RAY VINCENT

What LGBTQ+ History Month Means To Me 

As a Christian minister, I am acutely aware that much of the mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people comes from religious communities. 

I am delighted to see that attitudes are changing today, and church leaders are speaking in kinder and more understanding tones, but there is still a long way to go. 

As yet, no mainstream Christian denomination has dared to revise its ‘official’ belief that homosexual acts are a sin.

However, I am old enough to remember a time when sex between men was a criminal offence, and being ‘queer’ was condemned not only by the churches but by society in general.

Even in Britain today, many LGBTQ+ people are rejected by communities and families who are not particularly religious at all. 

In other parts of the world things are much worse, and condemnation of those who do not fit the ‘norm’ is as much cultural as religious.

I suspect that the real root of homophobia is not in religious doctrines but in the basic inability of some people to live with the fact that others are different.

It is this common human limitation that is at the root of much racism, prejudice, community conflict, and war.

LGBTQ+ History Month is an opportunity to consign these irrational attitudes to the past and celebrate human beings in all their colourful, magnificent variety.

At the same time, I believe those of us who want to do this must follow its logic and apply it to ourselves. If we shut ourselves in a cosy circle of like-minded ‘enlightened’ people and only see the worst in those we label as ‘bigots’ or ‘homophobes’, we are surely mirroring those we oppose. 

You can’t convert people by condemning them. We must of course jump to the defence of those who are being hurt by the prejudice of others, but along with that I believe the radical challenge of Christianity is to treat all people – however unacceptable we find their views – with respect, honesty and love.