I am utterly fed up with being talked about as if I don’t exist, by which I mean don’t exist authentically as a gay man as if I am mistaken in my awareness of my own identity. I am utterly sick and tired of having Genesis 2 (male and female he created them), Leviticus 18.22 (you must not lie with a man as with a woman) and Romans 1.27 (and men, giving up natural relations with women, too burn with lust for one another) quoted and thrown at me as defining me as a corrupt, inadequate Christian.
For 55 years I have known my identity and I have never wavered in knowing my identity despite the 55 years in which the church has tried to undermine, chip away at and denigrate my own self-knowledge and self-confidence. For 50 years I have been maturing in faith and prayer. The constantly corrosive narrative of doubt about LGBT identity, gay maturity, gay love, gay fidelity, in the Anglican Communion and other faith communities sickens me every day (and at times in my life, literally sickened me).
Colin Coward's eloquent words deserve to be read in their entirety. The shame lies in the necessity that his words be spoken. No more quotes. Read for yourselves.
H/T to Thinking Anglicans.
Thank you for sharing this tidbit. The whole is really worth it
ReplyDeleteCiss, thanks for your second. That people have to defend their very identity continues to amaze me. We hear phrases like, "people who believe themselves to be gay or lesbian", as though gays and lesbians may be deluded. If LGTB persons can be deluded about their sexual identity, why not straight people? I may only believe myself to be straight, but I may have fooled myself all these years. Who would know better than the person who self-identifies?
ReplyDeleteTwo words:
ReplyDeleteAwe.
Some!
(I mean C Coward's piece. But you're awesome too, Mimi!)
You might also be interested in this reply by Dan Savage to a good Christian woman whose feelings were hurt:
ReplyDeletehttp://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/10/01/sl-letter-of-the-day-sorry-nothing-fun
Amen to Colin Coward, and I'd like to see more public comments like his. It's time to reclaim the Christian faith away from the haters.
ReplyDeleteYou might also check out Mark Harris' blog. He's not calling for leaving the Communion yet, but he is calling for a boycott of many of its functions over this very issue.
ReplyDeleteAwww, JCF, thank you.
ReplyDeleteCounterlight. I checked Dan Savage's reply. It's very good.
Colin is brave to speak out in the Church of England, which seems so wedded to secrecy and hypocrisy. He should have much more company.
I also read Mark Harris' post and started to leave a comment, but, at the time, I couldn't collect my thoughts into a form that was entirely coherent. I may try again, or I may write my own post on the subject.
Colin complains, "I am utterly fed up with being talked about as if I don’t exist." But as I said at too great length in his comments, gay people don't exist in the tradition, where the earth is flat, the sky is a dome, and people are clay statues brought to life. Coping with Copernicus and Darwin have been difficult enough, but their discoveries don't touch everyday life. Admitting that the tradition has missed something as important as everyone's sexuality is proving an institution breaker. (No, straight, white, and male aren't norms -- they are differences within the species.) It begins to seem that we should look around Christianity, pack up what's still useful, and move on.
ReplyDeleteMM, I'm not sure what we should do, but I believe asking a person to live a lie in order to serve God's people is wrong, and I believe for leaders in the church to set the example of living lies is wrong.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's not as simple as I make it out to be, but someone will have to explain to me why my thinking is wrong.