Letters to Sydney Morning Herald after Archbishop Peter Jensen's comments on the ABC's Q and A.
"I am a pastoral worker for Liberty Christian Ministries. I once
identified as a gay man and lived actively as one for about five years.
In that time I went to Anglican churches where Dr Peter Jensen was the
archbishop, and I was frequently warned against living in sin. Though I
resisted hearing that at times it never once made me feel suicidal or
depressed: rather, I felt loved and safe (Letters, September 12).
I knew living as a homosexual was wrong even independently of
what the Bible said because I had to have regular health checks to
ensure I hadn't picked up hepatitis, AIDS, or blood toxicity from the
things I was doing. That is what the gay life involves - risky sex that
puts life on the line. It diminishes life quality and life expectancy.
Health research bears out the reality of the risks of gay
sexual practice. The 2010 national STD conference run by the Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention in the US produced evidence that the
rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men is more than
44 times that of other men and that the rate of syphilis among this
population is more than 46 times that of other men.
Peter Jensen's words on Q&A were reasoned,
reasonable and said in love because he wants, as I do, people to have
freedom in Christ and live life to the full now. That's not homophobic,
that's love.
Haydn Sennitt
Unedited letter on the Liberty Christian Ministries website
Letter to the SMH editor (unpublished)
Mr Sennitt's perception of what
it's like to live as a gay man in the 21st century is based upon his own
experience and leading a particularly promiscuous lifestyle over several years.
During this time, from his frequent public admissions, he sort regular sexual
encounters in a variety of outlets with many men. He often speaks about his tormented upbringing
and difficult family relationships.
Mr Sennitt's unhealthy emotional,
psychological and sexual journey speaks more about his lack of self worth and need
for acceptance, affirmation and validation than the fact that he is/was gay. Mr
Sennitt and others often refer to the gay or homosexual 'lifestyle' but somehow
fail to acknowledge that heterosexual people with low self esteem, seeking
acceptance and affirmation may also find themselves involved in endless,
meaningless sexual encounters or relationships. Obviously the problem is not a person's
sexual orientation. Sennitts risky sexual lifestyle begs the question, "What drove him to behave in such a reckless fashion? Was it his internalised homophia and self-hatred or his orientation?"
As a former ex-gay, married, Pentecostal
minister, living now as an openly gay man for 20 years....and working with
people who are resolving faith/sexuality issues I am acutely aware of how
traumatic this journey can be. Mr Sennitt's journey has been particularly
harrowing. And I might add is not over.
Many gay and lesbian people I
know, myself included, find it highly offensive when comments are made assuming
that being gay equals having the morals of an alley cat. There are many
gay and lesbian people who live moral lives whether they are in relationships
or not. And an increasing number of these are also people of faith.
Obviously Mr Sennitt would not have encountered these people in the places he
sort relief or connection and indeed today seeks to distance himself from them.
It seems that Archbishop Jensen's
and Haydn Sennitt's answer to a person with same sex orientation is either cure
(ex-gay) and become a
'situational
heterosexual' or live a life of celibacy.
In Genesis God is quoted as
saying "it is not good for man to be alone". Unless you are gay of
course.
ABOUT ANTHONY
VENN-BROWN
Anthony Venn-Brown is a founder of Freedom
2 b[e], Australia’s largest network of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender) people from Christian backgrounds and is currently director of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders
International. He is an educator, consultant and commentator on LGBT/faith
issues and been committed to deconstructing
the ‘ex-gay’ myth in Australia. Anthony’s journey from married, high profile
preacher in Australia’s mega-churches to living as an openly gay man is detailed
in his autobiography 'A Life
of Unlearning'. Anthony has been twice voted ‘One of the 25 Most
Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians’ (2007 & 2009) and was one of four
finalists for the 2011 ACON Community Hero Award.
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