Wrestling the Angel of contradiction: Queer Christian identities

Abstract

Abstract This ethnographically based article is about the ways in which individuals who choose to remain in mainstream Christian denominations while being out about their sexuality make sense of and manage the presumed discontinuity of homosexuality and Christianity. In this article I focus specifically on the processes whereby lesbian and gay Christians forge an integration of Christian doctrine, spirituality and sexuality. My central interpretive claim is that this integrative struggle is experienced by lesbian and gay Christians as a raison d'être. Wrestling this contradiction has given rise to a particular expression of queer Christian identity. Among the many implications of these expressions of queer Christian identity is their impact on mainstream Christian congregations and Christian ideologies and practices. Keywords: Christianityhomosexualityself and identity Notes Jodi O'Brien (author to whom correspondence should be addressed), Department of Sociology, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122, USA. E‐mail: jobrien@seattleu.edu. The emergence of businesses, such as GayMart USA, is indicative of both a commodification and a homogenisation of 'gay culture.' See, for example, Homo Economics (Gluckman and Reed Citation1997). The inclusion of this group is highly controversial for many lesbian and gay events. In this paper I use the phrase 'lesbian and gay' because it is the most accurate description of the group about which I am writing. The term lesbian/gay/ bisexual/transgender (LGBT) is politically strategic and meaningful, but often not descriptively accurate in specific case studies. Several colleagues and interviewees have indicated that the experiences of Jewish lesbians and gays are similar. In this project, I have maintained a focus on mainstream Christian denominations because of my familiarity with Christian theology. For studies in Jewish queer experience, see Schneer and Aviv (Citation2002) and Balka and Rose (Citation1991). During the course of my formal research, Seattle First Baptist was one of a handful of recent Baptist denominations in the United States that were threatened with revocation of their charter for affirming lesbian and gay membership. Other congregations that were the spiritual homes to several of my interviewees struggled with similar tensions within their denominational organisations, especially congregations attempting to appoint lesbian and gay ministers and those that supported standing ministers who had recently 'come out' to the congregation. This ethnography is limited, especially in what it suggests regarding variations of gender, race and geography on the articulation of and circumstances surrounding a queer Christian identity. I expect that there are significant variations in terms of the dimensions of gender and race, and I suspect these interact differently in different geographical regions. This study highlights one variation on the theme of individual reconciliation of homosexuality and Christianity. It should be read in terms of what it can suggest for further research regarding different variations on this theme. There is a notable historical correlation between gay political movements, Christian denominations' heightened discussion of the 'homosexual question'—including the revision of the Catechism—and the removal of 'homosexuality' as a category of pathology in the 1974 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by the American Psychiatric Association to identify and diagnose psychological disorders. Article Six, section 2359: 'Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self‐mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection' (Catechism of the Catholic Church Citation1994, 566). This explanation is consistent with a social psychological literature demonstrating that dominant belief systems are usually not rejected in the face of contradiction. Rather, individuals attempt to make sense of the contradictions through 'secondary elaborations' (Mehan and Wood Citation1975, 197). The motivation for continued engagement in the belief system is the desire to maintain a coherent system of meaning regarding the meaning and purpose of one's life. Even problematic positions within the system of meaning can be less threatening than having no sense of meaning or basis for self‐understanding. This literature can be used to explain seemingly incomprehensible behavior such as attendance at one's own 'degradation ceremony' (e.g. the Mormon who participates in her/his own excommunication process). Stuart also points out the similarities with other Christians, such as Christian feminists or Christian ecologists, who must also explain and justify their religious commitments. Religious individualism as articulated by Roof is a process whereby persons seek individual paths of spiritual fulfillment. In this modern religious turn, individuals select among an array of churches and spiritual paths to fulfill personal needs. Roof and others have referred to this process as a form of religious 'shopping' whereby religion is seen in terms of personal enhancement (what does this church do for me?) rather than as a form of traditional community obligation. I am not implying that these responses are mutually exclusive or fixed. Rather, it is probable that during the course of a queer Christian career individuals try on aspects of each of these responses. It is beyond the scope of this paper to develop an explanation for primary self‐expression through one response or another—a settling in to a particular expression of identity. I assume that various reference groups play a part in this process and that, over time, the proliferation of an articulated queer Christianity will in itself serve as one such point of reference for a new generation of queer youth. I offer some suggestions toward such an explanation in the conclusions. All quotes from subjects used in this article are intended to be illustrative (rather than analytically definitive). For this reason I do not give detailed subject descriptions. These descriptions are available on request. All of the interviewees in this study elected to use their real names. For reasons of 'voice' this is my preferred ethnographical practice. Although nothing conclusive can be ascertained from my few interviews, this phenomenon of simultaneous awakening of homosexuality and spiritual vocation may be more prevalent among young men. Nineteen of the 25 men I interviewed spoke of this experience. Only two of the women mentioned a similar feeling. In fact, the women tended to develop a strong sense of spirituality and desire for religious involvement sometime after coming to terms with their homosexuality. Two of the men offered an explanation of their early sense of vocation as being a means of making them feel better about their homosexuality. As one put it, 'God wouldn't have made me this way if he didn't have something special in mind for my life.' Another noted that he considered his experience somewhat normal 'for someone who was meant to be a priest … after all, aren't all priests supposed to be gay? I figured that my attraction to men, including one of the teachers at my [Catholic] school, was just God's way of making it clear that I was meant to be a priest.' Evangelicalism is another domain of Christianity whose members experience struggle and are likely to view this struggle as a definitive aspect of themselves and their religious commitment. Smith, C. 1998. American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. For another interesting example, see Gloria Gonzalez‐Lopez's (Citation2004) study of Catholic Mexican immigrant women and their sex lives. In the past two decades, many lesbian and gay Christians embraced the hypothesis that homosexuality is genetic rather than socially determined. This essentialist position was consistent with the idea that if homosexuality exists, God must have intended it. Catholicism has accepted the essentialist proposition of biological determinism explicitly without accepting the corollary that homosexuality is a positive characteristic. The latter is the queer twist on the essentialist proposition. But belonging to a denomination that accepted the initial proposition made it easier to make the case for the possible goodness and purpose of homosexuality. Other denominations, notably Mormonism, state explicitly that homosexuality is a 'lifestyle choice' that a person should resist by every possible means, no matter how strong the inclination. For a discussion of the intersection of essentialist and constructionist reasoning within Christian considerations of sexuality, see Boswell (Citation1997). The persons in my study range in age from 27 to 63 years. It is likely that a younger generation of lesbian and gay youth are discovering the existence of a queer Christianity in community rather than in isolation. In England, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is considered to be the single largest LGBT movement in the country (Gill Citation1998). During this research process I gave a talk at a Baptist church and mentioned that I had been raised as a Mormon. Afterward a married couple approached me and remarked that they had left a Presbyterian church and joined this congregation because of its acceptance of homosexuality. Before joining this particular church, they had not known 'anyone who is gay,' but they had 'grave concerns' about a Christian church that would be so exclusive. After hearing this, I was somewhat surprised when they continued with a question for me. What they really wanted to know was whether Mormons were as bad as they had been led to believe. Their daughter had recently begun dating a Mormon man and they were quite overwrought about this. Additional informationNotes on contributorsJodi O'Brien Footnote Jodi O'Brien (author to whom correspondence should be addressed), Department of Sociology, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122, USA. E‐mail: jobrien@seattleu.edu.