You and I have some stuff in common regarding when we left and the HIV era...I was a kid with no one who was lucky to escape with my life. At the time, for this reason and others, I naturally gravitated toward the gay community.Sadly at that time many of my friends died of aids - often with poor care and even judgement ( yes worldly people can, especially then, be homophobes). This enraged me and I ended up working at the London Lighthouse at one time. Sadly in many respects I was still indoctrinated and went back for some time, or tried. There were too many wrong things about the religion, including the anti-gay thing, so I left for good.
I am happy to say that some friend's who contracted HIV even back then survived, although sadly one passed last year.