‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’: Silence in Northern Ireland Christian Churches Regarding Issues of Sexuality

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ) Christians face a culture of ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell,’ in regards to their sexuality from the three largest Christian denominations in Northern Ireland. This article explores the experiences of LGBTQ Christians in Northern Ireland; their views on this culture and the impact silence from many within their churches have, on both their faith and their wider lives. There are many within the Christian churches in Northern Ireland who are quietly supportive of queer members, however, there is a paucity of open and honest dialogue. I propose a renewed approach to hospitality within churches, with an understanding of all Christians as equally ‘Beloved of God.’ Leading to a situation where queer and non-queer alike, would have the space to understand and discus the problematic situation that currently exists and remove the barriers that prevent equality for LGBTQ members within faith communities.

Keywords:

• Northern Ireland
• LGBTQ
• equality
• hospitality
• ‘Don’t ask
• Don’t tell’
• silence

ORCID

Conor J. Fegan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5805-3306

Notes

1 The participants included in this article are either gay or lesbian, the terms LGBTQ or queer will, however, be used throughout, in order to emphasise a diversity of identity that is not easily compartmentalised into restrictive sex centred terms such as lesbian or gay (Schneider and Roncolato, 2012).

2 These interviews were carried out during February and March of 2016 for my PhD project. They took the form of semi-structured interviews with self-identifying LGBTQ Christians in Northern Ireland. This article includes six participants (two female and four male) two from each of the Catholic, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland denominations.

3 The Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

4 Throughout this article I use Henri J.M. Nouwen's notion of all people as the ‘Beloved of God,’ as seen in: Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living In A Secular World (2002).

5 All participant names have been anonymised and all information that could identify them has been removed.

6 Léon Van Ommen, Email Correspondence (2 March 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Conor J. Fegan

Conor J. Fegan is a Theology doctoral student at the University of Aberdeen. His research focuses on the lived experiences of LGBTQ Christians. Other interests include Church history, queer theology, qualitative research and gender studies.