‘FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO'
7 p.m., Market Street Cinema. $7.50.
A devout Christian, Mary Lou Wallner, 62, of North Little Rock reacted with anger and shame when Anna, her college-age daughter, came out to her in a letter. Convinced that homosexuality was a sin, Wallner shot back a letter of her own, telling Anna, “I will continue to love you, but I will always hate that.” Though mother and daughter continued to see each other for years, that wedge remained between them. The relationship soured in 1996 after Anna wrote a scathing letter to her mother, accusing her of “colossal damage” to her soul for her hateful words. Six months later, Anna committed suicide. Since then, Mary Lou and her husband, Bob, have been ministering to church groups around the country, urging parents to accept their gay children. The Wallners are one of five Christian families (former House majority leader Dick Gephardt's family is another) featured in the documentary, “for the Bible tells me so,” which debuts on Friday at Market Street Cinema. Through the families' experiences and with the help of a number of academics and theologians, documentarian Peter Karslake aims to demonstrate that the Bible and homosexuality are not mutually exclusive.
