Prominent Antigay Evangelical Blogger Outed as Gay

Yet another anti-gay evangelical has gotten himself outed - and in my view deservedly so.  It's one thing to be in the closet suffering one's own private hell of self-loathing and self-contempt.  It's something totally different when one then proceeds to engage in anti-gay writings and activism merely because one lacks the guts  - and I would add decency - to face who one is.  Leave other gays alone and staying in the closet and be as miserable as you want.  Once you become actively anti-gay, then you've placed a bull's eye on your own back.  And that's exactly what Jonathan Merritt - who writes for USA Today and The Atlantic (in the latter, Merritt recently wrote of his support of Chick-fil-A) - did to himself.  And thankful, Merritt was outed.  Adding to the fun is that Merritt's father is the former president of the virulently anti-gay Southern Baptist Convention.   The Advocate looks at this tale of hypocrisy and just deserts.  Here are highlights: 

Jonathan Merritt, the son of famous evangelist James Merritt, has become a prominent evangelical blogger, writing for, among others, USA Today and The Atlantic (where he most recently wrote about his support of Chick-fil-A). Turns out he's, as Queerty puts it, also "a deeply conflicted gay man" who just got busted for canoodling with gay blogger Azariah Southworth.

Joe.My.God’s Joe Jervis posted a rundown of the relationship between Merritt and Southworth that occurred in 2009. Merritt says he and Southworth began emailing and sexting each other after Merritt wrote an article saying "that Christians must love people who experience sexual brokenness." The sexting led to a meet up and "as we were saying goodbye, we had physical contact that went beyond the bounds of friendship. I was overcome with guilt, knowing I had put myself in an unwise situation. We never saw each other again and we ceased contact after a period of time."

Merritt says he saw a Christian counselor to sort through his childhood and "what I believed God wanted for me. I also began to acknowledge to myself that I have sin in my past, sin for which I accept responsibility. Inappropriate texting, inappropriate actions are inappropriate no matter who the other party is. These were my decisions and no one else’s.

Southworth himself said, "Exposing this truth of Jonathan’s sexual orientation is not an easy decision for me. I take no pleasure in doing this. As I type this my stomach is turning because I know of the backlash he will receive. I have thought about what all of this will mean for him and for me. I base my reasoning in the importance of living an authentic and honest life. We must have radical honesty in the character, intentions and identities of our leaders.”

Sadly, honesty is an unknown concept among many of the far right Christians who disseminate lies and falsehood against others on virtually a daily basis.