Is Homosexuality a Private Matter?

Some argue that homosexuality is as issue of love between two private individuals. They conclude that it should not be our business to concern ourselves with their behavior. Others ask, “What difference does it make how other people act in private?” Popular as these challenges may be, they simply are not grounded in reality. The fact of the matter is homosexual lovers are no longer acting in private. Instead, they are parading their lifestyle before the public in Gay Pride events; they are dominating the media, and they are “out and proud” in the workplace. When families cannot watch on television live events such as the Parade of Roses or attend public parks without the fear of being exposed to homosexual practices, then homosexuality is no longer a private matter. It ceased to be a private matter when the homosexual community began lobbying for special rights and privileges. The most notable example of this is the demand for same-sex marriages. Such requests transform this issue into a public matter, and it is unreasonable to expect that the public will not discuss, critique, debate, and at times oppose an issue and a movement that is altering fundamental issues of society and government, such as the nature of marriage.

Today it is nearly impossible to avoid the issue of homosexuality. It is continually paraded before every stratum of society. In fact, according to a 2008 World Net Daily article titled “Decision to Teach Kids to Be ‘Gay’ Allowed to Stand:”

A federal court decision approving mandatory public school instruction for children as young as kindergarten in how to be homosexual is being allowed to stand, … The U.S. Supreme Court without comment has refused to intervene in a case prompted by the actions of officials at Eastbrook Elementary school in Lexington, Mass., who not only were teaching homosexuality to young children, but specifically refused to allow Christian parents to opt their children out of the indoctrination. … The dispute grabbed headlines when Parker, on April 27, 2005, “was arrested and thrown in jail by school officials over his insistence on being notified regarding his son in kindergarten being taught about homosexual relationships by adults,” Mass Resistance reported. … “The [Supreme] court did not even bother to notify the Parkers or their attorneys,” said Mass Resistance, which said what now will be enforced in the judicial district will be the lower bench rulings that the state has not only the right but “even the obligation … to promote homosexual relationships to young children.”^[1]

When parents no longer have the right to opt their kindergarten-aged children out of sex-education in the public school system because same-sex marriage is legal in their state of residence, and because the courts deem it more important to support sexual diversity than to support parents’ religious and moral convictions, it is no longer a private issue. It is one thing to tolerate an issue; it is entirely something else to celebrate that issue. It is one thing when consenting adults wish to behave in a particular fashion behind closed doors; it is wholly different when the public’s children are not only exposed to these practices but are obligated to understand them. When homosexuality begins to limit the public’s freedom of speech and freedom to hold religious and moral convictions, it not only ceases to be a private matter, it becomes an important and personal matter for the public.

Make no mistake, the freedom to hold personal religious and moral convictions is at risk. If this were not evident enough by the arrest of David Parker for insisting that his kindergarten-aged child opt out of homosexual education in the public school, then consider the words of Georgetown Law Professor Chai Feldblum who was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Speaking about when religious liberty conflicts with sexual liberty, she said, “I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.”^[2] She also expressed this in more technical terms, saying, “Protecting one group’s identity liberty may, at times, require that we burden other’s belief liberties.”^[3]

Certainly, the issue of homosexuality is proving to be a relevant subject for every person. Nobody is exempt from the implications and effects of the rampant pro-homosexual legislation, education, and public exposure, making it anything but a private issue. Few issues touch upon as many facets of life for so many people. As such, it certainly merits further attention by Christians and a careful evaluation of the subject in light of Scripture.

Be sure to read Timothy Zebell’s book Laid Bare: Uncovering the Relationship Between Homosexuality & the Gospel.