“I was born in 1978, came out of the closet at age thirteen
or so, and was received into the Catholic Church during my sophomore year of
college.”[1]
In this matter-of-fact manner begins Eve Tushnet’s 2014 book Gay and Catholic. The first part of the book is a memoir detailing
her discovery of her lesbian orientation as a generally happy teen growing up
in a loving and supportive family. Her conversion to Catholicism while studying
at Yale is a short but powerful chapter. Tushnet describes the main theme of
her book, addressed especially to gay Christians, as follows:
This is a book about
what God might want you to do with
your love and your life if you are attracted to and fall in love with members
of your own sex—not about what you shouldn’t do and why you shouldn’t do it. […]
God wants you to love. He wants you to increase the tenderness and beauty in
his world. This book is about the different ways in which that call to love can
play out for people who are gay or experience same-sex attraction and accept the historical Christian
tradition on chastity.[2]
In describing ways to live out love, Tushnet draws on her
own experience and that of others, reflecting such paths as spiritual
friendship, vowed commitments, service and intentional communities. The book’s
final section offers a critical, though not exhaustive, summary of resources
available to gay Christians and those who seek to accompany them. Tushnet
offers short evaluations of several books, blogs and faith-based initiatives.
She also addresses several frequently asked questions concerning Christianity
and homosexuality, as well as suggesting some practical ways of helping gay
people feel more welcome in the Church.
Tushnet consciously devotes little space towards attempting
to theoretically explain either homosexuality or Church doctrine; rather, she
accepts both as the reality or her life and takes them as the starting point in
her exploration of vocations. Her acceptance of Church teaching may turn off
many potential readers who do not agree with this step. However, even some
critics who disagree with many of Tushnet’s ideas have found the book
worthwhile; for example, Professor Robert P. George of Princeton University
writes that “few have thought as deeply or as creatively as has she about
same-sex attraction and its existential significance for persons who experience
it. Readers across the spectrum will be informed and challenged by her
reflections.”[3] On
the other end of said spectrum, “conservative” Catholic readers will
alternately feel right at home with Tushnet’s quotations of G.K. Chesterton and
be forced (as I was) to do some soul-searching regarding their motives for
wanting to reach out to gay people. Tushnet’s Catholicism is by no means
uncritical and she humorously warns her straight readers of many common
pitfalls, such as the temptation to try and speak for gay people: “you are not the Lorax, and we are not the trees!”[4]
Personally, Tushnet’s book was helpful to me in deepening my
understanding of friendship and love. As a single woman struggling to love
certain men in accordance with their own and God’s will, several of her
reflections on love provided me with a source of healing, though my situation
is different from that of a gay or lesbian Christian. I strongly recommend this
book to anyone interested in the relationship between Catholicism and
homosexuality. It is gently and humorously faithful, as well as honest and full
of beautiful reflections drawn from real experience. Above all, Tushnet takes
seriously the need for gay and lesbian people to love and be loved, as well as
the beauty and goodness that can come from love between persons of the same
sex.
Bibliographical information: Tushnet, Eve. Gay and Catholic: Accepting my Sexuality,
Finding Community, Living my Faith. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2014.
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