Matthew Vines grew up in a conservative church in Kansas, where, he says, everybody was welcomed in church, provided they were willing to repent for sin – and it was automatically assumed that being gay was inherently a sin demanding repentance. Not surprisingly, the few people from his home town who came out, did so only after moving a good distance away. It was not until he left himself, to study at Harvard, that he discovered how very different life as a gay man could be, elsewhere. Reflecting on his experience of conservative Christianity in an op-ed article at the Advocate, he argues that change can come, even to small town conservative churches – but it needs to be argued by LGBT Christians themselves. Vimes is probably too young to see what is apparent from a look at church history over the past half century or so, that change is already occurring in all denominations, including (more slowly) the more conservative denominations, but his fundamental point is valid, and important. There are powerful forces in the churches acting as brakes on the path to full LGBT equality, brandishing their faith as a cover for their prejudice, and they need to be countered. Those best placed to do so, are those who can take argue with them, in their own language, in terms of faith.
Change is difficult and slow – but with enough effort, it does come.
Op-ed: Don’t Give Up on Christian Gays
When I left home in the fall of 2008 and started school at Harvard, I was amazed at how much openness and support there was for LGBT students on campus, mainly because it was worlds apart from the conservative Christian church in Kansas that I’d come from. Back home, gay issues were never discussed, every family and every wedding was heterosexual, and the few people who eventually came out waited until they had moved far away.
The message was largely unspoken, yet crystal clear: If you don’t fit into a heterosexual identity, you aren’t welcome. (more…)
