The relationship between Christians and the gay community is not something heavily explored, but “Out Here in Kansas,” a documentary written and directed by Adam Knapp, does just that.

Knapp attended Wichita State from 1989 to 1993, and earned his bachelor’s degree in communication. He served as a sports writer and sports editor for The Sunflower. He’s written for various newspapers, including 11 years at The Wichita Eagle.

The documentary premieres 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Roxy’s Downtown, 422 E. Douglas. Tuesday is also National Coming Out Day.

The documentary scrutinizes the various viewpoints of people in the gay community, Christians and gay Christians. Knapp took on this controversial issue with the inspiration of Burt Humburg, an All-American football player, who is also gay, growing up of the heart of the Bible Belt.

“When I wrote for The Eagle, I wrote a story about a boy whose home was destroyed by the Andover tornado,” Knapp said. “A month after I had written that article, he came out of the closet. I ended up starting a newspaper in Andover a few years ago, and it was a good excuse to revisit Burt’s story coming out in the Bible Belt in the 90s.”

Knapp interviewed Humburg and wrote a story in 2011 about Humburg’s coming out when Knapp was editor-in-chief of the Andover American, a newspaper that later combined with two others to become The Butler County Times-Gazette.

Humburg is an activist for the gay rights movement. He grew up as a fundamentalist Christian, but now considers himself spiritual and does not identify as Christian. Joe Wright, his pastor growing up, was one of the people who led the movement to make gay marriage illegal in Kansas in 2005.

Knapp spoke to both men for his article about Humburg in 2011, and both were open to meeting and discussing their opinions. Knapp called that moment the spark for the idea of the documentary.

“The two hadn’t seen each other for 20 years,” Knapp said. “They are both extraordinarily smart and well spoken, and I thought it would be a great debate. I really feel like God was telling me to do it.”

It is expected to make a bigger splash on a national level than in Kansas because, Knapp said, “here in Kansas we’re so tough on each other especially when it comes to religion and church.”

Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge, a Kansas native who is gay, collaborated with Knapp on the documentary. She makes a cameo appearance and gave them two of her songs to use. The near-30 minute documentary is geared more for a straight audience in hopes to open minds and open discussions, Knapp said.

“This is something many families in Kansas ignore and don’t talk about,” he said. “We see gay people that aren’t out of the closet yet, they’re all over. I purposely made this to be a half hour just so people don’t have an excuse because anyone can sit and watch something for a half hour and watch it.”

In Knapp’s original article that inspired the documentary, Wright argued: “I believe homosexuality is a sin. I know (Humburg) would probably find this offensive, but I just simply don’t believe anyone is born a homosexual. I believe they make a choice, just like they make a choice about other sinful lifestyles.”

Whichever way people view the subject, Knapp encourages viewers to come in with an open mind just as he did making the film.

“I think the biggest thing I took out of this was probably my open mindedness,” Knapp said. “I could not have done it if I was too far over either way. I think it probably comes from being a journalist, going into a story in an unbiased way. I don’t know how many minds I’m going to change, but I’m really just trying to get something out in the open.”