Humanists Coming Out and Connecting With LGBT Christians

When I received a Facebook invite regarding Atheist Coming Out Week at Harvard University, I observed the similarities between this material and the LGBT pride pieces I get in my inbox. Both pro-LGBT gatherings and events like the “Why Atheism Matters” Panel celebrate and humanize populations often marginalized in the media.

I sat down to chat with Chris Stedman, author of Faitheist and the Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, for a short conversation about the intersection between humanism and LGBT equality.

As a queer man, what drew you to interfaith work?

According to a 2009 Gallup Poll, most people who are in favor of LGBT equality have a personal relationship with someone who identifies as LGBT. I was an LGBT activist when I was a high school student in Minnesota. The driving force behind my work is the same as it was then: a desire to help people in different communities come to understand one another better, to build relationships that challenge people’s misconceptions about other groups of people, and to bring together people who have shared values to be more effective by working together. I carry this desire into my work with the Humanist Community at Harvard.

Why do  want to bring together LGBT Christians and humanists?

I became a fundamentalist evangelical Christian when I was eleven, and I really struggled with my sexual orientation. Once my mom found out what I was going through, she brought me to a liberal Christian minister who offered me a different perspective. So I became very involved in the reconciling movement within the ECLA when I was in high school. I was extremely grateful that those resources existed, because what I needed at that point in my life was someone who could speak from a Christian perspective about those issues.

That being said, not everyone who is coming out of a Christian background wants or needs those kind of resources. There are some who leave the faith because they no longer believe, and they still want to be able to find a community that will advocate for them and include them without reservation. And I think secular LGBT and humanist communities can do that for folks who have left the faith but still want community. Also, some LGBT people don’t know if a Christian space is going to be welcoming or not, so it’s good that other options exist. But based on my experiences in liberal Christian communities, the LGBT community, and the interfaith and secular movements, I know that LGBT folks, progressive religious communities, and humanists share many of the same goals and that they can work together to build a more pluralistic world.

Speaking of welcoming, why then did you support Sojourner’s decision to reject Believe Out Loud’s LGBT welcome ad?

That piece was written a couple of years ago, and my thinking has shifted some since then. While I did, and still do, support Believe Out Loud’s efforts, I was trying to find some understanding with the other side. My intentions were good, as were the intentions of many of the people who came down on different sides of that issue. But I have since learned that there was more to the story than I was aware of at the time. While I still appreciate much of Sojourner’s work, I think a conversation with them about LGBT inclusion is definitely one worth having.

Any thoughts about how we can change the conversation given the media’s proclivity to  engage in false equivalencies by giving airtime to those voices who use junk science and other falsified information to spout anti-gay views?  (See GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project).

We live in a world where the voices of exclusion are much more accessible and soundbite friendly. The media picks up on them much more quickly than they’ll pick up on a voice of inclusion. Their perspectives get privileged. Those of us working for inclusion within LGBT and humanist circles are at a disadvantage because our voices don’t get heard as much. So there’s a power and number dynamic transpiring within liberal spaces. If we partner together, our numbers are more likely to get our voices heard. I would love to see a gathering that brings together humanist and religious liberal LGBT folks and allies together to discuss how to advance LGBT equality.

To learn more about the work of the Harvard Humanist chaplaincy in connecting communities to do good without God, click here.

Portions of this article were at Truth Wins Out