Amber Cantorna was a daughter raised in a Christian home. Not just any Christian home, though. Her father was part of the Focus on the Family team- an executive for 30 years. When she came out to her family at the age of 27 as being gay, her family was torn apart. Amber has written a book called “Refocusing my Family,” which details her struggles coming out, being disowned by her family, and rediscovering her relationship with God.

In an interview with the Denver Post, Amber talked about her struggles with her faith and being a gay Christian.

” I think right now I’m at a point where I’m questioning more. All that I’ve seen Christians do in the name of God is so disheartening. I think I’ll always be a person of faith and have a relationship with God. But it’s embarrassing to call yourself a Christian with the way that so many people are treating others in the name of God. I still identify as a Christian but very much more on the progressive side.

There are still things that I’m working through and processing. Well what does that mean? Do I believe this still? Do I need to look at this differently?

But in a way, it’s also very freeing. I don’t feel like I need to have all the answers like I used to. Growing up, we had to have the answers. You couldn’t be wrong. There was no room for doubt.

What I love now about my faith community at Highlands is that there’s so much room to question and to doubt and there’s no fear in that. I feel very comfortable living in a space of mystery where I don’t know and I don’t feel like I have to know to be a Christian as long as I have my faith in God. A lot of these other things really don’t matter as much as people make them out to matter.”

Amber’s book is available on Amazon now, and she will be doing a book tour- with her first release event in Denver, Colorado on October 1st. To find out more about her events, you can visit her site.

For those LGBTQ+ people struggling with their own navigation of who they are and coming out process, Amber Cantorna has a non-profit called Beyond.