Some Guys Are Normal

An Ex-Gay Analogy

I was reading some of the comments over at Ex-Gay Watch, and I came across an interesting analogy from William. I thought it was very interesting, and the intro to it is something that I've always thought to be true. The truth is, kids growing up don't want to be gay. At least, I've never met one that wanted to be. I know I spent years trying my hardest not to be. And when it all came down to it, I felt like I had gotten the raw end of the deal.

Here's the analogy (and the intro to it). Let me know what you think.

Fr Bernard Lynch, SMA, said on television some years ago that in his ministry he hadn’t met a single gay man with a religious upbringing who, when it had dawned on him during his teenage years that he might be gay, hadn’t prayed repeatedly along the lines of: “Please, God, please, don’t let me be a faggot. Please let me be ‘normal’, like my Dad, or my elder brother, or my mate Jim.” (I must admit that I did so myself.) And that is precisely what the adverts for ex-gay ministries and the ex-gay books with their suggestive titles seem to promise.

It may be that some, when they find that what they are actually going to achieve is to become asexual, or “post-gay”, or heterosexual “in a meaningful but complicated sense” – not really “like my Dad, or my elder brother, or my mate Jim” – or when they are fed a piece of sententious claptrap like “The opposite of homosexuality isn’t heterosexuality; it’s holiness”, will be happy and satisfied. But I submit that the vast majority will conclude – and quite rightly – that they have been led up the garden path. Their feelings will be similar to those of Ben in Philippa Pearce’s children’s novel A Dog So Small, who longed for a dog and had been more or less promised one for his birthday. When his birthday came round he was presented with a very charming framed picture of a dog.

posted by Brady @ 8:23 AM