Ssa gay
The following blog is written by Greg Coles and is part 3 of our series, "Gay" vs. '"Same Sex Attraction:" A Dialogue. Greg is part of The Center's collaborative team and is the author of the book Single, Homosexual, Christian.
I don’t invest much effort trying to proselytize Christians who call themselves “same-sex attracted” (or “SSA”) into using the word “gay” (or “queer,” or any term from the LGBTQ umbrella) instead. For one thing, I think those of us who hold a traditional biblical sexual ethic and persist persistently oriented toward the same sex have much bigger proverbial fish to fry than which adjectives we like. Yes, I affectionate language, and I think it’s quite important. (If you don’t believe me, I’d be content to tell you all about my PhD dissertation.) But when terms are as fluid and polysemous as “gay” and “SSA”—when they’ve been taken up by so many different voices in so many diverse contexts for so many different purposes—it’s a fool’s errand to make claims about how they will always function at all times for all people.
Language is messy. Don’t let anyone—especially not me—tell you otherwise.
Another reason I’m reluctant to proselytize people into
Daily Roll – Reflections
As the news came out with the new Nashville Declaration and Denver Statements this last night, I wanted to articulate why I call myself a gay (or lgbtq+ attracted) celibate Christian. The deeper reasons for this will be outlined in my up coming book, A War of Loves: The Story of a Gay Rights Activist Who Finds Jesus Christ with Zondervan. I wanted to write and clarify what I signify and why I use this legal title. As someone who became a Christian from being an anti-Christian gay activist, I do not, in every feeling, want to distance myself from the community I come from and which I love and labour for in the Gospel.
The first reason is to maintain scriptural authority. Whilst scripture is clear homosexual acts are sinful, it also clearly maintains that the born again or regenerate Christian lives in tension between their fallen world, or “flesh,” that is at enmity with God and the new self, which now desires to love and obey God.[1] When we become born again believers, our flesh is crucified with Christ but is also still present in moments of temptation or testing. Our victories in Christ are manifested in our weakness and in our fallen flesh, not i
And why that is a stupid title for what I’m writing about
I wrote this originally on Wednesday 21st August, 2019. I hope it helps to clarify what I represent when I use certain words and gives you a little window into some of my thinking.
First up, I want to acknowledge and repent of the click-baity title. Hopefully as you read on, you’ll see that I don’t think this is a helpful way of framing the discussion. It is, however, the way the discussion is usually framed, for example in this notable series of blog posts, or in the seminar at the Christian conference I was at yesterday that was literally titled “Gay vs Same-sex Attracted: Why the Debate and What’s Behind It?”
For better or for worse, this is a discussion that many Christian leaders have a bee in their bonnet about. There are so many important conversations to possess about sexuality and faith, but for some reason this particular argument about word choice continues to dominate the Straight Agenda™. I found it quite interesting that yesterday’s conference devoted an entire seminar to discussing preferred terminology instead of other pastoral issues actually affecting LGB/SSA people.
To summarise for those wh
What do I need to realize about same-sex attraction?
“What do I need to understand about queer attraction?” Same-Sex Attraction: Church Leaders (2020)
“What do I need to understand about same-sex attraction?” Same-Sex Attraction: Church Leaders
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Same-sex attraction (SSA) refers to emotional, physical, romantic, or sexual attraction to a person of the same gender. If you experience same-sex attraction, you may or may not opt to use a sexual orientation label to describe yourself. Either way, same-sex attraction is a technical term describing the encounter without imposing a label. This website uses this term to be inclusive of people who are not comfortable using a label, not to deny the existence of a gay, queer woman , or bisexual identity.
Same-sex attraction is not the same for everyone. Some people choose to employ a sexual identity label, and others don’t. This article applications a basic definition of ordinary sexual orientation labels.
Sexual orientation may refer to emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions as well as a sense of identity. For some, it is helpful to distinguish between sexual attraction, sentimental attrac