The average person has associated and confused the question of the morality of sexual conduct with the question of its objective legal status. In the body of the letter I have put the convictions I have come to into ten statements that I believe you and I and your brother and our church families must come to understand about homosexuality and about gays and lesbians. Gays and lesbians in general have the potential for outstanding character and accomplishment; some may have greater potential than most heterosexuals to be exceptional persons. She waited for the baby to be born in a home for unmarried mothers, buoyed by the kindness and humor of the other residents and the nuns who cared for them. When the Bible speaks of same-gender sex, it is always talking about heterosexuals who are given over to such lust that they commit lustful acts.

When homosexual unions are faithful to God’s rule, manifest its power, serve its aims and bespeak its hopes and joys, the basic question of readiness for ordained ministry has been met. Louise believes that by reading about other people's challenges and aspirations, you can see yourself and your own problems in different ways. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) officially recognized it in 1973 when it declassified homosexuality as being a mental illness.

Since there is no explicit instruction in the Bible about homosexual ordination, we must derive our belief from our understanding of the principles of the Bible. The second issue for ordination is whether one’s union, like marriage or celibacy, frees one for obedience to God and propels one to fulfill God’s aims…. T. Connor raise his voice in my theology class: “The Bible does not mean what it says, it means what it means. In 1973 the United Church of Christ’s Executive Council urged the full acceptance of homosexual persons symbolized by ordination: “In the instance of considering a stated homosexual’s candidacy for ordination the issue should not be his/her homosexuality as such, but rather the candidate’s total view of human sexuality and his/her understanding of the morality of its use.

In 1956 Hooker presented her findings–that no psychological differences existed between homosexual and heterosexual men–before the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association. There was so much to learn about gays and lesbians–and the Bible–that I am so glad to have come to know. Each member of a same-sex couple is free to act from individual interests, predilections, and skills, rather than having to choose between conforming to or rebelling against the cultural norm.Among these difficulties can be enumerated the agonies of remorse and self-torture over what typical homosexuals feel to be their immoral desires, whether these arise from conscious identity with the condemnations of Church and society or from neurotic conflicts within themselves; their openness to blackmail and other forms of intimidation; their status of being outside the normal protection of the law; their necessity continually to conceal what they frequently believe to be their true identity from public view, with the added threat that accidental revelation could result in loss of their job, expulsion from school, dishonorable discharge from military service, loss of future security and job opportunities, loss of friends and the respect of family and dependents. This letter to Louise reflects what I now have come to believe is the truth about homosexuality, what the Bible says and what God wants us to think and do about it. They must be made to realize that honesty and integrity demand they make judgments on the basis of knowledge and not on groundless feelings and prejudice. That both main figures experience a few setbacks yet eventually survive is never in question; the story fittingly concludes with an epilogue by Maurice. Some parts I was not so interested in, the parts where she tours as an aspiring actress but all in all well worth a read.

Pauline Collins lives in London with her husband, fellow actor John Alderton, and their three children. I have selected a few of these to discuss briefly that I think are very important to our rightly understanding our Bible and perhaps especially the subject of homosexuality. Same-sex marriage would not force anyone to honor or approve of gay or lesbian relationships against their will. I would have liked more about her life and work after Louise was born, especially meeting and marrying John Alderton, and fame with Upstairs Downstairs and Shirley Valentine. And while the italicized flashbacks to the author's happy childhood sometimes seem awkward, Anglophiles will enjoy the details.

But when the world believes that churches despise and condemn homosexuals, those who hate them find encouragement. It is well known that while certain characteristics are dominant in men and others dominant in women, all people have some of both characteristics. In a heterosexual relationship, these qualities are used primarily to serve the man and to oppress the woman, who often must bear full responsibility for the emotional quality of the relationship….