PFLAG meeting November 13, 2002
San Jose, California


Spiritual Issues of GLBT folk


As a college chaplain I am used to giving presentation and looking out and seeing people taking notes

if you are not taking notes tonight -- rest easy -- an outline of this presentation can be found our campus ministry web site --

take note ---svspirit.org ---

What this is not going to be tonight -- is a Bible Study on various texts that some people use to condemn homosexuality in others and in themselves

We will spend some time with biblical issues but we will be looking at a larger scope of the spiritual issues of GLBT folk

Spiritual Issues-- what does this mean?

What does the word - religious mean?
organized spirituality (not good or bad) - just organized
codified with creeds and laws
usually forms a community of some type - church, synagogue, etc.
usually with a hierarchy with includes sometimes excludes women


What does the word -- spirituality mean?

not necessarily organized -- may be individual
not usually codified - more experienced based
may form communities or covenant groups - but usually small
usually no hierarchy -- shared leadership


Spirituality according to Rabbi Michael Learner Ph.D. is a lived experience, a set of practices and a consciousness that aligns us with a sense of the sanctity of All Beings. It usually involves:

a. an experience of love and connection to the world and to others

b. a recognition of the ultimate Unity of All Beings, and through that, of the preciousness of the Earth and the sanctity of every human being on the planet

c. a conviction that the universe tilts toward goodness and love

d. awe, wonder, and radical amazement in response to the universe

e. a joyous and compassionate attitude toward oneself and others

f. a sense that the world is filled with a conscious spiritual energy that transcends the categories and concepts that govern material reality and inclines the world toward freedom, creativity, goodness, connectedness, love, and generosity

h. a deep inner knowing that our lives have meaning through our connection to, and service of God


as you can see what has been listed is very appealing and very positive towards everybody.

Of course many people who are associated with various religious creeds and codes may not accept this expression of spirituality.


Now we need to go a bit deeper into spirituality and examine the root word --spirit. What is spirit? (Learner again)




“Spirit is the energizing Force behind the process that has produced through 15 billion years from the cosmic bang a universe including the organization of 30 - 70 Trillion cells that we call a human being.

Spirit is the under girding of all that there is, the ultimate substance of the universe, in which all else is grounded.

Spirit is the process of evolution as the universe becomes more loving and caring. Spirit is the process that brings about deeper and deeper levels of knowledge, goodness, and radiant beauty.

Spirit has many names in the various religions of the world but many believe that there is one unifying principal that unites the cosmos and all religions.



with these understandings people experience life as a spiritual journey


the spiritual journey of each individual is as unique as they are a creation of God

but although each spiritual journey is unique there are many similarities of people’s journeys

for example -- the spiritual journey of people within the various organized religions have similar elements and goals

the spiritual journey of GBLT people can probably also be said to have similarities --- probably across the various religions and spiritualities --

a global tribe of people who have much in common in their spiritual journeys



So what to GBLT people have in common on your spiritual journeys?






They are influenced by religious texts, scriptures and documents. The people that they share the planet with are influenced by religious texts, scriptures and documents. For Americans whether or not they are Jewish or Christian the big influential text is the Bible and to lesser degree the documents produced by various churches including the Vacatin which gets a lot of press.


The Bible

this could be a life time study so we don’t have time tonight to really deal in detail

two good books

What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality by Daniel A. Helminiak

Dirt, Greed & Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today by L. William Countryman ( a more scholarly and complex text)

A couple of things to remember --

The Bible is the Church’s Book -- written, formed, codified, and scantified by a group of people (men) who wanted to control the religion and therefore control what people believed and how they acted and how much their supported the hierarchy with money

The Bible was shaped by the historical times and their understanding of sexuality or lack of understanding of scientific sexuality.

Translations always don’t say what the original texts meant.

There any different ways of reading the Bible from literal to critical

Times change -- (Read introduction from What the Bible Really Says... p.23f two paragraphs)

What the Bible really says on homosexuality as we define it today is probably nothing.

What the Bible really says on homosexuality the way that many people want to talk about it is summed up in the conclusion of Helminiak book:


A literal approach to the Bible claims condemn homosexuality in a number of places.

A historical critical approach states that the Bible was not addressing our current questions about sexual ethics. The Bible does not condemn gay sex as we understand it today.

The sin of Sodom was in hospitality, not homosexuality.

Biblical figures likes Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi, and Daniel may well have been involved in homogenital relationships, seen as part of God’s plan.

Jesus himself said nothing at all about homosexuality, not even when face to face with a man in a gay relationship in the account of the healing of the Centurion's servant boy.

Only five texts surely express an opinion about male-male sex and really are concerned with something other than homogenital activity itself.

The Bible takes no direct stand on the morality of homogenital acts as such nor on the morality of gay and lesbian relationships as we conceive them today. The longest section found in Romans probably is about abusive forms of male - male sex and of male-female sex.



This all is to say that many GBLT people are abused in their spiritual journey by their non critical understanding of these texts or by the literal understanding of these texts of people who think it is their religious duty to condemn, abuse, hate, harm, and even kill people who are on the GBLT spiritual journey




Coming Out is a Spiritual Journey

the whole coming out process is coming to terms that you are created the way you are created

and the way you are created is a way that many people find abhorrent

and possibly because of your cultural upbring you find yourself abhorrent and needing to hide your true self from other whom you love

so the coming out process is a spiritual journey --


coming out to experience of love and connection to the world and to others

coming out to a conviction that the universe tilts toward goodness and love

coming out to respond to the universe in awe, wonder, and radical amazement

coming out to a joyous and compassionate attitude toward oneself and others

coming out to a deep inner knowing that our lives have meaning through our connection to, and service of God





Coming to a deep inner knowing that our lives have meaning through our connection to, and service of God


It is in the phase of the coming out process - or in the repression to the coming out process that may GLBT people take on spiritual leadership

Clergy -- Religious -- Active Lay People -- Shamans -- Priests -- Healers--Teachers-- Doctors -- Day Care Workers -- Nurses --Public Servants --The Stay at home sibling caring for parents or other sibs - etc.

as a way of giving meaning to their lives



The Spiritual Journey of finding meaningful relationships with friends, family and society.

The journey that all people share of becoming more loving, compassionate, non-judgement people that all spiritualities and cores of all religions call us to become.

to give and receive love

it is in the process that PFLAG is so very important helping friends and family to love the GBLT person and to receive the love back from the GBLT person

generally in society this is difficult for the GBLT person which is why often times they spend a great deal of time in their own sub-culture where they feel safe to be their true self.

I honor you for you willing to share the in the spiritual journeys of your GLBT friends and family members as you travel you own path


Coming out as Spiritual Persons

because some religious people, religions, and spiritualities have so deep hurt people -- GBLT or straight

all of us struggle with religion and spirituality on many levels as it is often difficult to be seen as a religious or spiritual person in our culture

but coming out of the closet as a spiritual person is often doubly difficult for GLBT people

but it is time for all spiritual people to come out of the closet and claim and celebrate

a. the experience of love and connection to the world and to others

b. the recognition of the ultimate Unity of All Beings, and through that, of the preciousness of the Earth and the sanctity of every human being on the planet

c. the conviction that the universe tilts toward goodness and love

d. the awe, wonder, and radical amazement in response to the universe

e. the joyous and compassionate attitude toward oneself and others

f. the sense that the world is filled with a conscious spiritual energy that transcends the categories and concepts that govern material reality and inclines the world toward freedom, creativity, goodness, connectedness, love, and generosity

h. the deep inner knowing that our lives have meaning through our connection to, and service of God