Oral Roberts' Grandson Speaks About Coming Out as Gay
Randy Roberts Potts, the grandson of renowned televangelist Oral Roberts, plans to discuss his experience of growing up as a homosexual in a Christian home on Sunday at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Okla.
At the age of 27, Potts decided to pursue a homosexual lifestyle after counseling led him to believe he was gay.
“I told my wife a few years later that I had to leave, and we were divorced legally in June of 2006,” said Potts. “I have been openly gay ever since.”
They hold joint custody over their three children who are 8, 10 and 12 years old.
The parents of Potts, Ron and Roberta Potts, found out the news through their daughter-in-law.
“Randy has never discussed this with us,” said Roberta Potts in a recent article by Tulsa World. “We have tried to contact him but he won’t contact us.”
According to Randy Potts, he stopped speaking to his parents in 2003, but they continue to show their love and support for him. “We’re not homophobic. We have no ill feelings towards homosexual persons. We have no ill feelings towards Randy at all,” said Roberta Potts. “We love him. We always will.”
But they are adamant that they will stick to their values. “But that doesn’t mean we approve his conduct. We do believe what the Bible says,” said Roberta Potts.
Although Randy Potts says he holds on to some spirituality, he also testifies that he does not quite identify completely with Christianity.
“I don’t use a label to define my spirituality. Labels rather divide than unite,” said Potts.
At the age of 9, Potts and his family moved to a compound located north of Oral Roberts University where his grandfather Oral lived.
“I lived on a compound 20 yards down the hill from Oral and saw him often, but we were not close,” said Potts in a recent telephone interview with Tulsa World. “I was always told he was busy.”
Potts went on to attend the University of Oklahoma and married a woman he met there. He taught English for five years after graduating and quickly became dissatisfied with married life.
Randy Potts plans to write a book about his life experience as a homosexual which he will discuss at All Souls Unitarian Church on Sunday.
“I’m not interested in digging up dirt on my family. I want to write a book that is healing to other people with similar experiences,” he said.
