Dear Gov. Perry,

This week, speaking from your position as an experienced alcoholic ("I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic," you said), you have decided that homosexuality is a similar "disease." Presumably having more experience with recovery than you have (over three decades), I would like to explore your idea a little further and offer you specific steps that will help free you from the problem from which you currently suffer.

One of the most popular recovery programs examines the nature of the disease in its first step. It states that under the disease, the sufferer is "powerless," and his or her life is rendered "unmanageable." Certainly that is true for those of us who have been brought to our knees by drugs and alcohol. Personal relationships, responsibilities, and any semblance of adequate decision making are often left in shambles.

For me, when I apply this scrutiny to my acceptance of my homosexuality and my sexual orientation in general, I cannot say either "powerlessness" or "unmanageability" happen. My experience has been the exact opposite. I found honest love, commitment and the inspiration to adopt and love two at-risk toddlers and raise them with stable, healthy lives. In fact, dealing with the reality of who I am made my life exceptionally manageable.

I do see you struggling with a disease. Homosexuality is not that disease, however; homophobia is. Homophobia creates the environment for the irrational decisions coming out of Texas currently. Homophobia is the thing tearing families apart, inspiring physical abuse, and leading to death. Homophobia is the disease, and it appears to be the one with which you, Governor, are afflicted.

Dedicated to "carrying the message" of recovery, I therefore feel it is my duty to share a suggested program of recovery. Here it is, in 12 easy steps, tailored especially for you:

1. We admitted that we were powerless over our homophobia, and that the driving need to control other people's lives had made our own, and theirs, unmanageable.

2. We came to believe in principles of equality that, when applied, could lead our country back to a sense of sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our biases and knee-jerk reactions over to a greater sense of right and wrong, allowing others to pursue happiness and fulfillment in their own lives.

4. We made a searching and fearless inventory of the harm we had done by persecuting LGBT people.

5. We admitted to ourselves, the public and our consciences the damage that our homophobia had done.

6. We became entirely willing to stop harming our fellow LGBT citizens.

7. We humbly asked for the principles of true justice to be enacted on their behalf.

8. We made a list of all the LGBT people we had harmed, directly or indirectly, including the gay soldier left undefended in the Republican debates, the families of LGBT veterans left in the shadows, the LGBT teens bullied and inspired to suicide, the gay people forced from their homes or jobs, the gay-bashed, the fathers and mothers ostracized from their sons' Boy Scout troops and others. We vowed to make amends to all of them.

9. We made such amends to them, vowing that such indignities would end for them and all others.

10. We continued to take personal inventory, and when homophobic biases emerged, we promptly admitted them and apologized.

11. We continued to think and reflect on ways to bring true equality and justice to all people, and to seek the personal power to carry that out.

12. As a result of a cleansing of conscience through these steps, we sought to educate those who still suffer from homophobia, eradicate it, and exercise the principles of equality so that our loved ones and fellow citizens can enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Every night of my life, I kiss two little boys goodnight and put them to sleep. I desire to help them grow to be fine men who are free to be themselves. Each night I hold each of them against my chest and quietly vow to do the best I can for them, love them to my deepest depths and give them the best lives imaginable.

There are only two things that would prevent me from living up to those goals: giving in to my alcoholism and giving in to my internalized homophobia. Either of those ills would have killed me many times over. Neither of them has a place in my life.

Your homophobia is not a winning political strategy, Governor. It is a poison. The results of it cannot be smarmily smiled away as an American hero is booed or two dads are legally estranged from their children. The results of it cannot be ignored as families are subjected to turmoil and the vulnerable are destroyed by hate. You need to confront this and deal with it.

In order to do so, you need to do what always comes first in these situations: You need to admit you have a problem.

It's time.