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Family and God are priorities of Marvin Junior Livan, an openly bisexual citizen of Guyana who aspires to become an Anglican priest.
Bisexual priest. That’s what Marvin Junior Livan aspires to become. (Photo courtesy of GRPA) Click on the image to watch the video.
His video is the latest in the “Through My Eyes” series on the viewpoints of LGBT people, produced by the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA).
In my high school years, I had a lot of girlfriends.
I was age 23 when I came out as bisexual.
Marvin Junior Livan: “I will continue to raise LGBT awareness in the church and continue to stand up for our rights.” (Photo courtesy of GRPA)
Family means a lot to me. … That’s why I was very persistent in reaching out to them. At the end of the day, I didn’t want to lose them.
I’m still in a same-sex relationship with my gay lover.
[What motivated him to come out as bisexual?] A small voice inside of me [was] saying, “You have one life to live. Live it to the fullest. Love who you choose to love.”
I recognized the call of God in my life. I got ordained [as a Protestant pastor] at the age of 20. [He left that church when he came out as a bisexual.]
Going into the Anglican Communion now, my desire is to become a priest.
I know to myself I will become a priest, and I will fight for what I believe in.
I will continue to raise LGBT awareness in the church and continue to stand up for our rights.
See also an article titled “Love and Church,” written by Subraj Singh of the Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). It’s about Marvin Livan and Peter Pooran, written as “a reminder that there are still people in the world who use their faith to do good, people who try to represent the tenets of the Bible, which teaches love and acceptance for all people.”
“Marvin and Peter use their religion in a way that brings them closer together as a couple,” Singh writes.
He adds, “They firmly believe that the church can support LGBTQ+ people to live their truth and that it is the Christian way to welcome all, to represent goodness and kindness, regardless of who the person is. They both are extraordinary not only in their love for each other but in their dedication to their faith and the ways in which they want these two major parts of themselves to come together and work for the betterment of the entire world.”
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