It's best if we start at the beginning of the topical conversation that Paul is having with the Romans, instead of just jumping to verses 26-27, as the church is so fond of doing, because there is a lot more here than meets the eye. We'll go back a few verses and start at 18 and go to the end so that we have a CIRCUMSPECT view of what is being discussed. Gay Christians are accused of being "cafeteria Christians" - picking and choosing what verses we like and discarding what we don't like; so let's look at the whole menu and see if the church likes the results. For the ease of your eyes, I have broken it up into three paragraphs - but not one word is missing and this should be read as one CONTINUOUS STATEMENT: 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them - for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, is clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made - even His eternal power and Godhead - so that they are without excuse; because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

"Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptable God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. WHEREFORE God also gave THEM up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts - to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the Truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature [created things] more than the Creator Who is blessed forever, amen! FOR THIS CAUSE God gave them up to vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another - men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet [suitable].

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient: being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity [slander], whisperers [gossipers], backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection [normal brotherly love for your fellow man], implacable, unmerciful - who, knowing the judgment of God (that they which commit such things are worthy of death), not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

Why did I write all of that, and not just the key verses of 26 & 27? Because those two verses MAKE NO SENSE without the rest of the verses. Here we see blasphemers of the most wicked kind, whom God gave over to the lusts of their flesh BECAUSE OF their wickedness. A true Christian does not live a life wallowing in the things listed above. They certainly are not "haters of God", neither are they the ones who "did not like to retain God in their knowledge". In other words, these verses are not speaking of people who believe that Jesus is their savior. To the contrary - true Christians care about the Lord very deeply and seek to do the opposite of those things, whether gay or straight. These verses declare a punishment of sexual identity confussion on those who willfully deny the Lord and refuse to serve and worship Him and who do all manner of wickedness after they have learned the truth of His existence and identity. God turns such evil people over to a reprobate mind, to do things contrary to their own nature; specifically, causing a lustful man or woman to leave their own natural sexual identity.

Since the church has literally amputated gay and lesbian Christians from the Body of Christ, claiming that there is no such thing as a gay Christian, most Christians are completely ignorant of the massive numbers of spectacularly godly gay and lesbian Christians out there. They are ignorant of tens of thousands of gays and lesbians who, not knowing their support by Scripture itself, are in daily agony, believing the church that their very identy is an offense against God - men and women who care so much about what God wants of them that they live in perpetual terror that they are totally out of alignment with God - all because of the wicked personal bias of the church that they had come to trust and believe! The men and women spoken of by Paul in Romans speak of GODLESS people whom God has ABANDONED specifically because of their abandonment of God. Therefore there would be no such thing as a Christian who is gay or lesbian AT ALL if homosexuality itself is the result of the abandonment of God, for God does not EVER abandon those who love Him and seek to do His will! In this very same Epistle of Romans, Paul said, For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor ANY OTHER creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

In Romans 1:26-27, just as we saw in Leviticus 18 & 20, here are men who LEAVE - who abandon - the female for the male, burning in their lusts. The natural attraction of these particular men is toward women; yet they leave their natural desire of the woman to be with other men. It speaks of sexual lust, not sexual identity. Heterosexual men are the ones in a position to leave the woman. Homosexuals are not. These men were not homosexuals, they were perverted heterosexuals who LEFT women to be with men. Today's word for that act is "bisexual" - not homosexual. A heterosexual may be thinking to himself that if a man or woman were truly heterosexual they would not be engaging in homosexual activity. Guess what? The Bible concurs! And yet it happens all the time! And that is why Paul takes pains to identify these acts by heterosexuals as an express punishment of God - "giving them over" to it, taking away their reasoning so that they are as blind to their own nature as they have blinded themselves to God. And you know what? God does the same to many true homosexuals who have abandoned the Lord, causing them, like the godless heterosexual, to lose all sense of identity, that they may do things contrary to their homosexual nature. I have seen both of these countless times; and the church would see this too if they would but open their eyes.

Notice also in verse 26, we see women who, like the men, CHANGED their nature. Another good word to use there instead of CHANGED is EXCHANGED. These are women WHO ARE HETEROSEXUAL by nature (that is, their inner attraction was originally toward males), but turned from being with a man to being with another woman. These are not homosexual women, these are perverted heterosexual women who left men to be with women.

And yes indeed there is hope in Christ for their deliverance from this curse, that both the heterosexual and the homosexual who have abandoned their true natures can be healed to return to those true natures. THIS ought to have been the mission of the "ex-gay ministries", instead of the attempt at mentally & spiritually castrating and lobotomizing true homosexuals - for which crime they most assuredly will give account before the Almighty God.