There is no shortage of material online about faith and sexuality, so I do my best to filter in order to bring attention to articles that are either especially helpful or unknown outside of my particular circle. Jay Michaelson recently wrote an article called “The Religious Duty to Come Out” over at Religion Dispatches, and he has a very unique perspective worth your time. I’m struggling to avoid quoting the entire article, but here are some highlights:
“What some folks don’t understand about ‘the closet’ is that it’s not just a set of walls around sexual behavior. It’s a net of lies that affects absolutely everything in one’s life…How can you build authentic relationships with anyone—friends, family—under such conditions? And if you’re religious, how can you be honest with yourself and your God if you maintain so many lies, so many walls running right through the center of your soul?”
“When I was in the closet…I lied all the time, to everyone….Somehow, I believed that all this lying was in the service of God. From where I sit now, the very proposition is preposterous: this notion that to be faithful to God requires deceit, falsehood, and deception.”
“I’ve already remarked at how tragic and offensive it is to hear homosexuality called a ‘lifestyle,’ as if it’s like living in the country, or enjoying golf or tennis. But the closet, in my experience, is a death-style—a slow, painful draining-out and drying-up of all that makes life worthwhile—even for those of us fortunate enough to live in places where gay-bashing and state-sanctioned violence are comparatively rare.”
For those of you in the closet, I recommend not reading the article as an imperative to come out; the sad truth is that for some people—at least for now—coming out is not a legitimate option. But from this side of the closet door, I can confirm that things feel much better out in the open.
For those of you who are not or have never been in the closet, let’s keep making this a world where people can be safe coming out.
