Gay & Lesbian Organization | Leastofhischildren

Testimony 

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My name is Sheryl Clyde, and I am a born-again intersex Christian.
My DNA is XX, but because of Progestin-Induced Virilization (DES/progestin exposure), I did not develop like a typical female. Even my baby photos show the truth of how my body formed — not fully male, not fully female, but something rare and complicated.

For years, I used the word “lesbian” because it was the only language I had to describe how I experienced attraction and gender. Today, I no longer live by that identity. I live celibate by conviction and calling. My identity is rooted in Christ alone.

This is the story of how I found Him — or rather, how He found me.

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Teen years Hungry, Confused, and Afraid

My Teen years was not filled with evil people — just a family crushed by pride and poverty.
We were literally starving.
It got so bad that one day I found myself wanting to hide a sandwich from my own sisters.
That guilt forced me to do the unthinkable:
I told the authorities we had no food.

We were separated.
I was sixteen.

My foster father tried something inappropriate.
As often happened back then, nobody believed the foster kid.
So I was moved into a group home run by an independent church — more Baptist in belief than anything else.

I was angry at God.
I glared at the pastor.
I stuck my fingers in my ears during sermons.
But the harder I tried to shut Him out, the louder He became.

The Night Everything Changed

One of the staff members — a Christian — let me interrogate him with every question I had.
To my shock, he actually answered them.
My own Lutheran pastor growing up never had.

That night, alone, hurting, confused, and stubborn, I prayed:
“God, if You are real and up there… please forgive me of all my sins. Please come live in my heart.”

Instantly, it felt like a boulder was lifted off me.
The next morning I went to tell the staff, and he said, “I already know. I can see it on your face.”

That was the beginning.

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Life Did Not Become a Fairy Tale

Don't ever let anyone tell you that God is a Sky Santa or a Genie. Christ never promised us a rose garden. He said:

"John 16:33

New King James Version

33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you [a]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

I went to Bible college for a while, but left when I learned my mother was dying of cancer.
My sisters were being abused in another foster home.
I convinced social services to let them visit us, and once they arrived I told the state flat-out:

“They aren’t going back. They were abused.”

The state didn’t care enough to fight.
They let it go.

After Mom died, the darkest chapter of my life began.
I tried to be the woman she wanted me to be, but I spiraled into addiction — drugs and alcohol numbed everything I didn’t want to feel.
I tried marriage to men, but I was never attracted to men, and those relationships were never rooted in love.

Treatment center after treatment center failed.
Finally, on a bus ride, a stranger walked up and said:

“God is about to take you places you never expected Him to.”
When I asked what they meant, the person vanished.

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The Crisis Point

A counselor — harsh and manipulative — sent me to a Pentecostal halfway house and told them, “She’s going to a lesbian AA meeting.”

She wanted me cornered into choosing between God and my orientation.

At the time, I believed being a lesbian meant I was automatically condemned.
I was terrified, ashamed, confused, and desperate.

I left the program.

But God wasn’t done.

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Finding a Church That Didn’t Throw Me Out

I discovered MCC — a church that welcomed gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people.
For the first time I heard:

“God loves you. You don’t have to change for Him to love you.”

I met my first wife at lesbian AA.
We loved each other deeply.
Our life wasn’t perfect — whose is? — but we shared a bond I had never felt with anyone else.

And God moved in our lives.
My wife would come home furious because some stranger would walk up to her and say:
“Tell your wife ____.”
Then vanish.

She’d stomp in and shout:
“Have you been praying again?”

And I had.

Faith followed me everywhere.

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Loss, Heartbreak, and Healing

My wife died of cancer.
I remarried later, but she left me for someone else.
More heartbreak.
More seasons of doubt.
More wrestling with God.

But He never left me.

Today, I am older.
Quieter.
More grounded.
And I live celibate — not because I fear hell, but because I feel called to stand in the gap between:

Christians who believe LGBTQ and intersex people cannot be saved

and LGBTQ people who believe God does not love them

My life bridges those worlds.

And as an intersex person — formed neither fully male nor fully female — I often wonder:

Am I gay or straight at all
when my biology has never fit the categories?

Only God knows.

Where I Stand Today

I am intersex.

I am born-again.

I belong to Jesus.

I am celibate by choice and calling.

My testimony is real.

My faith is real.

My identity is in Christ, not human labels.

More miracles, visions, and supernatural interventions have happened to me than I can count — many of which I will share in future posts.

This is my story.
It is not perfect.
But it is true.
And Jesus has been faithful through all of it.