DALLAS >> When Liz Dyer’s son Nicholas came out to her as gay, she had some hard questions for her faith.

The Fort Worth mom had grown up Southern Baptist and was then leading the women’s ministry at her Southern Baptist Church. She believed “God wouldn’t make someone gay” and same-gender relationships were “wrong” and “unhealthy.”

Today, Dyer remains committed to her Christian faith. But she’s changed her mind about the Bible’s message to LGBTQ people — and now leads an international network of moms dedicated to supporting their LGBTQ children.

In 2013, Dyer founded the private Facebook group now called “Serendipitydodah – Home of the Real Mama Bears” to connect families with LGBTQ children. Dyer, a self-described extrovert, had been seeking families like hers as she grappled with reconciling her faith and her son’s identity. Soon, people were sending more and more families to her for support, and the group now has more than 39,000 members.

“Mama Bears” has a number of charitable programs serving the LGBTQ community.

In one program, “Mama Bears to the Rescue,” Mama Bears attend same-gender weddings as stand-ins for parents who refuse to attend, invite LGBTQ people to their holiday gatherings and develop relationships with LGBTQ people who reach out for support.

Another program, the “Mama Bears Giving Circle,” raised and donated over $170,000 to nonprofits serving the LGBTQ community in 2022, Dyer says.

The group has been the ­subject of a PBS documentary, “Mama Bears,” which features former Texas residents Kimberly Shappley and her transgender daughter. The docu­- mentary has been shown around the country, at churches and film festivals such as South by Southwest in Austin and Outfest in Los ­Angeles.

In addition to leading Mama Bears, Dyer has published two books related to LGBTQ advocacy and takes part in area Pride events.

“A lot of people feel like they have to choose between their faith and supporting their LGBTQ child,” she says. But after an intense reexamination of her faith, she came to believe that advocating for the LGBTQ community was part of the Bible’s call to justice.

Dyer says she found guidance in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his followers how to identify false teachers. “Jesus said you can figure it out yourself: Look at the fruit that is produced by the teaching that is being offered,” she says.

“I found the LGBTQ people who were sincerely, wholeheartedly embracing and trying to live out nonaffirming theology, either by trying to change their orientation or by committing to a lifetime of celibacy, these people were experiencing what I’m going to call a lot of bad fruit.

“I’ve always been a woman of faith who believed that if you follow God’s ways, you will be more healthy and whole. Not that it will solve all your problems, but it certainly won’t make you hate yourself. It certainly won’t result in self-loathing, isolation, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation. And this is what I was finding.”

Shifting her theology has led to loss — lost relationships and relationships that are “forever different.”

But Dyer doesn’t regret her choice. Her best friend is a fellow Mama Bear she met the year she started the organization. And her son Nicholas loves to brag about her.

“When people ask about an interesting or unique thing about me, I talk about my Mom,” he says. “I’m extremely proud.”