Boyd

No-mask homosexuality

Gays must leave closet to find freedom and human dignity, Father Boyd says

By Darrell Holland

Religion editor

It is necessary for gay men and women to come out of the closet in their search for human dignity, a homosexual Episcopal priest said here yesterday.

The Rev. Malcolm Boyd of Los Angeles said that before he began talking openly about his homosexuality nearly three years ago, he viewed himself negatively..

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Now, Father Boyd said, "I feel that I have freedom and dignity that I could never have had while I was living a lie."

He told an interested but subdued ·City Club Forum audience, "I have never had an erotic impulse for anyone but persons of my own sex in my entire life."

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The author of 19 books and a veteran of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War

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movements, Father Boyd, 55, said that about 10% of the population of the United States is gay.

"That means," he said, "that 10% of the City Club membership and of this audience is gay."

In a book published last year, Father Boyd detailed his own search for his sexual identity under the title, "Take Off the Masks."

"When I made public my sexual preference, I became a gay human being capable of living a free and fulfilled life. Wearing a mask obscures deep truth and causes a person to live a lie," he said.

There is a danger, Father Boyd said, that the civil rights of gays could be officially curtailed in this nation. "Persons like myself could suffer in the future if there is a backlash against us.”

He said that persecution of gays is

often motivated by churches, which often teach that homosexuality is a sin, and force gays to stay in the closet and to live guilt-laden lives.

There are thousands of gays among clergymen, he said, as well as in other professions. ""Tell a lie,' is what the church says to closeted gays,” he said.

Father Boyd said that the Bible does not teach that homosexuality is a sin, despite some interpretations to the contrary.

During the question period, he advised family members of persons suspected of being closeted gays not to talk to them about it, but to wait until they initiate such a discussion.

One of his biggest problems, he said, was informing his mother, who is now 81, of his homosexuality. "We can now fully accept each other," he said.

He urged gays to organize with other minorities to protect their civil rights.