Over the years, Anthony Quintal’s outgoing internet personality amassed a huge following among the gen-z homosexual community.
But now the YouTuber has a completely different message to share and it has some fans worried.
“[That] was not on my 2020 bingo card,” wrote one shocked fan on Twitter.
Quintal, better known to his fans as “Lohanthony,” has spent most of his YouTube career so far advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
As a child, Quintal started uploading videos about his personal life, and he quickly gained a teenage following on the platform.
Quintal’s channel received even more views when the teenager came out to his followers as bisexual, then gay.
He was an outspoken “social justice warrior” who convinced his followers that the LGBTQ+ “lifestyle” was healthy and acceptable, and he built a cult following on that brand.
But now, Quintal has revealed that he no longer practices a homosexual lifestyle—and his transformation is shocking his fans.
In a recent 41-minute video titled “Jesus delivers—surviving sexuality” posted to his YouTube channel, Quintal shared the amazing story of his conversion to Christianity and the effect it has had on his sexuality.
“[This] may just be the hardest video I’ve ever had to make,” Quintal confessed.
“But I feel as though God has pressed this upon me,” he added.
Quintal began by confessing that he has experienced deep emptiness and sin in his own life.
He explained that his own sinfulness and wrong desires have made clear to him the brokenness of the world.
“I looked for joy in all the wrong places, people, and things,” he said. “Even when they felt right in the moment, God showed me in the long term that it was all vanity.”
“I searched for pleasure in drugs and people, in food, in travel because I didn’t know there was a God Who loves me.”
Quintal confessed that his homosexual lifestyle was a reaction to a deep sense of loneliness and pain.
“It’s no coincidence that through pursuing my same-sex attraction I was also addicted to alcohol, I was also addicted to weed, I was also trying hallucinogenics, I was also addicted to money, I was also addicted to views, I was addicted to attention.”
His self-identification as bisexual, then gay, was like “trying to fit a circle into a square.”
“[I was] trying to find God’s love,” Quintal admitted, saying that his sexual and romantic relationships with other men were outlets for desire and trauma.
Quintal went on to share the story of his sexual assault as a young boy, telling his viewers that “an older boy” took advantage of him when he was naïve.
“The memory is still alive in my mind,” he said, and it shaped his view of the world and helped set him on the path to homosexuality.
But now, Quintal has found hope and redemption in Jesus Christ, and he stated that he has repented of his homosexual lifestyle and seeks to pursue “Christian celibacy” as a way to honor Christ’s Lordship.
Quintal also repented of his other addictions and intends to stay sober in his new life.
Of course, some liberal commentators have already claimed that Quintal is under the “influence” of conservative Christians and that his conversion isn’t true.
But Quintal has stated that he’s come to this decision on his own, and he just wants to share the incredible story with his fans.
“I shared my call to celibacy and sobriety well aware the majority would not understand,” the YouTuber wrote in a newly released statement.
“I shared my story with the hope that even just one person feeling stuck, hopeless, empty and unfulfilled by earthly pleasures could hear how Jesus fills and how His love overflows.”
“I support abandoning consuming lusts, both homosexual and heterosexual alike. No person is safe from lusting over whoever you’re attracted to, both single or in marriage,” Quintal asserted.
“Jesus is one name but He uplifts our lives in a multitude of ways. He helped me overcome lust, addiction and disappointment…with Him, I am always satisfied.”
“Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement,” Quintal concluded.
“I hold my brothers and sisters in Christ close to my heart…and I am praying that we never forget God’s promise to remain here with us.”
“I pray we can all see that nobody is excluded from salvation through Christ, and I pray we can all come to Him and place our past at His feet.”
Praise God for His faithfulness in rescuing us from our sinful pasts!
And please pray for Quintal’s new journey as a Christian and his influence on his many followers.
And you can watch his powerful testimony yourself here: