Young Evangelical students coming out of the closet

One of the last strongholds of anti-gay acceptance in America is among Evangelical Christians. While respected Evangelical scholars have stopped writing books about the Bible’s rejection of homosexuals, the standard line among the Evangelical faithful is that the practice of same-sex sexual relationships is sinful.

Many Evangelicals now admit that neither prayer nor reparative therapy can change sexual orientation. Reparative ministries and counseling centers have largely disappeared. There are still too many Bible misquoting Evangelicals to be ignored, but their influence is fading fast. The newest battlefields for resisting gay acceptance and equality is in the country’s frontline Evangelical Christian Colleges and Universities.

If there is an Evangelical flagship college in America, it is Wheaton College, nestled safely in the west suburbs of Chicago. Wheaton College is near and dear to me. It is my alma mater. I am proud to be a Wheaton graduate. I often wear my Wheaton College sweatshirt. I still claim the Evangelical identification. Wheaton College is a home of rigorous academic education. I learned to think on the beautiful Wheaton campus. The student body and faculty at Wheaton comprised the greatest group of people I have ever known. They were dedicated, hardworking and highly principled. Christ was Lord. Nothing else was so important.

Wheaton College was the birthplace of 20th-century Evangelicalism. Billy Graham was our most famous graduate.

When I was a Wheaton student, I pledged that as long as a student at Wheaton I would not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, dance, play cards or attend movies. I kept the pledge faithfully. The Wheaton pledge was on the wrong side of culture and those standards have long since disappeared. Behavior is still a matter of great importance. In recent years, opposition to same-sex sexual behavior has become a leading issue.

When I was a student at Wheaton College I was not aware of any gay classmates. That was the case until my 40th class reunion. A classmate came out of her closet. Now I know there were others. The closet was closed tight in the l950s. Not so today.

There is now a thriving organization of Wheaton College graduates that is putting pressure on the college to rethink issues related to sexual orientation. Membership now tops 500 and includes gay graduates and gay supporters. There are enough of us to make our voices heard.

As in all movements, there appears a voice that speaks the mind of the entire movement. That voice is that of Steve Slagg, a recent graduate of Wheaton. He has written his story, and it is a masterpiece of truth-telling with high emotion. He loved being at Wheaton, but his presence was a four-year experience of high-level stress. His epistle is written to Wheaton College. In his story he wrote two words that force the issue.

“We exist.”

These two words have become the slogan for gay students at Evangelical colleges all across the country.

“We exist!”

The response of the Wheaton College administration has been conciliatory, but unyielding in its position that all same-sex sexual activity is wrong, wrong, wrong. While not recognized by the college, support groups for gay students now meet on or near the campus. A piece of the truth is now out in the open. There are a significant number of gay students on the campus of Wheaton College. Everyone now knows “we exist.”

What is happening at Wheaton College is happening all across the country. Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., is another highly respected Evangelical institution. Calvin has been a bit more aggressive in responding to gay students. Without relinquishing its stated policy about same-sex sexual behavior, the college now provides open forums at which sexual orientation and practice is discussed. Without setting aside official understanding, the college is attempting to welcome its gay students. Attitudes have become casual, and for students it is no big deal.

Another leading Evangelical University is Seattle Pacific. Its approach is a bit different. Administrators there also recognize the rising tide of acceptance of gay people among the nation’s youth. At Seattle Pacific, an unofficial club called Haven has been organized by students and meets on campus. Haven has been turned down twice to be officially recognized by the university. The university administration has been friendly, but an official embrace is not yet in sight. A university official told a Christianity Today reporter that they want to make the University a safe place in which open discussion can take place.

At Biola University in the Los Angeles area, university officials are not as accepting. Biola Queer Underground is known to exist, but underground it remains to provide a safe place for gay students. Across the nation from Westmont to Baylor to Cedarville, the word is out. We exist.

American culture is moving rapidly toward full acceptance of gay people. I suspect gay marriage is nearing universal legal status. Evangelicals can no more resist full gay acceptance than could Wheaton College maintain its no card playing, no dancing, no watching movies standard of 60 years ago.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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