It's officially that season again in Sydney: the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.  As advertised on the website of the festival organisers, Mardi Gras is a time for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered (GBLT) people to celebrate their sexuality free of restraint. 

Despite once starting off as a political protest march down Oxford Street for gay rights in the 1970s, it now includes over 100 events for people to participate in. 

While gay people once saw their lifestyle as 'alternative', they've since insisted that it's normal, that they're born that way, and that they've got no choice but to 'be true to themselves'; particularly over the last 5-10 years, gay and lesbian rights have become mainstream. 

Gay rights campaigners have been fighting for equality in inheritance laws, superannuation, and recently they've extended their demands to recognition of their relationships by the state in the form of civil unions, gay marriage, and even the right to have children. 
The liberalisation of social attitudes towards homosexuality has caused no small amount of confusion on the subject, even among Christians.  Many know what the Bible says about homosexual behaviour and the penalties which lie therein for men sleeping with men (e.g. Leviticus 18 and 20 and Romans 1), but are generally ignorant about where the Bible stands on questions like:

"¢ How can Christians help their brothers and sisters who are struggling with same-sex sexual attractions?  How can they help them heal in truth and grace?
"¢ Is there a difference between homosexual orientation and homosexual behaviour?
"¢ What drives gay people to live in sin and how do Christians reach them?
"¢ Is a struggle with same-sex attractions the same as heterosexual lust?

Among those of us in the Christian community who struggle with same-sex attractions and resist them daily, we have a walk that is, more often than not, fraught with frustration.  The gay community and the world at large thinks us crazy for not living by our lusts, while most in the Christian community just don't 'get us' and the brokenness that we carry. 

Many Christians know what the Bible explicitly says on the issue, but not much else. For those of us who struggle with male homosexuality, knowing how to relate to other men in good ways and establishing the healthy connections we really need, often seems impossible.  The result is anger, withdrawal, and occasionally a hankering to pack it all in and join the world.  It can be a very lonely, isolated road of misunderstanding and pain.  It can be so difficult at times, you just scratch your head wondering what to do and where to go next. 

What do you think?  The floor is open to you.

Photo: Gordon Flood