Gandhian Gays

I am writing a paper about a group called Soul Force --a Christian LGBT activist group -- and their use of Gandhian methods. In fact, they are even named after the Gandhian idea "satyagraha," or "soul force" in English, which is Gandhi's word for passive resistance.

Soul Force is a strange mix because Gandhi & Christianity represent such vastly different views of sexuality than the LGBT movement. Gandhi was really messed up about sex. He committed to celibacy over and over again, only to repeatedly fail and feel guilt and temptation. I don't need to recount the ways in which Christianity and sex-negativity have been linked. And the LGBT movement -- at least the LGB part -- has been about embracing and celebrating our sexual feelings.

I like this group generally. I think they do some rad stuff. But some of it makes no sense to me at all, like the "Right to Serve" campaign of 2006, in which openly gay people tried to enlist in the military. Really? How can "soul force" support joining the military?

Another annoyance I have is that they fall into the same trap of many other progressive organizations and praise people who have done some genuinely awesome things without recognizing the ways they were oppressive to queer people. In the case of Gandhi, he was not awesome on women's rights or sexuality and he condemned homosexual "sex-pleasure." When straight members of my community exalt Gandhi (or Marx, or...) I find it important to remind them that they were not saints. They might have been great on certain issues, but not on many of the issues I spend my time on. I am disappointed that SoulForce never takes the time to note that Gandhi's method is useful and largely helpful, but that his views of queer folk are problematic. I would like SoulForce to talk about how to deal with these complex issues and how they navigate them. Instead they tend towards idealization. And whether or not Gandhi was okay on homosexuality specificially, he is an awful model for coming to terms with sexuality.

I'm particularly concerned about all of this (and wanting a roadmap for how to deal with it all) because Gandhi believed that what gave him the strength and moral resolve to do nonviolence successfully was his body purity. He didn't demand it of others (besides his wife), but I don't think there is a way around his extreme positions on sex and food in relation to how he was able to perform satyagraha.

This is not to say that I think Gandhi wouldn't love GLBTQ people, if he were around now, heard our stories, and shared in our suffering. He certainly would be concerned with the violence that has been done to us. But I think this is much more complicated ground than that.

All of that said, I think that the introduction of Gandhian principles to the gay rights movement, and the introduction of sexuality into Gandhian thought are needed and potentially awesome correctives.

Do you have a roadmap for dealing with anti-gay heroes? Is there someone you admire who would be really helpful for the queer community -- if only they didn't hate queers?

Currently Reading:
http://www.GandhiServe.org
http://www.SoulForce.org