Tanya Erzen: Straight to Jesus: Sexual and Christian Conversions in the Ex-Gay Movement

by Donna Freitas, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/26/2006

Tanya Erzen, a professor of comparative studies at Ohio University, spent a year living and working at New Hope, a residential Christian community dedicated to turning men away from homosexuality. The result was Straight to Jesus (Univ. of California, June; starred review in PW, Feb. 27). Our review called the book “ethnography at its best: an outsider’s careful, respectful translation of a subculture that is often poorly understood and easily dismissed.”

RBL: New Hope is a place where many men find a kind of religious refuge, often for the first time in their lives. Do you see an inherent irony in this?

Erzen: For the men at New Hope, it is precisely the idea that being gay is irreconcilable with their particular Christian beliefs that creates the sense of refuge. New Hope provides confirmation of what they already believe: homosexuality is wrong. Plus it provides them a way out and puts them on the path they believe God wants for them.

RBL: For men like Lars and Curtis, you mention their time in New Hope’s residential program was part of the coming out process. Did Frank (its director) see New Hope at all in this light, or realize some of the men saw it this way?

Erzen: When Curtis referred to New Hope as “Gayland,” it was because everything he knew about what it meant to live as a gay man came from hearing the testimonies of others in the program and from what he learned in classes. Frank obviously did not want the ministry to function as an information center for how to live as a gay person, but he was aware that this happened. The intensity of the friendships created at New Hope often led to sexual falls, but it also enabled men to realize that they wanted and could have same-sex relationships and leave the program.

RBL: You often mention how the ex-gay identity reconciles sexuality and religion in a unique way. How so?

Erzen: Part of the reconciliation occurs because people at the ministry take on a new identity as ex-gay, which is neither heterosexual nor homosexual, neither gay nor straight. Even though each person felt they had to take responsibility and participate in the classes at the ministry, ultimately they believed what they did at New Hope was secondary to what God could do for them. They had placed their lives, masculinity, femininity, sexual desires, hopes, etc., in God’s hands.

RBL: What stays with you most about your experiences at New Hope?

Erzen: What was striking to me throughout my research was the sense of humor of men and women at the ministry—whether it was in Anita’s choice of bumper sticker to prevent her son from borrowing her car or Brian’s practical jokes. They constantly pointed out what they found absurd about their situation and were able to laugh at themselves and each other. With so much of the focus in ex-gay ministries on struggle, pain, and conflict, it was easy to imagine a group of very morose people. That was not the case at all. Their humor and ability to be simultaneously self-critical was surprising, and it is those moments that stay with me, and that I try to convey in the book.

This article originally appeared in the April 26, 2006 issue of Religion BookLine. For more information about Religion BookLine, including a sample and subscription information, click here »

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