What is wrong wh gay Christiany? What is Si A and Si B anyway? — Rosaria Butterfield

Contents:

• WHAT IS WRONG WH GAY CHRISTIANY? WHAT IS SI A AND SI B ANYWAY?
• HOW CELIBATE GAY CHRISTIANS DEAL WH DIRE
• THE JOY-ROBBG FALSE HOPE OF SI B GAY CHRISTIANY

WHAT IS WRONG WH GAY CHRISTIANY? WHAT IS SI A AND SI B ANYWAY?

(RNS) — When Grant Hartley first disvered he was gay at age 13, he adopted what he lls an “ex-gay mdset.” He saw his attractns as a sort of tt, somethg he uld overe wh fah. While grateful for the experience of beg gay, Hartley se his gay inty as somethg that go beyond jt sex — “I never say that I’m grateful for same-sex sexual sire,” he said — also clus athetics, culture and worldview. As Si B disurse was fdg s way to onle foms, the flagship Christian ex-gay anizatn Exod Internatnal closed s doors 2013 after s of g nversn therapy on LGBTQ dividuals.

Many LGBTQ Christians who had been harmed by the ex-gay approach — but still held to tradnal church teachgs on marriage — turned to Si B for a more acceptg muny. “There’s a wi range of ways to give and receive love,” said Th, a gay celibate Catholic wrer and speaker wh a forthg book. Bridget Eileen Rivera, a celibate gay Christian and thor of “Heavy Burns: Seven Ways LGTBQ Christians Experience Harm the Church,” don’t e the Si B label.

HOW CELIBATE GAY CHRISTIANS DEAL WH DIRE

Greg Johnson, a gay pastor the Prbyterian Church Ameri (PCA) and thor of a forthg book, believ the Si B language n be eful. “When a gay person lands the more nservative, tradnal mp, ’s helpful to distguish them om those who are really theologilly a different place,” he said. On the flip si, some progrsive crics, who are fewer number, said Hill and Hartley, see Si B as another eratn of the ex-gay movement or a form of rpectabily polics where LGBTQ dividuals reprs their sexualy to w approval om the broar church.

“The ia that Si B is jt the ex-gay movement wh a different veneer ignor or mimiz the fact that Si B people are fleeg ex-gay movements and ex-gay church,” said Hartley. “Many of have gone through reparative therapy and have really bad experienc, and we’re vted fightg agast ex-gay theology as well. Th agreed and add that the motivatns behd Si B and the ex-gay movement are entirely different; one is tryg to make gay people straight, and the other is tryg to expand how the church views love and kship.

Colls said many Si B are cidg whether they have more mon wh the LGBTQ inty found Si A or the tradnal sexual ethic found ex-gay approach. “Si B me out of dissatisfactn wh the simple and easy answers of the ex-gay movement,” said Hartley, “and so, embracg plexy or allowg plexy is ntrast to that sistence on uniformy.”.

THE JOY-ROBBG FALSE HOPE OF SI B GAY CHRISTIANY

They argue that the biblil thors were referrg to ancient sexual practic—or nonnsensual enunters—and not the lovg, monogamo, homosexual relatnships of today.

Proponents of this view say that homosexualy is no different om any other s sce is listed among many ss and not sgled out (see 1 Timothy 1:8–11). Acrdg to Si X teachers, the phrasg Levic 18:22 and 20:13—specifilly the word ttable—tegoriz homosexualy as a terrible offense.

Josh Proctor, producer of the Life on Si B podst, summariz that, for Si X, “marriage and chaste sglens are both viewed as godly optns for people wh same-sex attractns to pursue, but while there are multiple ex-gay dividuals who end up sgle for life, the pursu of marriage is always seen as the higher llg” (, accsed 2/18/2023). The church nmned such feelgs as bad choic and nmned the people (like me) who experienced the feelgs as abomatns, falsely llg homosexual sir a willful choice. They are supported by the Gay Christian Network, or Si A (which sanctns same-sex marriage and believ that homosexualy is jt one of many forms of diverse sexualy that the church should wele), and the Spirual Friendship ter muny, or Si B (which believ that homosexualy is not a morally culpable issue, although is a nsequence of the brokenns om the Fall; Si B teach agast homosexual sexual practice, but only for the sake of Christian tradn).