In his post on the Resurrection yesterday, Bart wrote about coming out, and referred also to an “ex-straight movement”. I love the concept: we should promote it strongly. Two years ago, I shared a piece by an outfit called Leviticus International, observing that Heterosexuality Can Be Cured. Sadly, the Leviticus website is not functioning, but the description of its claimed services and motivation remain relevant, and can still be read at Revision Studios, creator of the concept. This was a fun, tongue in cheek piece, but there is an important, deeper message behind it.
Leviticus International promises to save straights from “Hetero Hell.” “Hetero Hell” is the creation of Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church. It is a place of misery where people believe they are on the path of civility and equality for all but they are really trying to subjugate a whole group of gays to second class status. They live in Hetero Hell because the devil has them believing they are better than others. If you attend one of Leviticus International prayer camps, Jesus Christ will pluck you from Rick Warren’s Hetero Hell and gently drop you into Homo Heaven.
I have no problem with the heterosexual condition itself – it is every bit as normal and natural as homoerotic attraction – but when those who have this orientation attempt to impose their sexuality on everyone else, and to portray all other sexualities as abnormal, then a perfectly acceptable sexual orientation becomes pathological, and straight becomes a straight jacket. The problem is that the idea that only heterosexuality is natural, and all else is disordered, is a complete fallacy. The empirical evidence, from human history, social anthropology, psychology, and even from observations of the animal world, is that sexual diversity is what is truly natural. In the statistical sense of not common, it may even be so that compulsory, exclusive heterosexuality, is abnormal.
We who have experienced the liberating power of stepping out of the closet, must encourage our counterparts with another orientation to find their own liberation, by escaping their straight -jackets. They must be encouraged to move beyond their obsession with genital plumbing, and look instead at the human persons, and the quality of their relationships.
There is even some promotional merchandise on the market to assist the movement: this products are available from Amazon:
And, for good measure. a video:
