“How can you be gay & celibate & not inherently self-hating?”

I get asked this question a LOT. People assume that the only reason a gay person would be celibate is internalized homophobia.

But they’re wrong.
Gay people can be celibate for all kinds of reasons.

Maybe they just don’t like sex very much and don’t particularly want to have it. Yes, it’s possible to have a sex drive and experience sexual attraction but still not enjoy having sex.
Or maybe they’re just asexual and don’t experience sexual attraction in the first place. Yes, gay people can be asexual and asexual people can be gay.
Maybe they just don’t like the jealousy and co-dependence and attachment issues that often coincide with sexual relationships, so they and their partner maintain a platonic relationship instead.
Yes, it’s possible to be a sexual person who is only interested in platonic relationships.
Maybe they follow a religious tradition that requires gay celibacy. Yes, gay ppl can be perfectly ok with their own sexuality, perfectly ok with other gays getting married & having sex, & yet STILL choose to practice traditional religious beliefs.
Yes, it’s possible to be celibate because you happen to appreciate your religious tradition & not because you hate yourself or want to force your religion onto others.
Maybe they’ve experienced some kind of trauma in their past and find celibacy to be a source of healing. Yes, it’s possible to be celibate because it helps you HEAL from trauma, NOT because it’s an expression of trauma.
Or maybe they just like the person they are when they’re celibate. Yes, it’s possible to discover that celibacy makes you a better person. That doesn’t mean you think you’re better than everyone. It just means *you* are the best version of *yourself* when you’re celibate.
I could keep going, but I think you get the point. Gay people can be celibate for a million different reasons that have NOTHING to do with internalized homophobia.
The notion that gay celibacy automatically equals self-hatred stems from the false belief that sex is necessary for self-fulfillment. It’s not.
Maybe celibacy is not for you. And that’s okay. No one should ever force celibacy onto other people. That IS wrong. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with gay people choosing celibacy for themselves.
Gay people don’t need others telling us how to be liberated. We get to choose our own liberation. Maybe what we choose is not your own cup of tea. But as long as we’re not forcing you to drink *our* cup of tea, we can still get along and be friends.

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More from @TravelingNun

18 Nov 20
I’m celibate. I follow historic Christian teaching on sexual ethics by default. Straight people who practice contraceptive sex don’t.
A lot of ppl get angry when I make this observation. They feel like they’re being judged. Like I’m telling them that they’re living in sin just for having sex with someone they love. That’s interesting, because it reminds of how gay ppl feel.
To be clear, I’m NOT saying that you’re living in sin for having contraceptive sex with your spouse, so no worries. I don’t think you’re living in sin! Birth control is a human right, & denying access to contraceptives leads to horrendous abuses, most often toward women.
Read 24 tweets
12 Sep 20
“If you don’t vote in this election it’s because you’re a selfish, privileged elite who can’t understand the needs of the oppressed.”

This is a bald-faced lie fabricated (ironically) by political elites in order to bully other ppl into voting. [thread]
First,

The older richer & whiter you are the more likely you are to vote. There’s a multitude of reasons for this but most pertinent is that ppl are more likely to feel represented by our two-party political system if they are older richer & whiter. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Second,

Non-voters are more likely to be poor, less educated, and non-white. Surveys of low-income and POC citizens report high levels of voter disengagement due to feeling unrepresented in politics and the belief that voting won’t make a difference.

nytimes.com/2019/11/07/ups…
Read 13 tweets
24 Aug 20
Have you wept over the death of someone killed by the police in your immediate circle?
I have.
Have you stared into the haunted eyes of a child whose father/mother/family was arrested last night?
I have.
Have you wiped the tears of a young person whose father is sitting in prison?
I have.
Read 19 tweets
18 Jul 20
This is a huge problem I’ve noticed at BLM protests. White ppl expressing outsized rage (which really doesn’t make sense...their job is to be the allies not to be the angry ones) & POCs tasked with reigning them in.
At many protests I’ve attended, white people are the ones shouting things like “fuck the police” while POCs are the ones trying to get more positive messages out and gaining traction, eg: chanting “This is what community looks like”
I’ve also seen white people interfere in conversations between POCs, as the cop in the video described, when that is just not their place to do.
Read 6 tweets
26 Jun 20
“I was a druglord & gangbanger...”

“I was sleeping around w/ men just playing the whore....”

“I was a homosexual sex addict....”

“...UNTIL I FOUND JESUS.”

Few things do more to reinforce dominant cultural pathologies than the Christian Testimony™
The function of these types of testimonies is to reinforce things like racism, sexism, and homophobia while simultaneously exoticizing the “sinful lifestyle” to make the person’s present-day self-righteousness look “cool”
Those w/ power appropriate the stories of people like this and turn them into ornamental “proofs” that the straight, white, cisgender, middle-class way of life w/ men in charge is the “Christian Life” & the only way your life should look after Jesus
Read 9 tweets
21 Jun 20
Abortion in America is racist. Set aside the pro-life v. pro-choice debate for a minute and sit in that reality. Abortion is racist. Let’s talk about why. [Thread]
The white feminist movement excluded the needs of women of color from the get-go. White women wanted the freedom to work outside the home. Women of color had *been* working outside the home for generations.
White feminism started from the premise that women needed liberation from the family. It never considered that women of color had *never* been given the freedom to be home in the first place...to focus exclusively on the needs of their family without working *all day long*
Read 22 tweets

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