I believe first and foremost that God will have mercy on everyone who takes refuge in him. I believe God is very generous with his grace. If he can forgive a murderer like Paul, he can clearly forgive whoever he wants.
After studying the Bible, church history, and theology, I'm no longer certain that same-gender relationships are wrong in God's eyes.
For most of history, homoeroticism was assumed by the Church to be sinful (as I wrote in this paper), but since the surrounding cultures more or less believed the same way, this belief was apparently never challenged. It just remained "common sense" for many centuries. But sometimes common sense is wrong, as modern science has shown.
Biblical passages such as Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6 seem to condemn sex between people of the same gender. But the language is potentially ambiguous and may apply only to specific expressions of homoeroticism. For example, the Greek word "arsenokoites" in 1 Corinthians 6:9 is a rare term that may have been coined by Paul. If it does refer to homosexuals, it may refer only to those who practice it in a specific form, such as pederasty. The lack of context, in Scripture and in other texts, leaves us largely in the dark, making it difficult to interpret these passages as universal prohibitions of homoeroticism. (I am by no means an authority on Biblical interpretation, so don't take my word for it, do some reading for yourself.)
I've met Christian same-gender couples who are good, God-minded people. Whether or not they are living in sin, I don't know. But I do believe that God can have mercy on whoever he wants, including those who sin due to theological error. I can't pretend to know who is "saved" and who is not, but I would be surprised if I didn't see them in heaven.
And with that, I've managed to stretch "I don't know" into 5 paragraphs.
But now on to the things I do know. I know that the sin of Sodom was not homosexuality. I know that it's not a sin just to be attracted to people. I believe that same-gender marriage should be legal. I believe that LGBT rights are human rights. I'll be your friend whether you're gay, bi, trans, queer, pan, ace, nonbinary, or gender fluid.
I believe that Christians need to do a better job of loving and accepting our LGBT brothers, sisters, and nonbinary siblings as full members of our communities. We've persecuted them for well over a thousand years. What will it take to make up for that?
