By Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post
Josh Gonnerman and Eve Tushnet, both of Washington, are shown on Oct. 22 in the District. Gonnerman and Tushnet are gay and choosing the path of celibacy. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
When Eve Tushnet converted to Catholicism in 1998, she thought she might be the world’s first celibate Catholic lesbian.
Having grown up in a liberal, upper Northwest Washington home before moving on to Yale University, the then-19-year-old knew no other gay Catholics who embraced the church’s ban on sex outside heterosexual marriage. Her decision to abstain made her an outlier.
“Everyone I knew totally rejected it,” she said of the church’s teaching on gay sexuality.
Today, Tushnet is a leader in a small but growing movement of celibate gay Christians who find it easier than before to be out of the closet in their traditional churches because they’re celibate. She is busy speaking at conservative Christian conferences with other celibate Catholics and Protestants and is the most well-known of 20 bloggers who post on spiritualfriendship.org, a site for celibate gay and lesbian Christians that draws thousands of visitors each month.
Celibacy “allows you to give yourself more freely to God,” said Tushnet (rhymes with RUSH-net), a 36-year-old writer and resident of Petworth in the District. The focus of celibacy, she says, should be not on the absence of sex but on deepening friendships and other relationships, a lesson valuable even for people in heterosexual marriages.
Related article: Wheaton College’s gay celibate counselor says she cannot change her sexual orientation
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Fascinating–and difficult. I like that this movement is not lifting sex as an idol, but I still think that identifying as “queer” or “gay” or whatever is elevating sexual identity to a level that is unhealthy. I think the article mischaracterized Al Mohler’s comment (if that snippet was in context). I think he’s right that this somehow reduces people to their sexual identity.
John Smid, who helped found “live in action” and is now a Christian married to another man, John Paulk, a former “ex gay” poster boy, Christian Schizzel, Gunter Baum, Peterson Toscano, Noel Gutieriez of “I do exist” fame by Warren Throckmorton (his coming out helped Throckmorton overcome his mistaken belief that being gay is a choice, and not inate identity) and scads of others all give lie to the “ex gay” myth, nd will tell you that yes, being gay is part, not all, but part, of their identity. Most of them are still devoted Christians, and devoted to their faith.
Being gay is very much an identity. No better nor worse than a hetersexual one. To be a heterosexual (a happily so identified one in an opposite gender relationship, or single but attracted to persons of the opposite gender) is a wonderful thing, and how God made you. Same for gay people. Including the ones who our denomination has rightfully ordained after they have answered the call to serve.
It is ironic that female leaders like Martha Letherman quote Dr. Mohler, when he has over and over and over pointed out that the same approach to theology that has lead (correctly so) to females like herself being ordained as elder is the EXACT same approach to theolgy and not reading the text literally that leads to GLBT ordination in the church. Most true conservative rightly find the irony, and hypocricy, of this, humorous.
^^^beware the troll of Christmas present