Relign and Acceptance of Gays | Psychology Today

Contents:

• 'IF I GROW UP TO BE GAY, WILL I GO TO HELL?'
• ‘DON’T E BACK, THEY’LL KILL YOU FOR BEG GAY’
• BEG A GAY CHRISTIAN N BE HURTFUL AND GELLG. BUT I REFE TO LOSE FAH
• A POLICE OFFICER AT MY PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TOLD ME I’M GOG TO HELL BEE I’M GAY
• DO GAY PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN?
• RELIGN AND ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS
• “GOD MA ME GAY FOR A REASON”: YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN’S RILIENCY ROLVG INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA OM RELIG SOURC

'IF I GROW UP TO BE GAY, WILL I GO TO HELL?'

Children hear about Israel Fol's homophobic ments, and they have Pl HeyHer qutn is doubly shockg given she has two gay uncl, we speak openly about homosexualy our fay, and her father and I uld not re ls about the genr of the people she choos to love.

‘DON’T E BACK, THEY’LL KILL YOU FOR BEG GAY’

Growg up I was obliv to the impact that our homophobic muny, Brisbane the ‘80s and early ‘90s, had on my iend’s self homophobic jok, the “fag” pranks such as boys verg school books wh the word “fag”, and, y, people thory clarg that hell awas him, have all ntributed to McCulloch feelg ashamed, unacceptable and unlovable for his entire life. They experience poorer mental health out than their peers as a direct rult of the stigma, prejudice, discrimatn and abe they experience jt for beg, who last week lnched a crowdfundg mpaign aimg to raise $3 ln to ver his legal bills his appeal agast his ntract termatn by Rugby Atralia (which was shut down on Monday morng), fend his homophobic post as “an act of love and passn” have no ia of the effect that the msag have on the people they are I thk of how my iend has suffered om homophobia his whole life, and all the boys and girls, past and prent, who will be eply wound and trmatised by Fol’s words, is unfathomable how anyone uld ever jtify them as lovg or ’s not unmon to e ancient texts to provi jtifitn for hatred, but if Fol wants to play the bible rd, let’s talk about what else he uld do wh $3 ln stead of fendg his right to tell already vulnerable and margalised people that hell awas them. I uldn't stop lookg out the wdow, " he statn was Malaysia, bee tourist visas are ee on life as a Somali asylum seeker Malaysia is tough - and there too homosexualy is most asylum seekers live limbo for years before beg regnised as a refugee, Mohamed's se was fast-tracked and he has been accepted for rettlement.

Durg my unrgraduate gree, I basilly gave up gog to church altogether bee felt like all the Christian stunts were harned anti-gay ’s a time and a place for what I ll “activist church-gog”: gog to a church where you know you won’t be accepted jt to remd them that queer Christians do exist. ’ “So, the days nservative Christians regularly assert that God only has a problem wh my beg bisexual if I fail to rist the ‘temptatn’ of physilly exprsg my homosexual si — of actg, that is, acrdance wh the very nature They gave me.

BEG A GAY CHRISTIAN N BE HURTFUL AND GELLG. BUT I REFE TO LOSE FAH

The ma issue that I am alg wh is that I won’t go to heaven bee I’m gay, and that thought sr me and keeps me up at night, particularly now that relig groups are startg to discs the possibily of the lennium beg the send g.

A POLICE OFFICER AT MY PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL TOLD ME I’M GOG TO HELL BEE I’M GAY

Fortunately for saved homosexuals and unfortunately for those who e those vers agast , the vers do not teach or imply that homosexuals will go to homosexual - gays, lbians, bisexuals and transgenr people - will go to heaven IF they tst J Christ as their Savr om s and hell and the wrath of God. Do not be ceived: Neher the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostut nor homosexual offenrs (arsenokoai)" 1 Cor 6:9, NIVBee the NIV did such a loy job and mistranslated the Greek word, arsenokoai, many people nclud that homosexuals will not her the kgdom of the NIV translators had bothered to study stead of jt gog by what the Greek lexins say, the gay muny uld have avoid a lot of pa and heartache. The belief that gays and lbians mt change their sexual orientatn when they get saved is a personal belief of many Christians, based on nothg but their own opn stead of on anythg the Bible actually, their opn that homosexuals go to hell is partially based on the NIV's mis-translatn of 1 Cor to related InfoGod sav gays but do you thk He wants them to stay gay?

DO GAY PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN?

Unrstandg this, that the law is not laid down for the jt but for the lawls and disobedient, for the ungodly and sners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murrers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexualy, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is ntrary to sound doctre,. Now we know that the law is good, if one lawfully, unrstandg this, that the law is not laid down for the jt but for the lawls and disobedient, for the ungodly and sners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murrers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexualy, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is ntrary to sound doctre, acrdance wh the gospel of the glory of the blsed God wh which I have been entsted. Unrstandg this, that the law is not laid down for the jt but for the lawls and disobedient, for the ungodly and sners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murrers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexualy, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is ntrary to sound doctre, acrdance wh the gospel of the glory of the blsed God wh which I have been entsted.

Now we know that the law is good, if one lawfully, unrstandg this, that the law is not laid down for the jt but for the lawls and disobedient, for the ungodly and sners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murrers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexualy, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is ntrary to sound doctre,. My clients and my rearch rponnts who are eher lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr (LGBT) or love someone who is, have shared wh me the paful nflicts they face as they fear that their relign will not allow them to accept their children or themselv.

RELIGN AND ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS

Consirg that the Catholic Church and members of fundamentalist Christian church and Jewish tradns have been the most outspoken opponents of gay rights, is perhaps not surprisg that LGBT people and their fai intify relign as a major obstacle acceptg homosexualy and transgenr inti, eher themselv or a fay member.

“GOD MA ME GAY FOR A REASON”: YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WH MEN’S RILIENCY ROLVG INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA OM RELIG SOURC

In addn to s admonn agast homosexualy, Levic also has passag that perm fathers to sell their dghters to slavery (21:7), prohib men om shavg their beards (19:27), and ll for the ath of anyone who works on the Sabbath (Exod. Keywords: relign, spirualy, gay, young men who have sex wh men, ternalized homophobiaThere has been a growg body of rearch foced on the relatnship between religsy and adolcent health and well-beg (Nonnemaker, McNeely, & Blum, 2003; Werner & Smh, 1992). Given the unique velopmental stage of adolcence and emergg adulthood and the fact that most religns across the globe offer teachgs that nmn or rtrict homosexual behavr, is particularly important to unrstand YMSM’s experienc and challeng as they stggle to tegrate their sexual inty wh their relig/spirual beliefs.

Rearch among olr populatns of MSM and other lbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults dite that religsy n ntribute to inty dissonance between sexual sir and relig beliefs for sexual mory dividuals, which n be rolved by changg religns, reexamg relig texts and doctre, abandong relign, or turng to a more dividualized sense of spirualy (Leong, 2006; Schuck & Liddle, 2001; Thumms, 1991; Yip, 1997, 2005). Mory Strs and Internalized HomophobiaInternalized homophobia, also referred to as ternalized heterosexism (Szymanski & Chung, 2003) or sexual prejudice (Herek, 2004), n be fed as directg anti-gay social attus towards the self, leadg to a valuatn of the self, ternal nflicts and poor self-regard (Meyer & Dean, 1998). Internalized homophobia has also been lked to substance abe, lower levels of self teem and eatg disorrs among both gay and lbian populatns (Cabaj, 1996; Ross & Simon Rosser, 1996; Rowen & Mallm, 2002; Williamson & Hartley, 1998).