Author: Linda L. Belleville

Of all the challenges that we face as evangelicals in today’s society, the same-sex challenge is surely one of the most daunting. In part, this is because the gay community has been meticulously implementing a 35 year-old agenda largely unknown both to the average academic and the person in the pew. Gay rights groups have their highly trained lobbyists, frequent gay awareness celebrations, widely circulating educational materials, and nationwide reconciling facilitators. Of all the myths that need debunking today, the one that poses the most urgent challenge for evangelicals is the myth that homosexuality is genetic and that change is impossible. What makes the task particularly difficult is the legitimizing presence of evangelical associations such as Evangelicals Concerned, Other Sheep and the Metropolitan Community Churches and prominent speakers such as Mel White, Ralph Blair, David Frenchak and Bill Wylie-Kellermann. The intent of this essay is provide a socio-political update, to respond to the biblical fictions that are most commonly put forward by the religious gay community and to propose effective academic and pastoral strategies and resources for tackling the same-sex challenge today.