While my parents contributed in important ways to my upbringing,
my knowledge of “the birds and the bees” had to wait until a biology class at
Davidson College gave me basic knowledge about human sexuality. I received
almost no information about it in school or at home. Reluctantly, I must admit
that when my college class viewed a film on childbirth, I fainted! I had much
to learn.
Schoolmates sometimes described fellows as “queer.” I
learned later that “gay” is a term applied to homosexual men and “lesbian” a
term applied to women. I also was under the impression that homosexuals were
not only different but were afflicted with some kind of disease, until the
American Psychiatric Association in 1973 declared it was not a mental disorder.
Then came the debates about
the cause of homosexuality. Did it result from some genetic strain, or did it
come from one’s environment? After trying to educate myself on the subject, I
came to the conclusion that just as I did not choose to be heterosexual,
neither do homosexuals choose their identity.
Do you remember the
University of Massachusetts basketball guard Derrick Gordon? In early April, he
became the first openly gay player in Division I of college basketball. Darryl,
his twin brother on the team, was shocked at the news. Same family. Same father
and mother, yet different in sexual orientation. Although two of our five
children are left-handed and three are redheads, none of them chose to be that
way; likewise, I think, Derrick Gordon had his sexual orientation from
birth.
The term homosexual is
never mentioned in the Bible, yet one discovers different interpretations of
human sexuality in it. Clearly, the practice of homosexuality is condemned in
several passages, most notably in Leviticus and Romans. Any probe of these
passages will explain why Christianity is so divided on the subject.
In a nutshell, here is how
my mind has changed: I now believe that
the Bible’s label of “good” for all of God’s creation and Jesus’ teachings
about God’s love for all people—including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
children—trump everything else with regard to our sexuality. As my friends at a
former parish in Winston-Salem are fond of saying, “All really does mean all.”
Jesus did not discriminate, nor should we. His words to some ancient fishermen
are the same words to us. Follow me . . . (Matthew 4:19).
