Can Homosexuals Become Heterophobic Or Suffer From Heterophobia?

Can Homosexuals Become Heterophobic Or Suffer From Heterophobia?

By Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay, April 2008.


If homophobia is the unreasonable fear of homosexual people, which is not a problem for all free thinking people, and people who have no fear of their own sexuality around other people’s sexual orientation then it is safe to say that the fear is largely unnecessary.

I believe we can coin a new word, “heterophobia” which can be said to be the unreasonable fear of heterosexual people. If heterosexual people can be unreasonably afraid of homosexual people not based on any evidence except to say unnecessary fear, then homosexual people can become “heterophobic”, also exhibiting the unnecessary fear of heterosexual people. It all means that where people are unsure of the other person’s sexual orientation or come to knowledge of another persons’ sexual orientation and/or unable to fathom adequate understanding for whatever reasons then a phobia will occur.

I cannot imagine a group of homosexual men and women, including youth terrorizing heterosexual people in any community. This will be seen as absolutely absurd but then why do unreasonable thinking heterosexuals feel at liberty to terrorize homosexual people, why is it that the heterosexuals in government, society, religious institutions that are considered intelligent and free thinking people, which I believe are still in the minority, not defend and speak up against the foolishness of discrimination, homophobia, misogyny etc?

Many Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) people co exist with heterosexual people in a Global Civil Society, it is not too much to ask heterosexual bigots to understand the safe boundaries required for co existence of all people, especially recognizing the diverse sexual orientations. I found the irony of this parity unsafe that LGBT can live safely with heterosexual people, but some heterosexual people claim to have a great deal of fear, and either refuse to understand nor willing to live openly with homosexual people in the same community.


Often people ask me, how are you able to justify your arguments on the issues of homosexuality and Christianity? I responded easy. I am the pastor of House Of Rainbow MCC, the first and currently the only Christian bible believing ministry in Nigeria that welcomes without prejudice ALL people regardless of their differences, after all we believe that our differences as diverse as they are a strength and not a weakness.

After House Of Rainbow, a few weeks ago, as we proudly baptized three new coverts to Christianity and also called into full membership of our ministry ten more people, it was a busy and long day. I thought the day was over when later in the evening a guy in my neighborhood came with six other hefty men to my door about 7pm, they came not to start a war but to enquire and ask questions on the matters of sexuality and Christianity, this has been a regular occurrence, not the best, but when people have discussions on sexuality and spirituality and becomes unsolved, they adjourn their meeting to my home for more inspired knowledge. When they arrived, we began with an interesting gap in their knowledge as I asked questions to fuel their understanding. The issues moved from homosexuality to transgender interlinked with Christian faith. I believe my response was credible and they were indeed very keen to learn and find out more. This experience left me seeking more of such audience of ordinary heterosexual or perhaps people questioning sexuality and spirituality, the sad news was that there was limited time and we adjourned to another time. (I will keep you posted)

I am studying for my PhD in Theology, at the United Bible University, I am very proud of this achievement, also in trying environment such as Nigeria. I was admitted not based on my sexual orientation but on my ability and quest to learn. On the 8th April 2008, in an open class during a taught lecture, it was obvious that my liberal views would soon be challenged. I was expecting this at some point. I am no longer coy, I take the view as gay person, that I have to be more prepared with credible and intelligent responses, not waiting to be caught off guard. I believe that I have become bold enough, with the help of the Holy Spirit to defend the inclusivity of the mission I represent, the inclusive gospel of Jesus Christ. I was called an apologist, that is safe, but the behavior of my fellow colleagues not only horrified me, it also created the parity in the knowledge and exposed a gap in our understanding of the issues of humanness.

Now at the end of the lecture, I gave lift to people in our vehicle which carried signs and inscription of our mission, the name of the church and the motto: which is “…no fear in love” according to 1 John 4:18. The motto is a constant reminder to be faithful to God and continue to walk with Jesus in love for all people and in all situations. If we fail to love our neighbor as ourselves, then we automatically hate or dislike them as ourselves.

Halfway through the journey one of my colleagues, who have manage to select a devotional I shared with LGBT Christians from inside the bus and have had little opportunity to scanned the booklet, of the contents and the author’s name, began with a deceptive mode of questioning; Are you married, why are you not married, it is not right for a man not to be married, certainly you are old enough to marry?, As I truthfully answered his questions, he got pretty aggressive and said that God made woman for man and he will find me a woman to marry me, I kindly declined his offer. I made it clear to him that I was made in God’s image and that I no longer struggle with my sexuality or the person I am. And I believe my relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is very much okay. My friend from Theology School got off the bus and we agreed to continue the dialogue and his busybody on why I was not married, again I will keep you posted.

My point of writing these experiences which I am sure is not the end of this dialogue with my colleague, and the guys in my neighborhood is simply that we live in an environment that continues to fail to understand God and the supernatural abilities of God in the creation of humankind.

Many people share their stories with me in Nigeria; One of homophobic and the other a transphobic bashing; these stories tell of the unnecessary fear their assailants exhibited whilst bashing them.

If Transgender and gay people are not a threat to heterosexual people, why do they suffer so much violence with extreme hatred? These reports border on the verge of hatred, stigmatization, discrimination, homophobia and transphobia. I can safely add that the ignorance of the assailants is the real problem and the fear of their own sexuality no doubts comes into questioning.

With our church, we see many people that don’t come to our regular Sunday services, as we also run other programmes, especially counseling for LGBT Christians and these people take full advantage of this service and equally benefits from the mission of reconciliation of sexuality and spirituality.

My queerness also led me to begin to study the bible and share short or snippet devotional, many I believed have been blessed and it has created further challenges for others and for some they are embittered towards me for queering the scriptures. I remembered when I first came to Nigeria to start the church in August 2006. I was told by many gay men, that I was not welcomed in the country, to me they seem to either love the darkness of the closet and the hidden deception of the sexual powers or afraid to embrace the changes leading to freedom of minds, hearts, conscience and the inclusive mission we bring.

The scriptures stand as a moral guide and spiritual support for many people, what I am claiming back is the word of God as they speak to the people I serve, people like myself, Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender people, which is the reality and relevance of scriptures. Many LGBT people serve other churches with their gifts and talents but are stuck in churches or religious communities that frustrate their physical and spiritual relationship with God. We are stuck in families and cultures that least understood us and are extremely afraid to step out of line, so we are forced to do what we don’t what to do, and thereby lead a double life and live a lie. In other churches in Nigeria where we believe LGBT people are present, the moral code is “Don’t Ask, Don’t tell” there are no programmes that informs the sanctity and relevance for sexual minorities. Many LGBT will continue to suffer in silence or fall prey to many preachers’ ignorance.

The basic simple tragedy of such livelihood is deception, for those who persistently deny their sexual orientation in favor of the dictated norm, namely heterosexuality will continue to feel pain and anxiety.

Evidently, many people now favor bizarre arrangements in the name of keeping face with societal acceptance. Many gay and/or bisexual men now fashionably marry and too often their boyfriends or male sexual partners are their best men, some conveniently arrange surrogate parenting with a female and thus bring forth children, just for their families to back off. A gay man I knew in Nigeria finished his first degree aged 23 years old and enrolled for another first degree, I asked why not a masters degree, he said he needed more time to be a student to avoid the question of marriage in his family, how convenient but the reality is for how long will he run and hide?

I met a young Muslim man, I can safely say that we are family as his family and mine lived in the same neighborhood in Nigeria, he admitted that he loved me except that I was gay and that is the only thing he cannot deal with and this has become a personal wish on his path that I changed. I explained to my friend that even on the return of Jesus I can do nothing about what God had fixed for me, the only good, acceptable and mature thing I could do is to honor the “Will of God” that has made me gay. We spoke for hours, sharing my developed experiences and challenges. I am not sure if this man is won over to my understanding, one thing I know that is clear is that his views are informed from a heterosexual stand point and also the Nigerian societal expectations of what human sexuality should be. TO BE CONTINUED

God Made Them Gays And Lesbians

God Made Them Gays And Lesbians

© Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay,

Pastor, House Of Rainbow MCC, Lagos Nigeria.

I have often thought of making a contribution to rewrite the stories of the bible and this is an opportunity to start. According to Genesis, the first book of Moses, written by a man, it is no wonder that Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Intersex people are not prominent figures, this is about to change with the advent of queer ministry.

The opening book also casted women in a different picture, today many countries and cultures globally treat women as subordinate. The developed and mature thinking of liberal theologians argued that Genesis was not only recorded in the ancient days it was recorded by a man. Which in many ways contributed to the exclusion of women and other sexual minority groups? Now we begin to ask queer questions, those questions we are not opportune to ask whilst in Bible school, seminaries etc, many people I know were expelled from theological training because they asked a queer question.

Then how are we to know the truth and how on earth are we going to be set free? The honesty in rewriting these theologies, we have to consider the absence of the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the interpretation of the opening book of the bible, Genesis. And also understand the reasons for exclusion of the correct interpretation, which has constituted a massive debate today.Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning when God created the heaven and the earth..." there is a suggestion that there must have been a time before the very beginning of the formation of the earth. There must have been a gathering of the heavens, God and Holy Spirit, here we are told of the miraculous formation of the earth.

The separation of darkness and light, sky and waters, waters and dry land, vegetation in various kinds, swarms of living creatures, birds, living creatures of every kind. Read Genesis 1:1-25. Genesis 1:26 "Then God said, Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" We must understand that in the 21st Century much analysis have been carried out scientifically and religiously to explain the origin of humans, whilst many like myself believe in the creation story, one must wonder why gays and lesbians are not included in the interpretation by popular Christian movements? "Let us make humankind in our image" suggest to me that there were more than one person present as I dont believe God would have spoken alone, there seem to be a matter for consideration in heaven.

The paradigm of two creation stories even made it more confusing, the first in Genesis 1, was clear when it says "God made them male and female"Feminist theologians have argued successfully that this signposted to equality of gender in creation, a second creation story recorded in Genesis 2, suggested that the man was made first and from the man the woman was made. The version created disparity in the ability to provide equality to the gender and also created a gap in understanding sexual orientation and identity. We are to understand and accept that women are second to men and therefore men are superior. How do we conclude on what the image of God is? Is God black, white, Asian, African, European, man, woman, homosexual, heterosexual etc?

The creation of the human race is the image of God, lets be queer about the interpretation, many conservative theologians have taken a narrow interpretation to marginalise other groups that neither fit or able to conform to their stereotypes. This is rather sad.The lack of explanation or the ability to be honest led in many ways to the narrow conclusion and the exclusion of women and sexual minorities in the early chapters of the bible.

In 1973 The American Psychiatric Association made a remarkable announcement to delete homosexuality from the list of mental illness, thankfully we are able to say the same step has followed in Nigeria, but 31 years later in 2004.It is believed that we are working in a credible direction to analyse human sexuality and reconcile with spirituality. Gays and Lesbians often harassed on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity are human enough to hold jobs, join the armed force, raise a family and contribute to societal responsibilities.

The bible say "let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" not over each other. This has been a problem between race, between men and women, between people with different sexual orientation who asserts dominion over those who are considered minorities. After spending just over a year in Nigeria where most of the race are black, there are divisive tribal wars in the country, there are dangerous disputes between Christians and Muslim, Northerners and Southerners.

This division also lend its nature to the gay community, where shamefully those who are marginalised by the wider society also found it fit to marginalise within a small group of people, for example, some gay men discriminate against other gay men who are considered too effeminate or passive.The sordid interpretation of the scriptures by fundamentals means that many gays and lesbians today are unable to reconcile sexuality with spirituality, they have been forced away from the relationship with the Creator.

A continuous deliberate act to permanently and mentally exclude gays and lesbians from inclusion in the creation story and the inclusive gospel and love of Jesus we seek to promote. Whilst studying the creation story, I understand as a gay man that we are present in creation, God made them gay and lesbian and since it is known of the biases of the early bible scholars, it is no surprise that the interpretation that excludes still carries on. If you are not gay or lesbian you can never understand, my message is for those who offer healing to gays and lesbians, to stop trying to heal gays or lesbians, rather the fundamentalist need their ignorance and spiritual blindness healed. My queer senses trigger in to action, when studying and studying the creation stories, there are many inaccuracies in the interpretation and offered explanations.

I am not stupid and I just cannot rest nor reconcile with foolishness. I believe many men and many women where created by God at creation and the ability to be heterosexual or homosexual was part of God gift to humanity.At this point we must understand that those who are heterosexuals or homosexuals will act accordingly. The argument "be fruitful and multiply" does not apply to the heterosexual standard with the ability to impregnate and conceive but also to the ability to get wealth, take care of each other and also this principle is often applied in the case of mergers, where two powerful organisations merge they become stronger in their output and resources. The bible strongly recommends partnership of two or more.

Genesis 2 elaborate more on the act of the naming of the creations of God by man (Adam), it must have been a tiring experience for Adam. To my knowledge and to date, probably with a variance of languages the names of the plants, birds and animals remained the same. The example I created in my analogy is this; In Kenya, Canada, England etc when you see a lion what do you call it? Most people responded lion, I know it is different if the lion was a pet lion and you call her Margaret, she will still be recognised as a lion. Then the same question applied again; In Kenya, Canada, England etc when you see a man what do you call him, most people responded man, but note that man all over the world are given names for the purpose of identification. Then in that case nothing has changed, lions will be lions anywhere in the world and man will be man too.My point is that there are humankinds all over the world and we are recognised as such, there are various cultural diversity but that does not negate the nature of our sexual orientation or identity.

In creation according to Genesis 1:27 says "So God created humankind in God's image in the image of God, God created them, male and female (homosexuals and heterosexuals) God created them" This verse suggest that the creations of God, namely humans present all over the world, were created by God in God's image, we believe that humankind are in God's image. History tells us in many part of the world where black people were discriminated against because of the colour of their skin, they were treated then as if they were less than human, now it is ironic that gays and lesbians are also being dealt similar blows because of sexual orientation and identity. If we agree that man is man then at creation God made all the race, all the sexual orientations, etc.

There is certainly one narrow understanding for the mainstream bible classes of traditional fundamentalist religious movement and there are many things we are not told, we are not even allowed to ask questions nor to express a deeper feeling to gain understanding of the diverse human sexuality ordained at creation. This is an incredible flaw in the interpretation of the conservative theologian. I believe in miracles, Yes I do, especially that of common sense, love and harmony. What miracle healer heals a blind person and asked them what is the colour of my shirt? The blind person who has been blind from birth suddenly says blue, doesn’t that ring an alarm of spiritual deception? Many gays and lesbians have been denied the right to grow in love and spirit. I believe in healing but we ought to be more vigilante not to allow wool to be pulled over our faces, we are done with the wheel chair and crotches flying business.

If you are as old as me you will remember, Steven Martin in an American drama called "A Leap Of Faith" which exposes the drama of false evangelical healing. The healing we need and pray is the healing of homophobia, poverty, lack of care, self hatred, NOT homosexuality, which is one of the gifts of God to humanity, which is to be embraced and celebrated.

Rev Rowland Jide Macaulay, is the Pastor of House Of Rainbow MCC, Lagos Nigeria; Ordained minister of the gospel ten years ago, he is gay, an author of many articles, anthologies, and two books. An MCC minister since 2005, he holds a law degree from Thames Valley University London and a Masters degree in theology, Currently a PhD Candidate of Theology at the United Bible University Nigeria.