Cultural/Historical Context of the Gay Movement

What follows addresses masculine homosexuality. Those who identify as gay or gay-affirming will strongly disagree. 

We have always had homosexual practice with us: in Abraham's time the city of Sodom; in the Maccabees' age the imperialist Hellenic culture; in St. Paul's the decadence of Rome. Our Judaeo-Christian faith has always renounced it as sinful. But a major, dominant, cultural "gay" movement would have been unthinkable in any traditional or ancient society, including that in which I (a boomer) was raised. Prior to 1970 this practice was largely reserved to marginal, fringe groups such as artists and bohemians. Of course we have had generation after generation of family members, priests and religious who have suffered this attraction silently and humbly, in varying degrees of chastity, holiness and heroism. 

The "gay reality" became possible, indeed inevitable, only in the wake of the cataclysmic Cultural Revolution, the sexual liberation of the 1960s. It is indeed, the epitome, the quintessential expression of that contraceptive transformation of the human person.

What is Gay?

It is not a synonym for "homosexual."  Rather, it is:

1.Homosexuality exaggerated into an identity. The attraction becomes the defining, essential structure of the person. A novel category is imagined: "sexual orientation" which creates a hard binary of hetero/homo-sexual. A "born that way" dogma is accepted without any scientific warrant.

2. Homosexual acts are accepted as morally good. Traditions of all religions and cultures that associate sexual acts with procreation are rejected in favor of a contracepted view. Practices of chastity, abstention, and marital fidelity are disparaged.

3. Traditional viewpoints that view these actions as immoral are reconfigured as hateful, homophobic, shaming, vicious and immoral.

4. A novel religious culture is created with belief systems, moral codes and liturgical celebrations including a distinctive literature, "coming out" celebrations and parades.

Contrast: The Great Generation and the Boomers

The moral character of our parents' generation was forged in the suffering of the Depression and combat in WWII. These trials elicited deep religious faith, selflessness, generosity, humility, gratitude. They build the most prosperous economy in human history and raised us, their children, in security, comfort, entitlement. It spoiled us. We did not inherit their moral character. Rather, we grew up pampered, entitled, consumerist, careerist, individualistic, secular, arrogant, narcissistic. The one failure of the Great Generation is that they did not protect us from the Sexual Revolution against which we had no defense.

What we see here is the classic biblical pattern: God allows his people to be afflicted...as in the slavery of Egypt, 40 years of desert Exodus, and exile in Babylon... in order to bring about conversion of heart to humility, faith, fidelity. However in prosperity and comfort they turn repeatedly to idols. And so, after two decades of indulgence, we were vulnerable to the perfect storm that erupted as the Cultural Revolution.

Convergence of Cultural Currents

The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, in all its complexity, density and power, may have been Lucifer's singular masterpiece, second only to the temptation in the garden. Particularly:

1. The sterilization and trivialization of sex by contraception, surely the most consequential and catastrophic invention in human history. Sexuality was removed from its sacred enclosure within religion, the procreation of human life, the continuance of family and tribe, the communion in heart/body/soul of male and female, the nexus of family and society. It was replaced by sex as expressive, romantic, recreational, and therapeutic.

2. Deconstruction of masculinity/femininity as the technological/materialist complex reconfigured the human as neutered, androgynous units of production and consumption. The two sexes, always defined in relation to each other, as well as to the children and family, became incoherent, sterile and formless.

3. The sovereignty of the Self, desperate in isolation and narcissism, unhinged with the decline of religion, family, and organic communities as well a crisis in allegiance to institutions, permeated the entire culture and expressed itself in the sexual liberation of the Left and the economic libertarianism of the Right.

4. A sentimental, romantic myth became dominant in popular culture, especially entertainment, that "true love" is the pathway to final human happiness. This "true love" is a fantasy, far removed from the hard realities of commitment, fidelity, forgiveness and unrelated to family, ancestry, religion and descendants.

5. Triumph of the therapeutic in a cult of personal fulfillment to fill the emptiness left by a decline of sense of the supernatural, heaven, sacredness, spiritual warfare, evil, Satan, hell and sin. 

6. "Victimhood" became an elevated moral status, in an inversion of the  classic scapegoat dynamic: in the wake of the Civil Rights triumph women, ethnic and sexual minorities self-presented  as victims to enhance their cultural worth. 

7. Tradition was replaced by a progressivism that disparages sacred authority and the past and trusts in science, technology, an imagined Darwinian evolution...the vaunted "curve of history." 

8. The Marxist dialectic of oppressor/oppressed was wedded to a crude Neo-Freudian obsession with sexual liberation that birthed the identity politics of LGBTQ, hard feminism, Black Lives Matter, etc. 

The "gay" person became the ultimate expression of this utopian (but really dystopian) world: sterile, secular, androgynous, isolated, narcissistic, victimized, detached from and ungrateful to the past, sentimentally romantic, therapy-focused, transgressive, righteous in judgment against Church, authority, and traditions around the family. 

Who Becomes "Gay"?

Not all homosexuals become or "come out" as "gay." Many embrace Catholic practice, pick up the cross of frustration and sadness, and live quiet, holy, heroic lives of chastity. Others succumb to the cravings of the flesh but do not identify as "gay."  This choice  seems to be prevalent in the Afro-American community. Such live a hidden, double life with all the distress that brings them and those around them. In a way, however, their discretion witnesses to the truth about sexuality, a truth they are unable to live out but which they do not denounce. We know the Church is always merciful to such sins of the flesh.

The homosexual inclination is not chosen, but received and discovered. What one does with that is a choice. Identifying as gay is a choice, a deliberate decision, an act of the intelligence, will and body. It is absolutely essential to distinguish between homosexual and gay. For example, people ask: how many Catholic priests are gay? They conflate homosexual with gay. I know that we have benefited from the lives and service of many holy, homosexual priests over the years. But recently, over the last half century, we have a new reality, those who identify as such and have created a gay clerical subculture.

A good question is: why do some with same sex attraction decide for, and some against identifying as "gay." Clearly it is an intellectual decision: that the Church is wrong about sex and that intentionally sterile sex is actually a good thing. It is a renunciation of the Church as homophobic and hateful. But this raises another question: why do some receive the Church on this issue and others refuse it? I am unaware of any literature on this. Public research would be fiercely cancelled. But I have noticed that the gay identity is often, but not always, accompanied by a complex of  psychological/spiritual dynamics. I am not alleging direct causation, but close association. In the words of Joshua Slocum: "They come on the same delivery truck." 

1. Incapacity for or aversion to chastity as continence and abstention. This can be rooted in a self-indulgent temperament and sexual compulsivity. Since the Sexual Revolution, our innate tendency to self-indulgence has been intensified by prosperity, entitlement, indulgent parenting, and the triumph of the therapeutic over traditions of asceticism. Sexual addiction itself is surely the most pervasive and unrecognized pandemic of the last 75 years. Sex itself, we know, is not a human need; no one goes to the hospital or drops dead from not having sex. But habits of indulgence lead to compulsivity and lack of freedom. Obviously, the internet has increased the use of pornography and practice of masturbation, the "gateway" to other forms of sexual misbehavior.

2. Tendencies to narcissism, histrionics and the symptoms of personality disorders. The melodramatic, exaggerated paraphernalia of gay culture...parades, pride months, social media saturation, drag queens, etc...speaks for itself.  Even milder expressions like flamboyance and effeminacy have about them a performative, Halloween, costume flavor. Joshua Slocum strongly argues the association of gay life with Axis B disorders.

3. Underlying feelings of passivity, victimhood, and self-pity. As a group, gay people are far more affluent than the general population; but their narrative of victimhood vests them with high moral status in woke, progressive, elite culture. 

4. Attitude of self-righteousness by which they assume a posture of moral superiority in judgement against the "homophobic" Church and its traditions.

5. Underlying all of the above I have sensed a deep, tragic reality: a loneliness, a misconnect even from loving family and friends, an abyss of emptiness. This chasm of sadness is not filled by family, friendships, therapy, religion...and will not be sated by the gay life.

So we see that homosexuality is an attraction, an emotion or passion. But "gay" is an identity, a way of life, an intellectual/volitional/physical attitude, a moral code, a culture, a religion, and a tragedy.

Is "Gay Affirmation" a Manifestation of "Love in Truth?" 

The "gay friendliness" of Catholic progressives is well-intended as compassion for the suffering associated with this condition, including the bullying and  social stigma. But it is sentimental and unrealistic. It is cooperation with behavior that is self-destructive

"Gay" is not happy, or healthy, or holy. The actions themselves are toxic for the body, leading to infection and bone deterioration in bodily parts that were not intended by nature or our Creator for such uses. The actions themselves are inherently degrading as there is a dominant/receptive, an oppressor/ oppressed, an upper/lower. This is in the nature of the acts. The way of life and the culture are futile, depressing, and despairing. Even in places that for decades have been gay-friendly and free of social stigma (Scandinavia, San Francisco, NYC), such communities suffer extreme rates of addiction, mental illness, suicide, and violence. 

The current fashion of herd enthusiasm for gay rights and marriage will certainly decline, if slowly, as the nature of things becomes evident: the tragic consequence of this way of life. But resistance to the Truth is deep in our culture. The widespread acceptance of a sterilized and trivialized sexuality...porn, masturbation, cohabitation, serial divorce...guarantees the acceptance of homosexual activity. Within the Church, a soft, emasculated progressivism is indulgent and enabling. Many liberal Catholics avoid the topic in embarrassment and lack courage to express a truth that may hurt feelings. Some, notably Fr. James Martin S.J., reject the Catholic teaching but disguise it in the trappings of kindness and inclusivity. Others, like Pope Francis, do not reject our tradition, but are eager to please and form a rash judgement against those who do dare to speak this truth. 

We cannot improve upon an old adage:  "Hate the sin. Love the sinner." Our love for the sinner, the actual person, is lessened when we suppress our hatred for sin; our love is inflamed when we grow in holiness and deepen our hatred of sin.