I moved from NYC to the South after graduate school and I actually like the closeness of the community here. I was an agnostic until I went to college, and became a Christian my senior year. I now go to a church in Texas, and I love it, but the stereotypes you have are off base.

My pastor has married gay couples, and there are non-binary members in our church as well. It's not an issue. They participate in the life of the church.

That includes things like helping people who lost their homes after a tornado, visiting church members who are in the hospital or who are home-bound, working with other churches to help homeless people in our community, buying toys for poor children at Christmas time (as well as people donating coats and other warm clothes for them) and so no.

I love being part of a vibrant and diverse Christian community. While some churches do match your stereotype, most do not. Even when I went to a small-town church in the heart of Texas, the members welcomed a gay visitor and had no problem with people of different races, including myself.