For the last 13 years the Rev. James Dusenbury Rodriguez has been the pastor of In The Life Ministries – the only LGBTQ church in the borough.

He says there are support groups out there for gay people, but “there was nothing spiritual for the LGBTQ community in the Bronx.”

"I was gay as a kid and the church was a source of pain for me,” Rodriguez told News 12. “When I left the church something was missing, but I didn't know what it was."

He opened the church in 2006 creating a space where people who feel outcasted can find love through faith.

Omarion Lopez, a sexual assault survivor who was formerly homeless, says the church has given him a family.

"Coming to this church is the reason why I'm still standing,” he says. “Seeing other people who are older than me in the lifestyle. Who have been through worse situations."

Now preaching next to his husband, Rodriguez says his goal is to continue to keep the church doors open in hopes of helping one person at a time.