(Part I) Your Parent’s Made You Gay? For a number of years I believed that homosexuality is most often caused by a disintegrated relationship with the same-sex parent. As Tomazin points out, that’s a common and fundamental interpretation for reparative therapy groups. Three years ago it started to become clear to me, from research, from … Continue reading On Gay Conversion Therapy Pt. II
Author: Tom Pugh
On Gay Conversion Therapy Pt. I
A lesbian friend of mine recently shared on Facebook an investigative article written by Farrah Tomazin (great name) published in The Sydney Morning Herald. It’s entitled ’I am Profoundly Unsettled’: Inside the Hidden World of Gay Conversion Therapy. It looks at the remnants of conversion/reparative therapy that exist within Christian ministries in Australia today. The … Continue reading On Gay Conversion Therapy Pt. I
Interview – The Gospel Shaped Life for Celibate and Gay Christians
A few quick things I want to point out in this audio. This conversation was conducted in front of a completely Christian audience and so I wasn't really trying to apply apologetics or accommodate for different beliefs in the room. The interviewer starts with some comments about same-sex marriage. Please note that this interview has … Continue reading Interview – The Gospel Shaped Life for Celibate and Gay Christians
Am I a Self-Hating Homophobe?
I was asked this week if my choice in life, to be celibate in response to being same-sex attracted, is actually a form of internalised homophobia. Not too many years ago I suspect I would have been secretly crushed by this question; it would have poked at insecurity and summoned up a broiling inner conflict. … Continue reading Am I a Self-Hating Homophobe?
Confessions of a Doubter III
(Read part I) (Read part II) Up until this point I haven’t spelled out exactly what it is that I’m doubtful of. I’m not just talking about religious/spiritual faith; scepticism is my primal response to virtually all experience and information. Until recently, I attributed my doubt to specific intellectual and emotional issues, not just with … Continue reading Confessions of a Doubter III
Confessions of a Doubter II
(Read part I) Confidence and eagerness for growth has been shorn off. It’s been replaced with a limping, bedraggled faith. How did I get here? In retrospect, I see three major landmarks. 1) I grew up in a rather small world. Christian church, private Christian school which was built by that church… My school friends, … Continue reading Confessions of a Doubter II
Confessions of a Doubter I
I don’t want to write this blog post, however for two reasons I feel that I must. Firstly, I have been accompanied by a persistent undercurrent of doubt, especially over the last three years, to the point where I’ve had a couple of occasions where I’ve almost exited Christianity. Doubt is a crunchy issue for … Continue reading Confessions of a Doubter I
Interview About My Teen Years
Last week I was invited to be interviewed at a Sydney wide youth event as a kind of supporting act to Sam Allberry, himself a same-sex attracted and celibate guy from the UK who works as a global speaker enabled by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. This event, and others like it during the week, were … Continue reading Interview About My Teen Years
Christianity Isn’t a Minority But it Feels Like One
“I feel more vulnerable as a Christian in our world today than I do as a gay man” This is part 2 (part deux, if you’re fancy) dealing with the above quote. In the previous post I spoke about the things that make me vulnerable and the things that are empowering in relation to my … Continue reading Christianity Isn’t a Minority But it Feels Like One
Why I Do and Don’t Feel Vulnerable as a Gay Man
Can I be transparent with you? I feel more vulnerable as a Christian in our world today than I do as a gay man. Well… most of the time. When I’m walking through the university at which I work I don’t feel insecure because I’m in a sexual minority, I don’t feel at risk of … Continue reading Why I Do and Don’t Feel Vulnerable as a Gay Man