LGBTQIA+: Do you have a home in God’s house? 

A seminar titled “Claiming space for queer bodies in churches” revealed deep divisions within the Potchefstroom community as some heated exchanges formed part of the session during question time. 

The North-West University Potchefstroom campus hosted the gathering as part of Gender Awareness Week.  Students, lecturers, queer individuals and churchgoers came together to attend the event, where Laurie Gaum did a presentation. As an “activist theologian”, Guam focuses on gender in his work at the non-governmental organisation GenderWorks and has a master’s degree in religious studies and international peacekeeping.

When the audience started to talk about the topic that  “churches will not necessarily expel you, but they will prefer that you do not act like your true self,” the disuccsion heated up.

According to eyewitnesses a group of people who attended the event in mid-August appeared to be set on derailing the conversation.

Part of the group was an elder in a local church, who stated that as a Christian, “a person can love someone but not approve of their lifestyle. God’s love does not extend to all aspects of an individual’s life, and many gays want Christians to affirm their lifestyle,” he said.  

One of the audience members said the seminar was an example of the constant struggle faced by individuals within the LGBTQIA+ community.

A “queer-friendly” event, which was facilitated with the intent to “learn within a safe space”, resulted in tension and discomfort as a result of a lack of open-mindedness.

Gaum, also responding to the “question-bombing”, stated  that he “was thinking about queer students in the audience that did not feel comfortable or free enough to [subsequently] really share anymore and that was what it was all about,” as well as the fact that “they were shut down to some degree – it is almost traumatising I would imagine. That is sad,” he said.

MK, (they/them) (23), a NWU-student and Campus Pride Committee chairperson, said after attending the seminar that discussions with sensitive topic matters has to be moderated well, something that philosophy senior lecturer Dr Jean du Toit said he tried to do. 

His perception was that the disruption was engineered. Du Toit further said  “the leader of the group appeared to want to disrupt the conversation, wilfully disregarding the standards and norms of engagement in the academic space, and chose to introduce unseemly comments into the conversation when the time for questions had already passed.” 

Despite the turn the discussions took, Gaum was able to share some of his views on the topic during the discussion and afterwards with 3SM.  

“You must be at home somewhere, to be at home everywhere,” Gaum quoted Howard Thurman on the power of coming out and how the act is an integral part of the lives of many queer individuals, whether in church or not. 

He further stated that coming out is often the determining factor of whether a queer individual gets kicked out of the church or not, as coming out is a powerful and triumphant expression of who you are. This is where the church and the queer individual either separate or, due to an act of “humanness,” grow forth together. 

In his presentation, Gaum showcased an art piece of the Christian cross symbol painted in the colours of the pride flag, which symbolises the intersection between these two seemingly opposing forces, which contributes to Christianity’s “pro-human” perspective. 

The opinions of MK and Gaum intersect on churches that are not experienced as safe spaces for queer individuals. 

MK believes that being openly queer often comes with feeling uncomfortable in a heteronormative society, and within a church, which is supposed to be a designated safe space.

MK agrees with Gaum when stating that some churches are putting in sufficient effort to make queer people feel safe and empowered, but disagrees with him when he states that the topic at hand won’t be relevant in 20 years. 

“There is something conservative about religion,” Gaum stated during the seminar, which is contrasted by his simultaneous belief that Christianity challenges and seeks to transcend existing structures. 

Unfortunately, “standing up for the truth needs to happen” is not something all churches are ready to do, says Gaum, coinciding with MK’s belief that the church is not as quick as the rest of society in terms of growth.

 Gaum said that this conversation is not a topic that should be treated as a “once-off discussion” and that “there is definitely a need for more of this conversation to take place, in more of a safe space, for the purpose of greater yielding a greater understanding from both sides.” 

MK believes that there is “absolutely” light at the end of this tunnel, as “religion will always exist” and “queer people will always exist,” “some overlap will have to happen, there will have to be a space for queer religious people.” Over time, the two forces, the church and the queer community can further learn to better coexist, and MK compares it to the Black Lives Matter movement, stating that black people did not only create their own churches but garnered safety in majority-white churches. 

The challenge for humans, says Gaum, is not to seek to go to heaven and escape hell, but to show humanity to one another. By Janlu Fourie, Louise Kleinhans,  Jané van Schalkwyk, Robyn Kruger and Keletso Baas.