Gay or Same-Sex-Attracted? Navigating the LGBT Language Police

This is the first post in a 7-part series called “Gay or Same-Sex-Attracted?”

To be honest, it didn’t begin as a series. In fact, it began as something of a “listicle” that I thought would be short and sweet. But as I began writing, I soon realized that I was trying to pack way more content than would fit into a manageable piece. So I’ve spread things out over the next two weeks instead. I’ll be publishing every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and each post will cover a new reason to use the words “gay” and “lesbian” as a Christian. Please feel free to share your thoughts. I love having dialogue and feedback!

To check out other posts in this series:

1. Gay or Same-Sex-Attracted? Navigating the LGBT Language Police
2. Christianese Like Same-Sex-Attracted Pushes Away the LGBT Community
3. Gay Doesn’t Mean ‘Sin’ And Neither Does Same-Sex-Attracted Mean ‘Holy’ 
4. Why Gay and Lesbian Identities Don’t Undermine Identity in Christ
5. Why Homosexual Christians Are Called To Identify With Gays And Lesbians
6. LGBT Words Are More Precise than the ‘Same-Sex-Attracted’ Umbrella
7. Gay or Same-Sex-Attracted? Answering Some Lingering Questions

Or to read the full article:

• Gay or Same-Sex-Attracted?

Also, I feel the need to clarify that I am a celibate lesbian and fully committed to a traditional sexual ethic as outlined by Scripture. If you haven’t read my About page or previous posts, this could get lost in the conversation. I want to avoid misunderstandings as much as possible, so hopefully this information is clear!

Here it comes. It always does.

I finish coming out, establish that I’m celibate, and reiterate that I uphold the traditionally biblical understanding of marriage. I cross every “t” and dot every last “i” — and then they ask. They always ask.

“Why choose to identify as gay?”

I look at them warily, wondering if their question comes out of genuine curiosity or out of a desire to “set right” the one flaw in my thinking. When I begin my response, I hardly communicate a fraction of my thoughts before we get lost in the crossfire of counter-arguments for all the reasons why “gay” and “lesbian” are unacceptable terms for the Christian.

I usually give up. I say something to the effect of, “Let’s agree to disagree,” and move on. But the expression on their face betrays… what? Disappointment? Or is it frustration? Frustration that I started the conversation by coming out as a lesbian and ended the conversation by remaining a lesbian. Yes, a lesbian. I don’t primarily call myself a “same-sex-attracted Christian.”

Navigating the LGBT Language Police

I understand too well that calling yourself a “gay Christian” is out of vogue in traditional, evangelical circles. “Same-sex-attracted” is the preferred terminology. It’s a clinical-sounding product of Christianese that allows the church to acknowledge the existence of its gay members while simultaneously distancing itself from the gay community.

Lest you think that I’m biased, I actually considered myself a member of the “same-sex-attracted” bandwagon not too long ago. I refused to “label” myself, insisting that such labels only obscured my Christian identity as a woman of God.

But about four years ago, I began to think more deeply about this topic, and as a result, I started using the word “gay” for the first time in my life. I remain firmly rooted in Christ, in whom I’ll always find my everlasting identity. But I’m no longer afraid to use words like “gay” and “lesbian.”

In fact, I firmly believe that using “gay” and “lesbian” is not only admissible but preferable for homosexuals in the church. You ask why? To start things off, I want to talk about categories.

The Categorical Beauty of the Human Brain

Categories are as old as the human race. In fact, our ability to “put things in a box” remains a key trait distinguishing mankind from robots. Ever wonder why websites have those annoying “I am not a robot” CAPTCHAs? It’s because we can do something robots can’t. We have the uncanny ability to recognize something like an “A” when we see it, even if it’s all garbled and twisted up.

It’s not that we’ve memorized every single variation of the letter “A” that could possibly exist. It’s that our brain is able to comprehend the essential qualities of an “A” that distinguish it from the rest of the alphabet while somehow being flexible enough to recognize that a Times New Roman “A” is the same exact thing as a Comic Sans “A,” even though they’re completely different. Our brain has a little box called “A,” and it knows when something belongs there.

Computers can’t do that. At least not in the same way. Computers are stuck with rote memorization. If a robot came across a variant of the letter “A” it had never seen — maybe one with a curly cue or little spikes along the side — it would be lost. Take the following image as an example:

from LifeWire.com

Only a human could recognize that the scraggly little words in the above image say “morning overlooks.” A computer would just get confused. And that’s the reason why those little images are so effective at detecting non-humans. It asks us to do something that we wired to do. Something no robot can duplicate (at least… not yet).

The “Gay” Category Doesn’t Go Away Just Because You Change the Word

Unlike computers, human beings depend upon categories in order to make meaning out of the world. What’s more, we can’t avoid them once they form. Now that your brain has a category called “A,” you can’t ever go back. You’re cursed. You’ll see the letter “A” for the rest of your life — in the clouds, in your soup, in the freckles on a person’s face. You’ll see it, and once you see it, you’ll recognize it, even if you’d rather not.

And this applies to more than just the alphabet. We categorize people too. We recognize black from white, blondes from brunettes, ugly ducklings from pretty swans. And yes, even gay from straight. Our brains just do it. Whether we like it or not.

So what would happen if we erased all the words associated with “gay” from our vocabulary? Not very much, to be honest, because the category would still exist in our minds. Even if we eliminated every LGBT word we could find, we’d just make up new words to talk about the same thing.

We might begin with clunky phrases, like instead of saying, “He’s gay,” we might say, “He’s one of those people.” But we’d know what we meant. We might not use the word “gay,” but the idea of “gay” would be firmly rooted in our mind. Even if we change the word, we nevertheless know exactly what we’re talking about. We’re talking about a homosexual.

And yes, being “same-sex-attracted” works the same exact way. Replacing the word “gay” with “same-sex-attracted” ain’t foolin’ a soul. Everyone thinks you’re gay, even if you don’t admit it. Even if they don’t admit it.

So why do I call myself gay? Because language gymnastics won’t change what I’m talking about. I’d much rather speak in good ole’ plain English than to hedge around the elephant in the room. In short, being gay is unavoidable, whether I say the word or not. So I’d rather just say it.

Coming up…

We’ll continue this discussion on “gay” or “same-sex-attracted” over the next two weeks. This Monday, in my next post, we’ll talk about the ways in which hoity-toity Christianese — like “same-sex-attracted” — pushes away the LGBT community.

In the meantime, what are your initial thoughts on the topic? Do you have any firm opinions? Or do you prefer to not take sides? I’d love to hear what you think!

Next Post in Series: Christianese Like Same-Sex-Attracted Pushes Away the LGBT Community

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