Introduction

According to The Trevor Project, Every forty-five seconds, a queer person attempts suicide in the United States. The Trevor Project, which carried out a study in 2021 regarding those suicide rates. The study found that an average of fifty-three percent of all genderqueer people within the age group of eighteen to twenty-four in the United States admitted to having seriously considered suicide, with around eighteen percent having attempted. Compare that to an average of thirty-two and a half percent of cisgender people having considered and around eight percent having attempted suicide. All of that in conjunction with sixty percent of LGBTQIA+ people who have sought mental health assistance, not receiving it (Nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide, survey finds). A real problem starts to appear, one that comes down to systemic issues at the fault of people who use their platforms for harming and shunning the queer community. One notable person is Frank Turek and his platform, based on his website/YouTube channel, Cross Examined. The Evangelical Christian Apologetics platform uses its range to uphold and defend Christian values and beliefs. It does this to a fault, however, as it starts to spread hateful and misinformed ideals that lead to the harming of entire communities.

Being LGBTQ+ is not inherently a struggle, or issue meant to be “fixed”.

In a video on the Cross Examined YouTube channel from five years ago titled “Why Would God Make Me a Lesbian”, Turek discussed the topic of why the LGBT community exists with a woman who identified as a lesbian. Turek is questioned on why God would direct the woman to be lesbian, to which Turek states, “Should we expect that in this fallen world, God would give us a nature that wasn’t fallen? […] We’re all struggling with sin; that’s why we need a savior.” He insinuates here that being queer is a sin that people are struggling with and need help from some savior. If homosexual relationships were such a sin, why do studies show that heterosexual marriages “are more subject to tension, miscommunication and resentment than same-sex relationships” (Gay Couples Have Less Strained Marriages Than Straight Couples, Study Says)? When Turek claims that being queer is a struggle, he fails to mention how, or why, other than just brushing it off as a sin and using that as his only explanation. Despite Turek’s avoidance of giving examples of what he claims are struggles the queer community faces, many real hardships can be found in their lives. Queer people on average struggle a considerable amount more than other groups, though not for any reason such as divine intervention, but rather increased discrimination of their community that seeps into their personal lives and reduces their mental, physical, and financial well-being (see fig. 1).  A study funded and carried out by NORC at the University of Chicago and The Center for American Progress found that due to discrimination, “52 percent of LGBTQ people said that their ‘psychological well-being’ has been negatively affected to a moderate or significant degree in the past year”. As seen by the study, queer people face discrimination that reduces their living standards and induces struggle in their lives. Turek was correct, the queer community does struggle, though not in the way he insists they do. They struggle with misconceptions and discrimination. One can see why he listed no examples. 

Fig 1. A graph showing the percentages of each group that reported discrimination, provided by the Center for American Progress.

Turek claimed that struggling people need a savior. In the case of LGBT people, the church has historically turned to Conversion Therapy to “cure” the queer. Conversion Therapy has been banned in many places around the world, and according to an article in the National Library of Medicine, “[E]xtreme ‘physical’ forms of ‘conversion therapy’, such as those involving rape, electroshocks, forced examinations of genitals, injections of drugs, etc. Such extreme violence can cause severe physical pain and mental suffering, and therefore those forms of ‘conversion therapy’ violate article 3 [of the European Convention on Human Rights]”. Conversion Therapy has been denounced by basically all credible medical associations and organizations and by UN law, it could be seen as a war crime, and yet Turek proposes it as a way to fight “transgenderism”.

The queer community does not exist due to trauma that they have experienced.

Turek, in contradiction to himself previously, now claims that queer people are the result of trauma. In a video from 2023 titled “How Should Christians Love the LGBTQ Community?” Turek identifies what he believes to be the origin of people who identify as queer. He goes on to cite an unnamed pastor when he says, “[T]his is his- what he said, just his experience, he said, ‘I’ve never met a lesbian who wasn’t sexually abused’”. Turek then adds his own perspective: “[A]t least older people don’t randomly say, ‘I just decided to be gay’ there’s something that happened in their lives normally”. However, Turek only cites his unnamed pastor friend and relies on anecdotal evidence provided by this pastor. This approach disregards large amounts of research that has gone into finding the origins of sexual orientations. The actual reason for non-heteronormative sexualities and genders has nothing to do with the way one develops as a child, as Planned Parenthood states, “It’s not completely known why someone might be lesbian, gay, straight, or bisexual. But research shows that sexual orientation is likely caused partly by biological factors that start before birth.”. This suggests that Turek is not only denying established empirical evidence, but is going against the current scientific understanding.

Furthermore, the American Psychological Association has stated, “Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors […] most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation”. Highlighting the nature of sexual orientation as something that we do not fully understand yet, challenging the simplistic view proposed by Turek. The ethical standpoint of Tureks claims must also be looked into. By attributing queer identity to trauma, he is spreading the same harmful stereotypes and perpetuates the stigmatization of the queer community. This can further spread the misinformation regarding them, and lead to further marginalization of their community.

Being queer and in touch with sexuality does not automatically harm you or others in your life.

Turek, in a video from January of 2024, titled “Am I Loving My Sister By Supporting Her Gay Relationship?” claims that practicing a homosexual relationship will cause the person and those around them pain, when he proposed two questions for the brother of a lesbian woman to ask his sister. Those questions being: “If you thought I was going down a road that would hurt me and others, would you love me enough to tell me?” and “Do you mind if I do that for you right now?” These questions that Turek poses for the brother to ask his sister clearly state that he thinks being queer is something that brings harm upon people. Being queer does not intrinsically bring pain or suffering unto others or oneself. As said by a person interviewed in a study on youth perspectives on being queer: “You can kind of be who you are and not have to worry about um, being masculine or being ah, a stereotypical man”. Yet despite that, Frank is right, in a way. Many people do experience harm and suffering just for being queer, though not because of any other reason than discrimination. In another perspective, they state, “Be careful who you tell or who are around, everything, be out and about, like try not to get killed or anything. Because there’s a lot of homophobic people out there”. This underscores the reality of the suffering endured by queer people is caused by external hostility and not simply because they are queer.

In fact, embracing sexuality can lead to happier and more fulfilling lives, due to increased self-esteem. According to a chapter in a book on sexuality and midwifery, “More sexual activity seems to be strongly connected to more happiness. Self-esteem increases from positive sexual experiences with a partner and from accepting and embracing one’s own sexuality and sexual desires”. And to further highlight that the cause of pain is discrimination and hate, Sarah Kate Ellis, President of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), states the extent of the issue in the modern day: “The violence that you talked about, we have seen 350 acts of violence or threats of violence against our community — this is a poll that we do or a measurement that we do with the ADL — in the past year. We have seen over 600 anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation proposed since January.” Ellis’ statement further emphasizes that the harm experienced by the queer community is via external factors, rather than their own sexual orientations and different genders.

Marriage does not have to be between a man and a woman, and divorce is not wrong.

In another video from January 2024, this one titled “Christopher Yuan: Did Jesus Address Gay Marriage?” Christopher Yuan, a common face on Cross Examined (see fig. 2), states that: “Porneia [Sexual immorality] covered every form of sexual relationship outside man-woman in marriage.” In stating this, he claims that the Greek word porneia means sexual immorality, yet christians themselves are the ones who gave it that meaning, as according to encyclopedia.com, it was originally used in ancient Greece as a term for prostitution, which was legal. And with that, his argument falls back solely on the Bible. This reliance on redefined terms highlights the pitfalls of Yuan’s argument against non-straight marriages. The reinterpretation of porneia over time shows how meanings change to fit religious and cultural normalities. And such shows that Yuan’s argument lacks a solid foundation outside of the Christian narrative in which it was made. Research into same-sex marriages further weakens Yuan’s argument, by highlighting that they are not harmful. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Studies in the U.S. have found evidence of reduced psychological distress and improved self-reported health among sexual minorities living in states with equal marriage rights compared to those living in states without such rights”. This shows that when people are accepted and are no longer infringing on the law just being who they are allows for better mental health for sexual minorities. 

Fig 2. Christopher Yuan, appearing in the Cross Examined video, “Christopher Yuan: Did Jesus Address Gay Marriage?”

Yuan also quotes the Bible in his argument, this time reasoning that divorce in itself is wrong. He recites the Bible: “God made them male and female […] and the two shall become one flesh […] what God has put together; let man not separate.” Yuan here is trying to reason why divorce is wrong, yet again, he is only using the Christian narrative by quoting the Bible as his only source. According to Misty Heggeness in her article ‘The Up Side of Divorce?‘: “Studies have shown there are unexpected positive ripple effects when laws make divorce easier and quicker, including:  The number of marriages increases by at least 9%. Female suicides decrease [from 24%] by 8% to 16% and domestic violence decreases by around 30%. Women start working more outside of the home — up to 7 percentage points more – increasing their economic clout in a marriage by bringing income that they control into the home”. These findings shine a light on how progressive marital laws can benefit society. They also show that rigid adherence to millenia old religious texts can overlook science that we now know of thanks to modern research and openness.

The Bible is not a reliable contemporary reference for modern social issues.

Every claim made by Turek and Yuan have had their roots in the Bible. To understand why this is problematic when applied to contemporary moral, social, and ethical debates, one must look into the Bible itself. The book is the word of God according to Christians. The only way to convince the people spreading harmful beliefs, why they are wrong is not by giving them statistics and numbers, but by pointing to the very words they claim to support and see if they agree then. The Bible starts with Genesis, though debating that gets off topic and into the realm of science, rather than morality and ethics. So we look to Exodus, where Exodus 34:11-14 states, “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, therefore, not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that you are to enter, else they will become a snare among you. You shall tear down their altar; smash their sacred pillars and cut down their sacred poles.”  The Bible here is very specifically supporting ethnic cleansing, cultural erasure, and displacement. Numbers 21:2-3 states, “Israel then made this vow to the Lord: ‘If you deliver this people into my hand, I will doom their cities.’ Later, when the Lord heeded Israel’s prayer and delivered up the Canaanites, they doomed them and their cities. Hence that place was called Hormah.” The Bible perpetrates genocide and ethnic cleansing. If people are to use the book for a stance for any argument regarding Social, Ethical, or Moral standpoints, their argument has no foundation unless the person making fundamentally supports genocide as well, else they cannot say that the Bible is infallible and the Moral Arbiter. 

One could say that those are foreign affairs, and the queer community is one of domestic, yet the Bible still shows its colors as a vastly outdated book with morals and ethics from millenia ago that no longer uphold to today’s standards, take Leviticus 25:44-46 for example: “Slaves, male and female, you may indeed possess, provided you buy them from among the neighboring nations. You may also buy them from among the aliens who reside with you and from their children who are born and reared in your land. Such slaves you may own as chattels, and leave your sons as their hereditary property making them perpetual slaves.” A book that condones chattel slavery cannot and should not be used to justify any moral argument. One of the main scriptures used to justify discrimination of the queer community is Leviticus 20:13, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives.” This is sandwiched right in between all of these other parts that support and perpetuate chattel slavery, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the conquest and pillaging described in The Book of Joshua. One could now argue that these took place before Jesus and now all those things are wrong, but then why does the queer community still face prejudice based off of biblical arguments and beliefs?

Conclusion

The perpetuation of harmful and outdated religious beliefs, by evangelicals like Frank Turek or otherwise, regarding the LGBTQQIP2SAA community significantly contribute to the systematic marginalization, discrimination, and an ongoing mental health crisis. By recognizing the ones at fault, and acknowledging the flaws in their arguments, we will be able to make a better, safer, and more inclusive society where all feel welcome and at home