My Journey As A Debate Gay Catholic Summary

“My journey as a celibate gay catholic” written by J. Frank Pate, delves into the author's upbringing raised in the Catholic faith since birth as well as growing up as a gay individual who follows celibacy. Although Pate grew up in a Catholic community, he felt that he lacked a strong religious foundation (Pate, 2023, p.2). Pate knew from a young age that he was gay and that being gay publicly was not safe or acceptable in the Catholic community he belonged to. Furthermore, Pate realized that while attending mass, he was not exposed to an environment in which he could understand or learn about homosexuality from a religious perspective. Due to this, he stopped attending mass regularly. Later, his love for the music led him to join a Baptist

He also often shared his struggles regarding homosexuality with Christian acquaintances, but they often rejected him (Pate, 2023, p.2). With limited options on how to integrate his faith and sexuality, he found meaningful relationships in ex-gay ministries which proved to be a stronghold and a haven for him. knowing that he missed the Eucharistic liturgy he still sought to merge his evangelical and Catholic identities and would then choose to join the Episcopal Church (Pate, 2023, p.3). Following debates over same-sex marriage, Pate encountered a lot of turmoil, as well as parish splits, which ultimately led him to join the Anglican church. Although later, he would return to the Catholic

Pate had developed the belief that being Catholic required him to renounce his homosexuality, and his therapist had advised him to date a woman from his parish for a year and then spent two years contemplating entering the priesthood (Pate, 2023, p.4). Although Pate's therapist denied practicing conversion therapy, he consistently focused on trying to heal a memory that he believed had contributed to Pate's same-sex attraction during each session. Pate felt like he was being coerced into following a storyline that did not align with his individual experiences, and he also observed that the conversations in the same sex attracted (SSA) community were characterized by disdain. Pate found two books in 2017 that were transformative to his life: "Why I Don't Call Myself Gay" by Daniel Matson and "Building a Bridge" by James Martin. The ex-gay community praised Matson's book and criticized Father Martin's work. Pate enjoyed "Building a Bridge" and appreciated Father Martin's exploration of accepting LGBTQ individuals with "respect, compassion, and sensitivity" (Pate, 2023, p.5). He thought Father Martin called for the church to demonstrate these virtues to the LGBTQ community and questioned what it would look like for LGBTQ individuals to show these same values to the church hierarchy. Despite trying to engage in a dialogue with the ex-gay community, Pate could not find