[Lynn M.]

Is there a secret among Jehovah's Witnesses and gay men marrying to hide their homosexuality? I know a man who recently married and is a Jehovah's Witness but needs to come out of the closet. He was born and raised as a Jehovah's Witness and makes constant references to homosexuals. He has described seeing married couples and friends of his engage in secret, men-only orgy-type dinner parties.

User Detail :  

Name : Lynn M., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Dayton, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : healthcare, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Mandy O.]

I think gay people of both genders and of all religions get married to a person of the opposite-sex as a way to hide their sexuality. My neighbor is a Catholic, closeted gay man who is getting married to a straight woman. He thinks his urges will go away if he has a piece of paper saying he's married to a woman. I've heard from Catholic gay men that when they tell a priest they are gay, the priest then tells them to either get married as soon as possible or become a monk or a priest.

User Detail :  

Name : Mandy O., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 20, City : Newton, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : Political Science Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Ira]

No. I doubt it. Of course there may isolated incidents of things like this but Jehovah's Witnesses as a group try very hard to conform all aspects of their lives to the standards found in the bible. Here is an excerpt from 'Reasoning from the Scriptures', published by Jehovah's Witnesses: True Christians know that even deeply rooted wrong desires, including those that may have a genetic basis or that invole physical causes or environmental factors, are not insurmountable for persons who truly eant to please Jehovah. Some people are by nature highly emotional. Perhaps in the past they gave free rein to fits of anger; but knowledge of god's will, the desire to please him, and the help of his spirit enable them to develop self-control. A person may be an alcoholic, but with proper motivation he can refrain from drinking and thus avoid becoming a drunkard. Likewise, a person may feel strongly attracted to others of the same sex, but by heading the counsel of god's word he can remain clean from homosexual practices... They also give a few scriptural references. Here is a really interesting one: 1 Cor 6:9-11 'Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor mem who lie with men...will inherit god's kingdom. And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.' (Regardless of such a background, if persons abandon their former unclean practices, apply Jehovah's righteous standards, and and exercise faith in his provision for forgiveness of sins through Christ, they can enjoy a clean standing before God. After reforming, they may be welcomed in the Christian congregation.)

User Detail :  

Name : Ira, City : Phoenix, State : AZ Country : United States, 

[Lydia]

When God created humans he made them male and female. The bible shows clearly, that God does not approve of homosexuality. When Jesus Christ declared that 'God's Word is truth he endorsed God's view of homosexuality as described at Leviticus 18:22, which reads: 'You must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing.'. Jehovah's Witnesses take the bible and it's teachings very seriously. Which means that no homosexual person can become or stay one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I don't deny that some persons have homosexual inclination, but there are people that are inclined to violence, lying, unfaithfulness etc. theses are all imperfect tendencies we have to fight against. As Jehovah's Witnesses we DON'T hate gay people, as we are to love our neighbor and every person has the right to make their own decisions, but we will not condone this behavior in the congregation, the same way we don't condone adultery, fornication, drunkenness etc. If your acquaintance goes to these orgies, he is obviously leading a double-life, and there will come a point he won't be able do that anymore. He has only two choices: repent and clean up his life or he will be sooner or later disfellowshiped

User Detail :  

Name : Lydia, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jehovahs Witness, Age : 26, City : Brooklyn, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Vail24488]

Almost sounds like some kinda conspiracy, don't it?

User Detail :  

Name : Vail24488, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : mutt, Religion : Atheist, Age : 40, City : Philly, State : PA Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Mike Tuttle]

There is no 'secret', per se, among Witnesses about 'hiding' homosexuality. However, acts of, or statements showing tolerance of homosexuality on the part of individuals does cause alarms to ring through the local congregation. Homosexuality, if not 'repented of' is grounds for disfellowshipping (excommunication) from the church. Upon disfellowshipping, JWs will refuse to even speak to the ousted one. Needless to say, this can be a traumatic circumstance for a gay person who is just trying to find peace within themselves while still worshipping God as they choose. The only option many find is to marry, having been told that homosexuality is a totally sexual thing, with the understanding being that they will then have a wife with which to copulate 'til the cows come home and will not 'want' men.

User Detail :  

Name : Mike Tuttle, City : Lexington, State : KY Country : United States, 

[Bryan]

It has been proven, over and over again and in study after scientific study, that homosexuality is a matter of genetics. It has absolutely nothing to do with the environment you were raised in or with any of the other events in your life. This being said (yet again), it is incredibly sad that people have to pretend to be who they aren't. In my view, it is equivalent to a criminal act that certain religions and churches tell people that it's wrong to be gay. They have no idea what kind of emotional and psychological damage they are doing to these people. And referring back to a previous post on this message; to advise someone to get married or to live as a monk or priest when they confess their homosexuality (the way God made them, I might add) is possibly one of the worst things that could ever happen. What is having that piece of paper going to change about them? Nothing. And what about the person they're marrying? They're living just as much a lie as the closeted person. They think the person they married loves them in every way, and it's just not true (despite any emotional closeness they may share). Another way to look at it: Imagine if you were living in a world of blonde people, and only 10 to 15% of them were brown haired. Imagine being one of those brown haired people and being told your entire life (despite the fact there is NOTHING else different about you) that you are wrong, a mistake, abhorrent, a disgrace to yourself and your community, that you deserve to die a very horrible and painful death, that you don't deserve any of the freedoms or the rights of the society you live in. All because you have different color hair. This is the life of homosexuals. The only thing different about them is that they love someone of the same gender. It's racism with a different name, and with things going the way they are politically, pretty soon anyone identifying themselves as gay to the government will soon be counted as only 3/5 of a person.

User Detail :  

Name : Bryan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 27, City : Dallas, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Tech support agent, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Curt D Garner]

Religion is a powerful message. Many men and women deny their sexual orientation and marry to 'hide' their true desire. This is unfair to their partners and children, not to mention themselves. None the less, it appears to be more apparent in those religions that have the worst records for understanding and creating a warm acceptance of diversity.

User Detail :  

Name : Curt D Garner, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 54, City : Phoenix, State : AZ Country : United States, Occupation : Web Designer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[R. Jackson]

I have been associated with Jehovah's Witnesses my entire life as well. Believe me, there is no activity allowed such as homosexuality or orgies. The individual you speak of may be battling with his sexuality because the religion does not condone it in any way. Hypothetically speaking, if he did witness something of this matter, the key word you used was 'secret'. Jehovah's Witnesses believe in being 'no part of the world' and that usually means not associationg with many people outside of the religion. Unfortunately, that mistakenly puts Witnesses in the category as a cult where orgies and things of that nature have been known to take place.

User Detail :  

Name : R. Jackson, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 28, City : Lubbock, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[JM]

Please direct the man you know to the support network for gay & lesbian Jehovah's Witnesses called 'A Common Bond'. The website is at: http://www.gayxjw.org/ - I'm sure they can help.

User Detail :  

Name : JM, City : Eastern, State : PA Country : United States, 

[Sandy]

Personally, I'm not a Jehova's Witness but I know many and I know enough about them to know that they would never permit this.If the elders in your friend's congregation knew about your friend and his friend's parties, they would all be kicked out of the congregation because that is unaccepteble in the eyes of God.

User Detail :  

Name : Sandy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 20, City : Santa Cruz, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, 

[Paul Sanz]

This topic is very touchy for many. But, Many who delve or practice a very strict culture wind up having a very hard time copping with sexuality. Jehovah's Witnesses have a very high rate of people who have committed suicide due to the strictness of there religion. when the Bible tells them to speak the truth. then the truth gets them expelled from there church, turned away by there families, rejected by there children, and loss of there jobs who are all a close net of Jehovah's witnesses. The Other option is to Lie to your church and go to a Gay orgy with all the other Jehovah's witnesses who aren't telling the truth to there families. yet knocking on my door every weekend to tell me to stop sinning and handing me those little books!!. ops got carried away their , sorry.

User Detail :  

Name : Paul Sanz, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Religion : Christian, Age : 40, City : Akron, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Author]

Posts