Egalitarianism and Homosexuality: Connected or Autonomous Ideologies?

Here's an excerpt from David Jones' 2003 article examining whether or not there is a connection between egalitarianism and homosexuality.

Evangelical Christian organizations that hold to a complementarian view of gender roles, such as The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), have expressed concern over a possible connection between an egalitarian view of male/female gender roles and homosexuality. For example, in the list of central concerns stated in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood-perhaps the most thorough defense of complementarianism-the authors declare, "We are concerned not merely with the behavior roles of men and women, but also with the underlying nature of manhood and womanhood themselves. Biblical truth and clarity in this matter are important because errors and confusion over sexual identity leads to ... homosexual tendencies and increasing attempts to justify homosexual alliances."¹ Furthermore, later in this same list of central concerns, the editors of this book note, "We believe that the feminist minimization of sexual role differentiation contributes to the confusion of sexual identity that, especially in the second and third generations, gives rise to more homosexuality in society... . It is increasingly and painfully clear that Biblical feminism is an unwitting partner in unraveling the fabric of complementary manhood and womanhood that provides the foundation not only for Biblical marriage and Biblical church order, but also for heterosexuality itself."²

Evangelical feminists,³ however, have asserted that the notion of a possible connection between egalitarianism and homosexuality is both an unwarranted concern and an unfair allegation.⁴ For example, Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE), arguably the leading evangelical egalitarian advocacy organization, has repeatedly noted that they do not affirm homosexuality, and the CBE Statement of Faith clearly states, "We believe in the family, celibate singleness, and faithful heterosexual marriage as the patterns God designed for us."⁵ Additionally, several prominent evangelical egalitarians have written works that report their opposition to homosexuality.⁶ Indeed, the fact that egalitarian organizations such as CBE do not directly affirm homosexuality has been recognized by a number of complementarian authors;⁷ yet, a concern that evangelical feminism ultimately leads to the embrace of homosexuality still persists among those who champion a more traditional model of gender roles.

In view of the foregoing discussion regarding the possibility of a connection between egalitarianism and homosexuality, this work will address and attempt to answer a very important question in the gender roles debate-that is, "Is there sufficient historical evidence to support complementarians' concern over a possible connection between egalitarianism and homosexuality?" If this concern is warranted, the final part of this essay will begin some introductory work with a view to a second important question-that is, "What is the nature of the link between these two ostensibly unrelated ideologies?"

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