Ryan Robertson came out to his parents when he was just 12-years-old, but the devout Christians told him to

The parents of a gay son whose death they feel partially responsible for have now dedicated their lives to helping the parents of other gay children.

Rob and Linda Robertson of Redmond, Washington, learned their son Ryan was gay when he came out to them at just 12-years-old, but the devout Christians lived by the Bible, and as a result did everything they could to tech their son that he could fight his urges.

In the end he could not, and Ryan died of a drug overdose when he was just 20-years-old.

Gone to soon: Ryan Robertson (above) died of a drug overdose when he was 20

Guilt: His parents, Linda and Rob Robertson (above), feel partially responsible as they thought Ryan should fight his homosexuality after coming out to them at just 12-year-old

Fighting the urge: Ryan would meet weekly with his pastor and attend reparative therapy in a bid to stop being gay

Now, the Roberstons travel around the country and are dedicated to helping other evangelical parents accept their gay children.

While they make it clear they never stopped loving their son, they do regret not accepting him for who he was.

They encouraged him to fight his feelings while attending reparative therapy and meetings with his pastor weekly as a teenager.

'Basically, we told our son that he had to choose between Jesus and his sexuality,' said Linda.

And while this worked for some time, in the end Ryan could not deny his sexuality.

This led to him running off and using drugs when he was just a teenager they say, and going over a year without speaking to either of his parents.

'Suddenly our fear of Ryan someday having a boyfriend (a possibility that honestly terrified me) seemed trivial in contrast to our fear of Ryan’s death, especially in light of his recent rejection of Christianity, and his mounting anger at God,' wrote Linda on her Facebook page.

When Ryan came back though after 18 long months, the family did accept him, and his boyfriends, but sadly their time together was short lived.

Just 10 months after returning Ryan overdosed after a night out with his old friends.

He died after 17 days in the hospital.

Memories: Now Linda and Rob travel around the country and are dedicated to helping other evangelical parents accept their gay children

Wise words: 'I grieve, not only for my oldest son, who I will miss every day for the rest of my life, but for the mistakes I made,' wrote Linda on her Facebook

'Now, when I think back on the fear that governed all my reactions during those first six years after Ryan told us he was gay, I cringe as I realize how foolish I was. I was afraid of all the wrong things,' wrote Linda.

'And I grieve, not only for my oldest son, who I will miss every day for the rest of my life, but for the mistakes I made. I grieve for what could have been, had we been walking by FAITH instead of by FEAR.'