The Opposite of Homosexuality

"The opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality.  It's holiness," says Alan Chambers "ex- homosexual" and leader of Exodus International.  This is a Christian group that is disillusioned enough to believe that it can cure homosexual tendencies through prayer and "Christian counseling".  And yes, this dumb ass actually said that holiness and homosexuality are opposite of one another, but I will move past what an idiot he is for a moment so that I can discuss the article from The Times that discusses this atrocity and its relation to the Gothic.  This Fundamentalist Christian movement towards un-gaying people through the use of Jesus boot camps is an undeniable case of "othering" in this day and age.

"You are invited to a conference unlike any other"

Maybe we can look at this video and see why people are interested in attending such a conference.  The inspirational music, the promise of happiness and support, the idea of freedom: it all sounds so promising.  And when you've struggled your entire life with who you are, this might be exactly the type of environment that seems inviting. Maybe, just maybe, you can be "fixed."

But In her article, Lucy Bannerman contradicts the pretty picture painted in the advertisement stating that, "it has been claimed by critics, many of whom have undergone treatment themselves, that some same-sex attraction therapy can exacerbate anxiety and depression, in extreme cases leading to suicidal feelings."  Basically the camps bring people in and berate them with the notion that a homosexual lifestyle is unacceptable if they desire to get past the pearly gates.  The statement that being gay is actually the opposite of holiness is the perfect example of how this "treatment" can cause greater problems within the self.

Those who have been raised to see Heaven as the ultimate goal of life are bound to depression under this way of thinking.  Bannerman spoke to one woman who put these exact feelings into words, " I'd love to be openly gay and have a completely satisfying relationship with God. But I don't know how that can be done."  It is through this way of thinking that these Christian programs manage to breed self-loathing.  Not only are the heterosexual members of the church placing these pressures on their gay counterparts, but people like Chambers who "suffer from same-sex attraction" are promoting an idea of self-othering.

What is so sickening to me that it's almost laughable is that the clients of this camp are openly acknowledging their Id, and the people who run the program are not even trying to hide that they want them to repress their true selves.  Chambers makes the shocking admission, "I live a life of denial and I love it. I didn't choose my same-sex feelings but I do choose how I'm going to steward them. Freedom is possible.”

At least he can acknowledge -what many wackos often deny- that his feelings are innate, but he is telling these people that denying the true self is enjoyable.  It is disturbing that he can promote his resistance to homosexuality in this way.  He is influencing an entire group of people and saying that hating yourself is really fun if you just pretend like you don't.

I can't help but see this as a direct assault on the writings of Robert Luis Stevenson, who basically had to write an entire novella full of innuendos to make his point about the dangers of sexual repression.  These people may not be out trampling little girls or committing murders, but they are suffering greatly: enough to cause self-harm.  How can we possibly accept a group of people promoting "a life of denial" as preferable to happiness in self- acceptance?  And how can the participants not see the flaws in the cult that they are giving in to?

 

Films like Saved! (2004) and But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) have brought this boot camp sensation to light in comedic ways.  Hilarious as they may be, these movies really have not put enough pressure on our society to make people understand that homosexuality is not something to deny within one's self.  I don't understand how we can sit back and let people be forced into seeing themselves as others.  But I suppose there is really no way of breaking people free of this way of thinking, if it has been socially constructed by their families and community throughout their entire lives.

Just another example of the power struggle between the Super Ego, Ego, and the Id to gain control of the self.