The Great Gay Hope - The New York Tim

Contents:

• YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE GAY: HOPE AND FREEDOM FOR MAL STGGLG WH HOMOSEXUALY, OR FOR THOSE WHO KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO IS
• WH THE CUB ROOM'S RETURN, IS NEW HOPE'S GAY BAR SCENE G BACK?
• THE GREAT GAY HOPE
• 10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS NEW HOPE
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE GAY: HOPE AND FREEDOM FOR MAL STGGLG WH HOMOSEXUALY, OR FOR THOSE WHO KNOW OF SOMEONE WHO IS

Based on current scientific facts and the practil experience of task force members, Homosexualy and Hope outl a posive program of providg help, support and hope for those homosexual persons who wish to live unn wh the Catholic Church.

WH THE CUB ROOM'S RETURN, IS NEW HOPE'S GAY BAR SCENE G BACK?

It is possible, wh God's grace, for everyone to live a chaste life cludg persons experiencg same-sex attractn, as Cardal Gee, Archbishop of Chigo, so powerfully stated his addrs to the Natnal Associatn of Catholic Dcan Lbian & Gay Mistri: "To ny that the power of God's grace enabl those wh homosexual attractns to live chastely is to ny, effectively, that J has risen om the ad" (Gee 1999).

The media has promoted the ia that a "gay gene" has already been disvered (Burr 1996), but spe of several attempts none of the much publicized studi (Hamer 1993; LeVay 1991) have been scientifilly replited (Gadd 1998).

In the bate between sentialism and social nstctnism, the believer natural law would hold that human begs have an sential nature — eher male or female — and that sful clatns — such as the sire to engage homosexual acts — are nstcted and n, therefore, be nstcted.

THE GREAT GAY HOPE

It is, therefore, probably wise to avoid wherever possible g the words "homosexual" and "heterosexual" as nouns sce such age impli a fixed state and an equivalence between the natural state of man and woman as created by God and persons experiencg same-sex attractns or behavrs. While a number of studi have shown that children who have been sexually abed, children exhibg the symptoms of GID, and boys wh chronic juvenile unmasculy are at risk for same-sex attractns adolcence and adulthood, is important to note that a signifint percentage of the children do not bee homosexually active as adults (Green 1985; Bradley 1998). Unfortunately, a number of fluential persons and profsnal groups ignore this evince (APA 1997; Herek 1991) and there seems to be a ncerted effort on the part of "homosexual apologists" to ny the effectivens of treatment of same-sex attractn or claim that such treatment is harmful.

10 ANTI-GAY MYTHS DEBUNKED

D., the renowned Columbia Universy psychiatric rearcher, who was directly volved the 1973 cisn to remove homosexualy om the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's list of mental disorrs, has recently bee volved wh rearchg the possibily of change. Those who claim that change of sexual orientatn is impossible, ually fe change as total and permanent eedom om all homosexual behavr, fantasy, or attractn a person who had prevly been homosexual behavr and attractn (Tripp 1971).

It should be noted that almost whout exceptn, those who regard therapy as uhil, also reject abstence om non-maral sexual activy as a mimal goal (Barrett 1996) and among the therapists who accept homosexual acts as normal many fd nothg wrong wh fily mted relatnships (Nelson 1982), anonymo sexual enunters, general promiscuy, to-eroticism (Saghir 1973), sado-masochism, and var paraphilias.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS NEW HOPE

Some clerics, perhaps bee they erroneoly believe that same-sex attractn is geilly termed and unchangeable, have enuraged dividuals experiencg same-sex attractns to intify wh the gay muny, by publicly proclaimg themselv gay or lbian, but live chasty their personal life. There are several reasons why this is an misguid urse of actn: 1) It is based on the mistaken ia that same-sex attractn is an unchangeable aspect of the dividual and disurag persons om seekg help; 2) The "gay" muny promot an ethic of sexual behavr which is totally anthetil to the Catholic teachg on sexualy and has ma no secret of s sire to elimate "erotophobia" and "heterosexism.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

" There is simply no way the posn articulated by spokpersons for the "gay" movement and the Catholic church n be renciled; 3) It puts easily tempted persons to plac which mt be nsired the near ocsn of s; 4) It creat a false hope that the Church will eventually change s teachg on sexual moraly.

Catholics mt, of urse, reach out to dividuals experiencg same-sex attractn, to those actively volved homosexual acts, and particularly to those sufferg om sexually transmted diseas, wh love, hope, and the thentic, unpromised msage of eedom om s through J Christ. When an dividual nfs same-sex attractns, fantasi, or homosexual acts, the prit should be aware that the are often maniftatns of childhood and adolcent trmas, sexual child abe, or unmet childhood needs for the love and affirmatn om the same-sex parent.

While the primary reason for treatg children is to alleviate their prent unhapps (Newman 1976; Bradley 1998; Bat 1974), treatment of GID and chronic juvenile unmasculy n prevent the velopment of same-sex attractn and the problems associated wh homosexual activy adolcence and adult life.