Bridging the gap between the church and the gay community is not easy, but 25-year-old Matthew Vines is setting out to do just that. He’s the author of the best-seller “God and the Gay Christian,” and is traveling across the country visiting churches and fellow Christians to share his message: the biblical case in support of same-sex relationships.

“The continued exclusion and rejection of LGBT people is a cancer in the body of the church community,” says Vines.

He left Harvard to concentrate on studying the bible for four years, came out to his family, and posted a YouTube video talking about gays and the church that went viral. And that’s just the beginning.

Fusion’s Mariana Atencio met up with Vines in the heart of the country’s bible belt–Wichita, Kansas–to talk religion, being gay, and the importance of acceptance.