This blog acts as food for thought to those Christians (lay or otherwise) who have LGBTQ+ Christians in their midst. I hope that, by sharing some of my thoughts on this, it will become clear that queer love can be a form of Christian discipleship and that this is not something we – as the wider Christian community – need to hide from.
It is hard work being LGBTQ+ (abbreviated to queer, going forward), in the current global political climate, but it is especially hard these days to be a queer, practising Christian. Such intersectional identities are often attacked, with many assuming you ‘have’ to be ‘either’ one ‘or’ the other: you can’t be both. The teaching of many Christian denominations both on, and towards. queer people can be incredibly hostile and harshly worded, leaving people feeling marginalised and as though they ought to suppress part of themselves to ‘fit in’ to the c/Church environment.
What if this were not the case, though? What if we – as a wider church – understood queer love as a form of authentic Christian discipleship? There is a lot we can learn from the queer community about approaches to Christian discipleship. After all, isn’t discipleship about faithful fellowship, devotion, and spreading good news through our words and actions? These are well (perhaps even better?) exemplified by the queer community.
When we hear the word ‘disciple’ as Christians, our minds almost certainly go straight to those twelve named male disciples (many of them later apostles) from the New Testament. The disciples-turned-apostles faced great uncertainty, hostility, persecution, and violent deaths in the early founding days of Christianity. No doubt they often came across people who did not believe what they said about themselves. These experiences have always been resonant for the queer – and particularly, the trans* - community, and indeed still are today. We live in a world where, in some countries, being so-called ‘actively’ gay can result in a death penalty. There are so many countries where it is illegal to marry someone of your same gender. Trans* rights are not present in various countries and, even in countries which recognise trans* identities, their rights are being eroded. Yet, despite all this problematic and discriminatory behaviour from others, queer and trans* people persevere.
I mentioned devotion earlier on. In Christianity, this manifests as a devotion to both God, but also towards each other: supporting other Christians in prayerful fellowship. The queer community – whilst far from one monolithic, homogenous entity – is a very special one, in the way they support, nurture and mentor other queer people. This is especially true of those who have been ostracised by their family and other communities (religious or otherwise) due to their sexuality or gender identity. There are many examples of loving romantic (sometimes, though not always, sexual) relationships that are loyal and flourish, despite all the hatred the world can throw at such relationships. We can all learn a lot about love of God and love of fellow persons (platonic or otherwise) from the queer community. The strength and perseverance of queer love in the face of all its enemies, is something truly remarkable and joyous to behold.
Which brings me to the final aspect referred to above: that of spreading good news. “The Good News” is what some Christians call the Bible. Queer joy might be the secular, queer equivalent. Just as the first disciples of Jesus proudly proclaimed the Good News of Christ’s resurrection and teachings in the early Church, despite the ridicule and aggression from others, queer joy cannot be easily quenched. Whilst the days of the early Church are long gone, queer joy continues to face hostility and danger: yet it can still thrive, even in dire circumstances, or where rights are non-existent or being eroded.
Many Christians will no doubt balk at the notion that queer love is discipleship, or that queer people can teach one about true Christian discipleship. Some may consider this blog blasphemous, but I firmly believe we can learn a lot from our queer siblings about discipleship, as outlined above. Notions of queer discipleship stem from the same roots as Christian discipleship – it is not really that different – and it’s time we all acknowledged that.
Written anonymously by an SCM Member.