When will justice come to gay people?

My journey to understand the homosexual phenomenon began over 40 years ago when a member of my congregation in a heterosexual marriage came to me and confessed “pastor, I am gay.” I have no same sex impulses or feelings. What I have come to believe and understand is based on what I have heard and read. When I began my learning journey, no one was talking and little helpful information was in print. Gay persons were considered sick or criminal or possibly both. There is now a flood of excellent information, and gay people have abandoned their closets of silence. Research is now massive and gay people have mastered various media to tell their stories. Ignorance is no longer an acceptable reason to refuse full acceptance and justice for all gay people.

I think of myself as a listener and a reader. While I became a working pastor, who spoke out, my time talking and writing is very small compared to the time I have spent listening and reading. In the late 20^th century a flood of books were written about homosexuality. A broad range of viewpoints were expressed. It was difficult to keep up with the new publications. My book shelves are loaded with books written during this time on homosexuality. High quality scholars joined in the discussions. There is no debate about who won the discussions. The conclusion was crystal clear. There is nothing in the Bible about the subject. No word is found in the Bible that can be translated “homosexual.” The Bible says a good bit about sexual abuse, especially about rape. THERE IS NOT A SINGLE WORD ABOUT LOVING, CARING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TWO SAME SEX PERSONS. Sexual orientation was not a concern in the cultures in the eras when Bible material was being written.

When preachers today cite the Bible to justify anti-gay teachings, one of three things is at work: ignorance, fraud or theological prejudice. Most embarrassing among clergy are ministers, who know the truth and keep their silence.

I read many journals. I read journals with a broad range of perspectives. My decision to write this column came with the arrival of three excellent journals. The Advocate is the premier publication of the gay world. It is the “Time magazine of the gay world.” They publish the news of the gay world and excellent articles by top-notch writers and researchers. Christianity Today is the voice of Evangelical Christianity in America. Christianity has a huge circulation, and always uses talented writers. The editors and publishers of Christianity Today do not hide their theological prejudices, but give voice to dissenting opinions. Less known is the magazine Out. It comes to my mailbox wrapped in plain paper. I assume they carry on the practice to protect their readers. I do not believe Out can be rightly identified as pornography. It is a high quality publication that gives insight into the world of gay persons. Gay persons are our next-door neighbors. We just don’t know it. We need to get to know them and learn of their creative lifestyles.

The June, 2016, edition of Christianity Today caught my eye immediately. The magazine carried an article written by a recent Wheaton College graduate, who came out of his closet while a Wheaton student. Wheaton is my alma mater. I love the college and have been tormented by the college’s archaic attitude toward homosexual persons. Things are obviously changing. The author of the article reports that when he came out of his closet, he was not greeted with rejection or efforts to make him become someone other than who he was. He reports that his conversations on campus have been friendly, caring, and totally gracious.

The Christianity Today article matches well with the college’s acceptance of OneWheaton, an organization of gay Wheaton graduates and graduates of the college, who are gay friendly and supportive. OneWheaton is present in numerical force at key college events.

It is obvious that Wheaton College is listening and learning.

A major article in The Advocate is not so encouraging. It is a story about Utah, Mormons, Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University and Provo. In contrast to Wheaton College, the leadership of the Church of Latter Day Saints is retrenching in antigay prejudice. The article is a well-documented description of what happens to young people, when a powerful, dominating, religious institution turns its judgmental attitudes on young people, who do not conform to the standards of the church.

Two statistics are soaring in Utah. In the age group of youth 24 and younger, Utah leads the nation in suicides per capita. Suicide is the number one cause of death among young people in Utah. Utah is among the top five states in the U.S. in homelessness per capita. Mormon homeless girls are particularly vulnerable to being drawn into sex trafficking and prostitution. Reparative therapy to turn youth from homosexuality to heterosexuality is widespread, even though it has been shown to be useless.

Americans of every stripe need to be listening to our gay population. Americans need to become much more knowledgeable. Ignorance and prejudice are killing our young people.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net. This column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications.