Do you think you can be gay and be a Christian?
Katie: Yeah.
Nnenna: Well, yeah but no at the same time. In the Bible, God created Adam for Eve, not Adam for Adam, or Eve for Eve. You can be what you want because you have free will, but at the same time you need to look at your faith and think about what you claim to be, and if you’re trying to go against it.
Nmeso: I agree, God created Adam and then created Eve for a reason. He didn’t create Adam and then another man; he created a man and then a woman because that’s how God was trying to explain how it was meant to be.
Katie: I think Adam and Eve were created for reproductive purposes; there was a man and a woman because that’s biologically how you make a child, but now in this day and age there are ways to make children without just needing a man and a woman.
Ademola: I think in some ways you can’t be gay or bisexual and a Christian, just because I feel if you’re accepting your religion for everything that it is, and everything that your religion stands for, you also have to accept what it says. I feel like a lot of people today rewrite the Bible; they put spins on it and try and justify how they feel. I feel like the Bible shouldn’t have to fit your narrative; your narrative should try and fit the Bible.
But then at the same time, the Bible also says that if a man lies with a man they won’t inherit the kingdom of God, and that’s talking about your actions rather than who you are as a person. So if you’re talking about a gay person, you’re attracted to someone of the same sex, that’s not what the sin is, the sin is lying with somebody of the same sex. There are a lot of gay Christians who struggle with their attraction and they try and bring their attraction and their faith together, and I think you need to think about how difficult it probably is for them because they don’t choose to be gay, just like a straight person doesn’t choose to like or be attracted to somebody of a different sex.
They don’t choose to be gay but they can choose to be a Christian, and so it’s unfair to exclude gay people from Christianity for something that they don’t choose. So while, I think you can be a Christian and be gay, at the same time you can’t be a Christian and say that you believe everything the Bible says and then also support homosexuality. Maybe I’m a hypocrite because I think it is acceptable for you to be gay and a Christian, but I also think the Bible is correct, so I have these two views and I don’t really want to drop one at the same time. I think that’s how a lot of gay Christians feel.
Katie: I think to exclude someone for their sexuality is wrong, because there are a lot of things that the Bible says that are outdated in our culture. There are lines in the Bible that say it’s OK to take slaves from neighbouring kingdoms, but no one will agree with that now because it’s wrong. So I think looking at teachings and saying that homosexuality is wrong, that’s an outdated opinion. If we weren’t supposed to feel a certain way, we wouldn’t. It’s not a sin if you can’t help it.
Eno: In the Bible it does say don’t practice homosexuality, or something like that, so I feel like I don’t have anything against gay people, but personally I think to call yourself a Christian, and then to go against one of these rules I don’t think is alright. I believe that, sorry, being gay is a choice. It’s a feeling and then it’s a choice. You have that feeling and then you choose to act upon it. I just feel like being gay and being a Christian are two contrasting things.
How do you think Christian youth groups can support gay young people?
Nmeso: You can support them by just not acting differently towards them. If someone said they were gay and you started acting different then they might be harmed by that.
Katie: A person is still the same person, it doesn’t matter about their gender or sexual orientation. None of that matters, they’re still people. If a young person had the bravery to say: “I think I’m homosexual,” I think we’re all still people and if we choose to believe a certain thing, that has no connection to who you like or what gender you identify as, that doesn’t contrast in any way to your beliefs, because that’s your identity, it’s got nothing to do with what you believe.
