Biographical Information

Tony Horton

Tony Earl Horton was born at Dallas, Texas on June 17,1957.

He was raised as a Baptist in Seagoville, Texas. When he started having homosexual desires he was told that the reason he could not change was that he was not sincere enough in his prayers.

Speaking about this period in his life, Tony comments: "I was waiting for God to zap the homosexual urges from me. Of course that did not happen. Being ignorant as to the way God works in our lives, I thought that if there was a God He played favorites because I knew I was sincere in my prayers. When God didn't answer my plea to change me, I turned from God."

In 1980 Tony moved to the gay district in Dallas, Texas known as the Oaklawn Area. In 1986 he moved to California. There he was part owner of a store that sold Vietnamese music.

In 1993 he learned that he had AIDS and moved back to Dallas.

One day in 1995 he decided to go and sit with his mother at church because he knew that would make her happy. In the meantime, she had been baptized for the remission of sins and was attending the Seagoville Church of Christ. Tony knew that everyone at the congregation knew he had AIDS because his mother had asked for prayers on his behalf.

Tony describes what then happened: "Ferman Carpenter was the preacher and he asked after services if I would like to come visit him one day. I thought the worst but he was so friendly I decided to go visit him. He said something that I will never forget. He said we can disagree and be friends. We studied together for over a year and then I finally obeyed the gospel on May 22, 1996."

In 1997 Tony put an article on the Internet entitled, "Why I Left The Homosexual Lifestyle." He got so much good response that he decided to start an Internet outreach and support group called "Christians No Longer Gay Living For God" (cnlglfg.com) to share God's good news with those who have lost their souls to homosexuality and other sex-related sins. His material was ridiculed by 'gay activists' but many people who were looking for answers were helped. In 2003, because of deteriorating health, Tony had to turn the leadership of the project over to someone else.