Does the church really oppress homosexual people?

Though this is slowly changing, homosexual persons are sometimes met with open hostility or mere grudging tolerance. In either guise, that oppression serves to isolate homosexual people. The Church celebrates sexuality in many ways; family related sermons, weddings, young married groups, etc. This does not encourage gay and lesbian persons to relate the Good News of scripture to the wholeness of their lives.

Why do homosexuals make an issue of their sexuality, when heterosexuals do not?

Heterosexuals do make an issue of their sexuality. In social situations, they make it a point to introduce their husbands or wives, their girlfriends or boyfriends. They hold hands in public and show pictures of their children. They wear rings on their fingers which convey information about their mates and sexual life-styles. Gay and lesbian persons also need opportunities to speak affirmatively about themselves in the same way, without being accused of flaunting their sexuality.

Doesn't the Bible say homosexuality is sinful?

No, not if by "the Bible" is meant Scripture in its full depth and entirety. The seven passages which have traditionally been taken to condemn homosexuality: (Gen 19:1-11, Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, Deut 23:17-19, Rom 1:26-27, 1 Cor 6:9-10, 1 Tim 1:8-11) in fact condemn homosexual rape, idolatry or prostitution. We cannot permit these passages to be misinterpreted. They are not speaking of the loving, committed homosexual relationships that we know in the twentieth century. These texts, like all scriptures, must be taken in the context of the entire bible. The biblical witness is God's love for the creation, which is embodied in Jesus Christ. As Christians, we realise that heterosexuality does not always exemplify this love, nor homosexuality deny it. These passages condemn the sins of being unloving and idolatrous. Today these sins are seen in the denial of love to lesbians and gays, and the idolatrous presumption that heterosexuality alone embodies the will of God.