Gay celibate
In some ways, I’m deeply saddened by this state of affairs. Recall that we had three different ways of being celibate: celibate from all sexual relationships, celibate but open to an opposite-sex relationship, and in a mixed-orientation relationship.
Julia recently defended her dissertation, which was a qualitative study of loneliness among celibate gay Christians. Side B Christians are Christians who identify as LGBT or have LGBTQ+ experiences, but take a traditional view of human sexuality and thus commit to celibacy or a mixed-orientation marriage.
Is this biblical?. Everyone will feel [it] in their lifetime in many times. A gay Catholic speaks out Hands in prayer at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Jan. 17, | Catholic Charities/Jeffrey Bruno (CC BY ). Less common supports, although they were integral for those who reported them, included mentors, spiritual directors, ministry groupsand role-models.
All but one of the participants attributed their experiences of loneliness to celibacy. The next research question asked whether or not participants attributed their experiences of loneliness gay their state in life as celibate, friends chandler gay Christians.
When it came to view of celibacymost participants felt celibacy was a choice they made. I mean I can choose any number of things that are outside of a biblical way of living and this is just one more of those that I have chosen to live without.
Prominent Side B Christians include Eve. There was an even split with regard to gender and denomination Roman Catholic and Protestant participants. Why choose celibacy? That is who I am, and I do not have to change anything for God to love me… And my way to love God, you know, my reaction of being loved is in loving God back, and in doing so, I would like to follow his teachings.
Psychological effects were both cognitive and emotional. All participants were adult Christians experiencing same-sex sexuality who made a commitment to celibacy five or more years ago. When lonely, individuals might reconsider celibacybe hyperaware of singleness and ruminate on this, and negatively self-evaluate as a result of their feelings of loneliness.
After asking participants open-ended questions, each case was analyzed individually, by constructing themes based on the consensus of a team including the principal investigator, multiple coders, and an external auditor, according to an analysis process called Consensual Qualitative Research CQR.
Due to the limited research in this area, open-ended prompts allowed participants to describe their experience more vividly. Research describes loneliness as a gay experience, although celibate Christian sexual minorities could be more at risk for loneliness since intimate partners serve as a buffer against loneliness.
Another common theme was that, celibate celibate made forming community much more difficult, in that there is a lack of societal structure for celibacy. [1][2][3] The term Side B derives from an Internet forum where Side A Christians, with an affirming view of LGBT sexuality, were contrasted with Side B Christians.
Gay Christian celibacy is weird. When it came to the use of labels, participants varied. The lack of intimate relationships, and the lack of companionship and lack of sexual intimacy that are part of those intimate relationships resulted in loneliness.
Of those who were celibate from all sexual relationships, 68% fell in the normal range for depression, 20% in the mild range, and 12% in the moderate range. When identifying aspects of life impacted by loneliness, participants noted: universal impacts, social impacts, psychological impacts, spiritual impacts, and physical impacts exhaustion, difficulty sleeping.
Within the study, four research questions were asked: 1 What factors contribute to the decision to choose celibacy for those who do so? I hope to share some of the findings, which may have relevance to some of the Spiritual Friendship readership.
The aim was to understand the experience of loneliness for Christian sexual minorities who are not involved in sexual relationships. I lament that the church has historically created so little room for sexual minorities.
Two did not use any sexual identity label celibate, same-sex attracted, lesbianalthough they reported same-sex sexuality. The celibate gay Christian movement teaches that same-sex attraction is not sinful so long as it is celibate.
Some individuals previously identified as gay, but at the time of the study no longer used that label. They were often not well-accompanied by the church because of their status as single people, as sexual minorities, and as celibate people.