One of the things I like best about Devin O'Branagan's latest novel, RED HOT PROPERTY, is that she once again deals with the subject of persecution. Valentino DeMitri is a gay, Catholic man who is not allowed to practice his religion because of rules of the Catholic Church. She told me that the character was inspired by two gay men she encountered in her life.
The first was a gay man who was so tortured by the fact he had been told that God hated him because he was gay, he committed suicide. Devin had tried to assure him that, in her view of such things, God loved everyone and what mattered most to God was each individual's capacity to love others. But her assurances to Andy didn't outweigh the unloving pronouncements of those in authority in his family and in his church. God bless Andy's soul...
The other was a young man who used to come to Catholic mass every Sunday and simply stand at the back of the church and cry. He would slip out when communion began. Devin asked the priest about the young man and was told it was because the church wouldn't allow him to practice his faith, because he was gay.
Appalled at this medieval way of thought, Devin makes a strong, emotional case for the rights of gays to practice whatever faith to which they feel drawn.
Please read RED HOT PROPERTY and see how the character deals with this heartbreak: www.RedHotProperty.com