There’s a difference between struggling with same-sex attractions and coming out as gay. In general to be gay means not just to admit to same-sex attractions but to consider them good, wholesome and an indispensably important part of one’s self-identity. To be gay also normally means that one shares the values of the gay subculture.
That’s the nub of the thing where Catholics are concerned. Sinners are welcomed to the hospital (that is the Church). Please refrain from spreading infections to other patients, inhibiting the treatments of others and advocating that certain maladies are beneficial and should be promoted.
I have considered “gay” as a political term that implies advocacy. But it is a short word more easily used when the topic comes up than alternative, less political, identifiers.
In vogue now is that “coming out” is a courageous thing to do – provided that one is not “coming out” as a sinner or someone who wants to overcome a temptation, live a celibate life or (as the case may be) live up to the promises made in a heterosexual marriage to spouse and children.
Public confession was in vogue in the early Church, emphasized sometimes with sackcloth, ashes, and a ritual standing outside the church doors for a time and entreating the Church to let one back in (in some cases, various sins). Today private confession is the rule in most cases. And quietly beginning again without a “coming out” (whatever one’s sins might be) being necessary or even desirable is a better option. Except perhaps where doing so directly helps others (Alcoholics Anonymous and its Catholic counterpart orgs like Calix come to mind here).
calixsociety.org/ < (Motto: " …* substituting the cup that stupifies with the one that sanctifies") *
“A.A. restores your health and keeps you from an early grave. Calix saves your soul and puts you on the road to heaven.”
William J. Montroy, a founder of the Calix Society
I am not a member of those groups nor of …
catholiceducation.org/articles/homosexuality/ho0038.html
… these Catholic groups dedicated to helping other constituencies:
catholiceducation.org/articles/homosexuality/ho0038.html
Courage and Encourage
FR. JOHN HARVEY
Courage is the Catholic Church’s only pontifically approved ministry which is specifically committed to providing spiritual support for persons with same-sex attraction who are striving to live chastely, offering help to grow in understanding with others toward living more fully the Church’s teachings.
… but I am grateful that the Church is ministering to us all in our weaknesses.
There would seem to be more societal “push back” against this last group as versus
the groups combatting alcoholism; as ADVOCATES for alcoholism are less organized and operate more independently. Even companies that sell alcohol are making commercials warning of alcohol’s potential dangers.
There are not “alcoholic pride” parades these days (perhaps as close as US society came to THAT was when many lobbied to end prohibition - and even then Alcoholism as a lifestyle, though a reality for many, was not justified but done in the shadows until some had lost all sense of shame and were publicly drunk and visible).
I wonder if with this change in the Boy Scout rules, scout leaders might talk more freely about the dangers of sexuality. From VD to AIDS to legal expectations of fathers, etc.
Or would such leaders be sued and hounded, branded as bigots and ruined?
It would take quite a bit of courage to risk such for the benefits of the next generation.
And the risk might not be one’s own, but risking the organization’s resources as well –
as unscrupulous litigants go for "deep pockets’ sometimes - like when the Church, rather than the perps, were sued concerning matters that the Church taught AGAINST (and hence was a co-victim not a co-conspiritor).
Complicity of individual enablers notwithstanding, whatever their rank.
