Sexual and religious expression

[vaneramos]

Recently in my journal I unwittingly raised a comparison between sexual orientation and religion. My point was not that they’re the same; but that religious conservatives, in trying to justify discrimination against homosexuals on the basis of choice and behaviour, forget religion itself is a matter of choice and behaviour. Both sides want the same thing: to exercise limited personal freedom without social interference.

Having a religious history myself, I would not be the first person to compare my coming out as a gay man (at the age of 31) to my born again experience as a new Christian (at the age of 19). Both choices were motivated by complex feelings: the need for better self-acceptance and emotional expression, a search for release from personal demons, and a socio-political imperative to rebel against repressive norms.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “If this sexual orientation were indeed a matter of personal choice, the homosexual persons must be the craziest coots around to choose a way of life that exposes them to so much hostility, discrimination, loss, and suffering.”

I disagree. He, of all people, should realize someone often takes a difficult stance simply because it expresses the truth as he understands it.