left isolated, feeling like a failure, feeling unloved, and with an increased risk of self-harm.

Faith is meant to be life-giving. Our spirituality is at the core of who we are and influences our understanding of ourselves, the way we connect with other people, the way we connect with the environment around us, and, for some, the way we connect with God. Choosing to follow a particular faith or spirituality is an intensely personal thing. When others start to load unrealistic, naive, and uniformed burdens on the shoulders of people, it sucks the joy out of life, spirituality turns into "religion" and danger lurks.

In the past, the only option for lgbti people has been to hide their sexuality from their faith communities, or walk away from their faith. The aim of 'The Homecoming Project' is to introduce another possibility - the chance affirm, nurture and celebrate spirituality and sexuality.

The Homecoming Project aims to reverse the damage of ex-gay programs and ensure that the next generation of lgbti people of faith thrive in their spirituality, without the baggage of guilt and shame. Instead, people of faith will walk with pride, knowing that they are 'fearfully and wonderfully made' with an important contribution to make to our communities.

The Homecoming Project is raising money to fund a five week* program that will equip lgbti people (and their families) to reconcile their faith and sexuality, work towards healing of past hurts inflicted by religious institutions, learn ways to express an affirming spirituality, and have frank discussions about friendships, relationships and sex.

I am a straight, ordained, Baptist minister who was forced to resign from the church because of my care for lgbti people and my support for marriage equality. I am astounded that the spirituality of the lgtbi community is continually ignored by the church and individuals are left to fend for themselves. And I cannot fathom why ex-gay programs are still allowed to exist. I am now director of MGA Counseling Services, working towards the good mental health of all people, but with a particular focus on people of diverse sexuality and gender. For more information on me, please visit www.mattglover.com.

With the funds generated by this Pozible campaign, 'The Homecoming Project' will be able to:

1. Pay the printing costs of the work book that has been developed over the last few months.

2. Pay for advertising and promotion. It's unlikely that the faith based radio stations and book stores will back something like this, so I will need to find other avenues and foot the bill myself.

3. Enable some in difficult financial circumstances to attend.

4. Pay for the rent of a venue.

4. If more than the initial $5000 is generated, I'll take 'The Homecoming Project' on the road and run it in other states over the course of the next two years.

Whether you have a faith or not, I hope you will consider supporting this initiative and contribute to the better health and well being of the lgbti community.

Rev Matt Glover

* Weekly sessions over five weeks, finishing with a weekend event.