Turn Off Your Gaydar, Please

A few years ago I was visiting Father Geoff, a retired Catholic priest who was recovering from stroke in rehab. His nephew, a practising Catholic, was visiting him too. As the visit progressed, the nephew began a hypothetical monologue about him, not to him. There are aspects of Father’s life he keeps hidden from family, the nephew said rhetorically into the air above Father’s head. If only he came out, the nephew opined, he would still be loved and everything would be fine. Father remained stony-faced and silent, refusing to make eye contact.

Although the nephew had good intentions, they seemed neither well thought out nor respectful, making this performance difficult to witness. If Christians want Father’s sexual identity, whatever it is, to become a progressive talking point, the propriety of such an attack on sense and sensibility is questionable. What’s the difference between pressuring a sick old priest to come out and forcing him to drink the Kool-Aid of identity…