The Bible, Homosexuality, and a Christian Response - Part 1

Cynthia Nixon, the actress who became famous for playing the part of Miranda in the HBO TV series “Sex and the City,” came out as gay in 2004, and began dating a Christine Marinoni, an education activist. They were engaged in 2009 and married in 2011.

Cynthia Nixon gave a speech where she said, “I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay. Gay is better.”[1]

Many gay activists criticized not only that line in her speech, but also questioned the validity of her relationship with her wife because she made it seem like homosexuality is a choice. Responding to the controversy, Cynthia Nixon said in a January 2012 New York Times interview, “And for me, it is a choice.” She went on to pose the question, “Why can’t it be a choice?”[2]

Cynthia Nixon is in good company with other people who are gay and say homosexuality is a choice. Liberal academic and social critic Camille Paglia has been openly homosexual since she was in college.

In a 1996 interview with Bill Maher on his show Politically Incorrect, Paglia stated, "Well, I think that we are in a period of very politicized gay activism now, where people are saying you're born gay. I don't believe for a minute you're born gay. My working hypothesis is that homosexuality is an adaptation to, in some cases, environmental pressures and so on."[3]

On the other end of the political spectrum is Tammy Bruce. She is an author, political talk-show host, and most closely identifies with the political right and the Republican Party. She said in an interview on C-SPAN in 2006, “It was a matter of choosing and for me—this irks the gay elite—for me it is a preference. It’s not an orientation.”[4]

Randy Thomas was the last executive vice president of Exodus International. Exodus International was a ministry that reached out to the homosexual community with the message of the gospel and hope that people can change their sexual identity. Randy Thomas considered himself to be gay. He said that he realized he was gay when he was 10 and “came out” when he was 19.[5]

A few years later, Randy became a Christian and changed his sexual orientation to heterosexual. He met and married a woman who he still describes as the love of his life. But, he was still struggling with same sex attraction and in 2015, he came out as gay again. He said that he never could change who he was and he had been lying to himself.

Randy Thomas isn’t the only person to become an ex-gay and then return to homosexuality, saying that they were denying their natural orientation.

John Paulk also touted the benefits of conversion therapy. He worked for Focus on the Family, Exodus International and began his own subsidiary ministry of Focus on the Family called Love Won Out. In September 2000, he was seen at a Washington, D.C. gay bar[6]. In 2003, Paul left both Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In 2013, he divorced his wife Anne. He now completely disavows reparative therapy and now identifies as gay[7].

Wade Richards was an ex-gay spokesperson for a ministry called Savior’s Alliance for Lifting the Truth. In 2000, after working with Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, an anti-homosexual political lobby group, Wade Richards came out as gay… again.[8]

For every story of a person who successfully changes their orientation, there seems to be another story of a person who failed to stay straight. It’s hard to say exactly what the success rates have actually been because no acceptable studies have been conducted on the subject. The studies that have been done suffer from sampling problems, erroneous criteria for determining success, and none have been long term.

I personally know many people who have struggled with their sexual identity. I know people who claim they were born with their sexual orientation. I know people who have identified as heterosexual for much of their life, but then came out as homosexual or bisexual. I also know two people who identified as homosexual, but became straight.

One friend said that homosexuality was simply an experimental phase in her life. Another friend admitted that he came across as effeminate in his teens and was called “faggot,” “queer,” “gay,” and “homo” so often that he wondered if that was indeed his sexual orientation. He was involved in art and dance was surrounded by people who told him he needed to accept that he was gay. Essentially, he was pressured into becoming gay. He finally gave in to the pressure and dated several men over the next few years. He suffered from serious sexual dysfunction. Finally, he realized that the problem was simply that he just wasn’t sexually attracted to men.

What can we conclude from these examples? Is homosexuality a choice or is it something you are born with? Or is homosexuality a much more complex subject? Narrowing down the options to two choices is simplistic, dishonest, and frankly, it is ignorant. How can Christians deal with this subject honestly, openly, and in a way that exhibits the love of Christ towards all people?

Probably thousands of Christian theologians, pastors, teachers, counselors, and others have written on this subject. I'm going to be one more voice in the cacophony these voices. I hope I have something to say worth reading.

Over the next few posts, I’m going to try to answer these questions as best as I can. I’m sure I won’t be as thorough as I would like and I won’t fully answer all questions and objections. In the next few articles, I am going to present what the Bible says about homosexual behavior. After that, I am going to address some of the questions and objections of LGBT advocates. Finally, I am hopefully going to present a Christian response based on the teaching and example of the Christ and the New Testament.

This may take a few weeks, so I need to state out front, I do feel that homosexual behavior is incompatible with a moral Christian life of faith. This may hurt some. I don't mean it to be hurtful, just a statement of fact. I have many homosexual friends from all walks of life. I love them and pray for them. They also know exactly what I believe, many also know why I believe it and they still consider me a friend and love me in return.

I hope these series of posts help people understand why and how that's possible.

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[1] Wong, Curtis M. "Cynthia Nixon On Being Gay: 'For Me It's A Choice'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d.

[2] Witchel, Alex. "Life After ‘Sex’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2012.

[3] Maher, Bill. "Politically Incorrect an Evening with Camille Paglia." Politically Incorrect. HBO. 1996. YouTube. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9Ae369HnM>.

[4] Slen, Peter, prod. "In Depth with Tammy Bruce." In Depth with Tammy Bruce. C-SPAN. 3 Sept. 2006. C-SPAN.org. <http://www.c-span.org/video/?193300-1/depth-tammy-bruce>.

[5] Wong, Curtis M. "Randy Thomas, Formerly Of Exodus International, Comes Out As Gay In Emotional Blog Post." Web log post. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Jan. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/randy-thomas-comes-out-_n_6463020.html>.

[6] Besen, Wayne R. Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies behind the Ex-gay Myth. New York: Harrington Park, 2003. Print.

[7] Schlanger, Zoë, and Elijah Wolfson. "Ex-Ex-Gay Pride." Newsweek.com. Newsweek, 1 May 2014. <http://www.newsweek.com/ex-ex-gay-pride-249282>.

[8] Richards, Wade Lee. "Free at Last by." Whosoever.org. Whosoever, 2001. Web. 21 Sept. 2015. <http://whosoever.org/v5i5/free.html>.