Better late (posting) than never!
“Being Gay is a Gift from God”
A sermon for LGBT Pride Sunday, 2011, First Congregational Church of Santa Cruz, UCC
Being Gay is a Gift from God…this is the slogan that a United Methodist church in Toledo Ohio recently put up on a billboard, garnering attention from all sides of the religion and sexuality debate, and challenging their denomination to step up and proclaim the worth and dignity of all of God’s children. It was not only a brave thing for that Toledo church to do, it was a radical statement to make.
How often do we hear people talk about homosexuality as something that is “not a choice,” as if it would be the wrong choice? How often do we hear people talk only about the struggles and pain of growing up queer in a hostile world, especially in the context of asking for equal rights and tolerance within our churches? These are the usual arguments, the usual discourse: you should be kind to us because we have been oppressed, and because we can’t help being the way we are…Well, you know what? That’s just not good enough. That line of reasoning is outdated and simplistic and worst of all, condescending.
I’m here to let you in on a secret: Being a lesbian is a wonderful thing, and I wouldn’t change it if I could. I have always felt like being gay was a blessing. God made me this way and I am SO grateful! When discussions about gay rights in government and churches focus on the argument that we have no choice, they completely disregard the fact that we are whole, beautiful, blessed people. Those arguments serve to keep us in a state of victimhood, to make us feel like equal rights and opportunities would be benevolent gifts from people who were born better than us, rather than what we deserve as citizens and children of God.
When we come out with the statement that being gay is a gift from God, we are rejecting that fallacy. We are standing up and saying that we refuse to internalize their prejudice. Loving your neighbor as yourself requires you to love yourself first.
Discrimination is real. Prejudice is still rampant. But one way to counteract it is to remind ourselves and let others know what a blessing it is to be queer. My lesbian community, our music, art and literature have enriched my life beyond measure.
My friendships and relationships with women have been the joy of my life, and I wouldn’t trade them for any amount of privilege or mainstream acceptance. Now, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that I have pale skin and blue eyes and a good education, and my family always had a home and food to eat and books to read, and—thank God—health insurance! So, I do have a lot of privilege, and that does make it easier to move in this world and to appreciate the blessing of being an outsider because of my sexuality. But I have also faced rejection, violence and fear, and have shared the pain of my sisters and brothers who have had to struggle more than I have.
We march in Pride parades for many reasons. For some of us, it’s a chance to stand up and be counted as allies, friends and family members who are proud of their gay and lesbian kin. For our church, it’s a chance to stand up and say what so many churches are unwilling to say—that we not only tolerate LGBT people, we love and respect them…we not only welcome the gay community, we are part of the gay community.
By marching in Pride, we are standing up to say that it’s not about loving the sinner while hating the sin—it’s about rejecting the idea that love is ever a sin! Make no mistake, even in a town that seems as liberal and accepting as Santa Cruz, marching in a Pride parade as a Christian community is a radical and important action. Even if just one person sees us, just one person who didn’t know there was a church that would love them, it will be worthwhile.
Being visible as an Open and Affirming church is not just about growth, or confronting bigotry, though both those things can be good…being visible is about helping people find us who need us, who need our message, who need a place where they are free to worship God with their whole selves.
And marching in Pride is also, just as importantly, about celebrating who we are. Clapping and shouting for joy, singing praises to God and saying to each other and to the world that who we are—who God made us to be—is beautiful, wonderful and holy. AMEN!
