As some of you might know, October is LGBT history month. I know this because of a bulletin board my RA put up in my hall 5 years ago.
Growing up as a Christian, when I first saw this sign, I was skeptical. Over the course of 6,000 years of human history, how long had “gay” even really been a thing? What kind of history is there, really?
Oh, there’s history.
And it blows my mind. It’s a story of dark evils and great good.
Here are just a handful of evils:
- During the Holocaust, 100,000 gay men were imprisoned, and 20,000 of that number sent to concentration camps.
- In Europe, as far back as the Middle Ages, homosexuality constituted a death penalty, and as recent as the past 100 years, gay men were forced by law to undergo chemical castration.
- Today, in Syria, if you’re even accused of being gay, you will be thrown off a building.
This persecution is used not only for political and religious power struggle, but is an everyday reality for LGBTQ+ youth in our own nation. Although our media and government promote LGBTQ rights, LGBTQ students are still often:
- bullied
- rejected by their families
- about 8 times more at risk for suicide than hetero- and gender-normative youth
Of course, LGBT history month organizations do not highlight so much acts of violence and hate toward LGBTQ+ persons (although they are of great important to understand and remember as a part of the dark history of the human race) — but rather highlight the amazing LGBTQ+ people who have shined throughout history, making incredible contributions to the very society that seemed to be against them.
- Much evidence supports that William Shakespeare was gay. He is now the most well-known playwright in human history, and his works have inspired millions of people in their art, philosophy, and worldviews.
- Miriam Ben-Shalom served in the U.S. Army in 1976 until it was discovered that she was gay — at which point she was kicked out.
- Winston Churchill said that Alan Turing (1912-1954) made the single biggest contribution to Allied victory in the war against Nazi Germany. His algorithm machine may not only be the reason thousands of lives were saved, but his machine was an irreplaceable model for the computer — something without which no company, government, or individual could operate well today.
So why am I writing this?
I can honestly say, because I’m a Christian. And just as LGBTQ people want to be known for the beauty and love they have inside to give to others… that’s how I want to be seen.
I don’t identify as Christian because I want to be counted with those who hate gays to try to make themselves feel better than everyone (when really, they’re far worse).
Just as gay people don’t often identify as gay because they want to be counted among flamboyant, loud-spoken political activists.
I identify as Christian because Jesus Christ is the one person who ever lived who actually gets it. And by “it” I mean, how to treat people.
No matter how we identify,
no matter what labels we put on ourselves
after however-many years of living this life
and trying to draw conclusions
about ourselves and others and God(s) and the world
in a way that best describes the state of affairs,
we are people.
And because of that, our deepest longing is to be
thoroughly known,
and yet completely
loved.
And this is exactly how Jesus treated people.
The thing is, since Jesus also happens to be the one who created us and knows how many hairs are on our head…
He also knows when our conclusions are wrong.
(Park that for a second… it might mean what you think it does… or it might mean something completely different. 🙂 )
None of us have it right. But if anyone does, it’s God. And if God really wanted to make these things known to us, what better way than to become one of us?
If the one who made us just wanted us to continue wondering,
you know, about the big questions, and why people fight, and why it matters,
he wouldn’t have come.
But I have this inkling that God wanted us to know exactly who He is.
And honestly, I think our desire to be known…
Is a fingerprint left on us by our creator,
who calls us by name
because He Himself has a name
and specific characteristics
that matter.
Because if my friends didn’t know my name or the deepest, darkest things about me?
I couldn’t be sure they knew and loved me completely.
What if, just as we want to be known, to be “out,” if you will,
God wants us to know the deepest things about Him, too?
None of us have it right. But if anyone does, it’s God. And if God really wanted to make these things known to us, what better way than to become one of us?
Jesus is the only god who has ever done that. So I’m sticking with Him.
Let me put this another way. Get this…
if your Creator “came out” as Jesus Christ,
the one written in that book you hate
because of the flamboyant people associated with it…
would you accept Him,
and seek to know Him better,
and love Him more —
and enjoy His unique personality
and the love He has to offer —
or would you reject Him?
I am a Christian, and because I strive to be like Christ, I am against LGBTQ+ bullying. Jesus has known me completely, before anyone else did, even in part. And Jesus has loved me completely, no matter how I have felt, thought, or acted.
This love has changed me life, and I because he opens this love up to everyone, so I will not only open my arms to people, but adamantly stand against LGBTQ bullying.
I’m actually beginning to get involved in an organization that does just that… more on that in future posts. 🙂
But for now… if I catch you in any way hurting one of my friends, I’m going to (lovingly) throw a hackey sack at your face.
Matthew 25:34-45
http://www.glaad.org/spiritday
