FAQs

1. Is being gay a sin?

No. Sins are acts that separate us from God and keep us from loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Being gay is not a sin. Bullying is a sin. Being hateful to other people is a sin. Putting yourself in the

place of God to judge others is a sin. Being gay is not.

2. What did Jesus say about gay people?

Jesus said the same thing about gay people that he said about all people: God loves you beyond

your wildest imagining and calls you to walk in love with God and with each other. He also said a

whole lot about welcoming the stranger, embracing the outcast, ministering to the marginalized

century as using it as a handbook on astronomy did in the 16th. The church got it wrong when it

misused the Bible to condemn Galileo and it gets it wrong when it misuses the Bible to condemn

LGBTQ+ people.

4. How do I respond when people say ?God hates f?s??

First of all, God?s nature is to love, not to hate. We believe that what God cares about is not our

sexual orientation but our theological orientation ? and that the question that matters is not ?who

do you love?? but ?do you love?? Recognizing that homophobia causes some folks to project onto

God their own fears, prejudices and biases against LGBTQ+ people, sometimes the best response

is simply no response. It can be a challenge, but getting triggered by hate-mongers prevents us

from being the change we want to see.

judging other people. Then tell them that while there is no consensus among scientists about the

exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation,

there is consensus that sexuality is a continuum. So the ?choice? is not to be gay, straight or

somewhere in between; the ?choice? is to build our own healthy relationships ? and give other

people the grace to build theirs.

7. How do I respond when politicians condemn my sexuality, citing their belief in the Bible?

Remind them that the First Amendment protects them in believing whatever they want to about

what God does or does not bless, but it also prohibits them from using those beliefs to decide

who the Constitution protects or doesn?t protect. Tell them to stop confusing their theology with

our democracy. And then campaign for and donate to their opponent in the next election cycle.

also heard it stands for ?queer.? So which one is it?

Both. Questioning means someone who is figuring out their gender identity and/ or figuring out

how they want to identify their sexual orientation. Queer is not specific to sexual orientation or to

gender identity but is more of an umbrella term for anything that exists outside of the dominant

heterocentric narrative. Originally pejorative for gay, it is now being reclaimed by some gay men,

lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons as self-affirming language.

You may also see the acronym LGBTQIA. The additional "IA" is added to include those who

identify as intersex/ intergender and asexual. Some iterations of the acronym also add a "+" sign at

the end, symbolizing the inclusion of all other identities.

Yes, it's complicated. It is also not at all surprising that as we grow in both our understanding and

healing. Homophobia does.

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Pride 2019 version

Written by the Reverend Canon Susan Russell, All Saints Church, Pasadena

For more information contact us at lgbtq@allsaints-pas.org

All Saints Church | 132 Nort h Euclid Ave, Pasadena | 626.796.1172