Anglican Mainstream

It is often more interesting to discover what has not been said than what has been. I am thinking here of my letter to the Church Times, 23rd November 2007.  Part but by no means all saw the light of day on the printed page: the most damning evidence was omitted which provided the strongest factual basis for the letter’s otherwise fairly outrageous  claims.  Hence I am printing the letter in its entirety - the edited out bits are in italics. And to be frank, I could have added site after dreadful site, but felt this was at least a start.   

‘”Acceptance helps gays, psychiatrists inform Anglicans”, caught my eye.  I have shared my home and Golden Retriever with lovely gay men and been good friends with bi women.  I don’t only observe from a safe distance, but I am interested in these issues within a larger framework as well. The hurt and rejection of those in the GLBT community have been immense.  No doubt of it.  But isn’t there more at stake here? I would have hoped that both the article and the supporting document would have developed the issues, instead of reiterating the same stale argumentation. I kept wondering when the more recent academic research on “born gay” theories, ex-gay and reparative therapy, for instance, would surface.

I would like to note two things here. First, this sort of “acceptance” does help gays in certain respects.  It would also help all sorts of other sexual minorities still closeted.  Do we want them “out” too?  There are many sexual orientations - people keep assuming the gay show is the only one in town!  Bis, polys (polyamorists), zoos (loving relationships with animals) and even boy/girllovers (they reject the label of paedophile as inaccurate and pejorative) all claim that they are “wired” like this, have always known they were different and suffered discrimination. Read their stuff!  This is how they feel. 

Secondly, as a culture, the GLBT engine is not headed in a morally conservative direction. Of course there is huge divergence here, but in terms of broader movements, it is one-directional.  Were you in San Francisco on the 30^th of September?  Take a peek at the world’s largest - 400, 000 (official statistic) – “leather” event heavily sponsored and represented by leading LGBT and BDSM community members (and blessed by the church).  The Pink News – http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-5622.html – has a softer account of it; for a less censored view see http://zombietime.com/folsom_sf_2007_part_1/index.php [warning: very graphic].  The Folsom Street Fair is exporting itself to the UK, so you might be able to see it in person.

http://gaydar.com/ is a less extreme, more home-grown gay affair.  See “Let’s Talk About Sex”, “The Guardian”, 17 February 2007; also Stephen Fry’s “HIV and Me”, BBC 2, 2 October 2007.

And with the emergence of the bi element now, a sea change is coming.  For bis, the Noah’s Ark- two-by-two – paradigm is obsolete:  some bis have lovers concurrently, others have them simultaneously.  Polys (committed non-monogamists who can be gay, straight or bi) are now on the threshold.  For some trios work, for others “more is better”. http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.com/2006/07/i-love-you-and-you-and-you.html gives a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the poly world.      

Anglican Mainstream.net is concerned about these matters!  We are publishing the book, ‘God, Gays and the Church’ (Feb 07) which addresses them as well.’

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