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Why I Did Not Celebrate "LGBTQ+ Pride Month" But Mourned It
by Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.
July 30, 2024
Not only is pride generally a sin, but also there is nothing to be proud of in the so-called "LGBTQ+ Pride Month." Let us love persons with same-sex attractions and gender-identity dysphoria by rejecting that facet of their existence that dishonors the persons whom God has created in his image.
We should also show sympathy for their struggle with sinful desires, and applaud the way God can use the mortification of such desires to deepen a relationship with himself and others. Yet no one should take pride in such desires or the behavior that follows from gratifying them.
1. What is there to be proud of?
Why should one take pride in being erotically aroused by the distinctives of one's own sex, which is either narcissism or self-deception (viz., the failure to apprehend that one is already fully one's own sex)?
Should people also take pride in being erotically aroused by close kin (incest, i.e., attraction to a kinship same, akin to attraction to a sexual same) or by multiple persons concurrently (which Jesus rejected based on the logic of God's intentional creation of a sexual binary)?
Why should one take pride in rejecting the messaging of one's body as designed by God by identifying with a "gender" at odds with one's biological sex? A complaint against one's Creator is nothing to be proud of, but rather an expression of idolatry.
2. Social harm and the condemnation of Scripture
The "queer" lifestyle is one marked by disproportionately high rates for sexually transmitted disease and higher numbers of sex partners (especially for homosexual males), as well as higher relational turnover and increased mental health problems (especially for homosexual females).
These risks correlate with known male-female differences; expected results when an intimate relationship lacks true sexual counterparts or complements. Same-sex unions don't moderate the extremes of a given sex; they ratchet them up; don't fill in the gaps, but widen the breach.
Scripture (including Jesus and the apostolic witness to him) views homosexual practice and transgenderism as abhorrent sexual immorality ("abominations") that can get unrepentant offenders excluded from God's kingdom. Such behaviors assault the foundation of sexual ethics as defined by Jesus himself, his Scripture, and his apostles.
3. The dangers of "LGBTQ+" politics
The "LGBTQ+" political agenda is the most illiberal and hateful agenda in politics today. It is characterized by efforts to stifle free speech and the free exercise of religion. It is the greatest threat to these freedoms in the Western world today, and has been for decades.
No political lobby has concentrated more on canceling and censoring others, indoctrinating school children, and even mandating compelled speech (the hallmark of totalitarians).
People's jobs are being put at risk who dissent from "LGBTQ+" dogma: teachers, doctors, nurses, psychologists, florists, photographers, small business owners, lawyers, corporate executives, etc.
Children are being directed toward chemical castration and mutilation surgery, an obvious instance of child abuse being pushed by the state. Indeed, the state is now moving in the direction of regarding parents who fail to affirm their child's "LGBTQ+" identity as perpetrating child abuse (we know who the real child abusers are), requiring the state's intervention to take your own child away from you.
Men identifying falsely as women are invading women's restrooms, locker rooms, sports, shelters, and prisons, even being celebrated with misogynistic awards declaring them to be better women than real women.
The very idea of faithful Christian education is being put at risk, with calls for tying federal student loans, grants, and accreditation toward lock-step compliance with "LGBTQ+" ideology.
4. Moral rot and true love
Science is suffering at the hands of a movement that teaches that men too can have periods and give birth. A gnostic spirit pervades the land, declaring entrapment in bodies not designed to express their sexually immoral desires.
This is not a month to be "proud" but rather a month to mourn. Mourn the moral rot pervading our country. It has harmed not only the nation as a whole, but especially those who in their self-delusion celebrate what is injurious to themselves, and to their relationship with others and God.
As Paul told the Corinthians, they should not be "puffed up" or "inflated with pride" over their ability to tolerate an egregious act of sexual immorality (there a case of adult-consensual incest). To support the "queer" life is a manifestation of functional hate, not love.
Therefore, I choose rather to love, to love truly, those who identify as "gay," "lesbian," "bisexual," and "transgender," rejoicing in the truth rather than in the lie, whatever the cost for doing so.
Robert A. J. Gagnon is Professor of Theology, Houston Christian University. Bestselling author of *The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics.*
