14. What's the difference between Side A and Side B?

Side A and Side B are terms used to describe the two main Christian responses to Biblical teachings on sexuality, specifically sexual relations between people of the same sex. Keep in mind that there is little consensus on what exactly the terms mean, and that the terms may not adequately describe all same-sex attracted people.

• Side A – Christians in this camp generally accept or affirm same-sex relationships, intimacy, and marriage. While Side A Christians are a diverse group, they generally agree that Biblical prohibitions on same-sex intimacy have been misunderstood or are simply no longer applicable.

• Side B – Christians in this camp take a traditional view of same-sex intimacy and believe that same-sex intimacy is inherently sinful. While Side B Christians believe that they should not engage in same-sex intimacy, they do agree with the Side A camp on one key point: that SSA is not generally “curable” and that efforts to change a person’s SSA to heterosexuality (through conversion therapy) tend to be unrealistic.

There are two additional categories that have become increasingly common in recent years:

• Side X – Christians in this camp believe that SSA is something to be changed or even cured through a regimen of prayer, counseling, and/or psychotherapy—often referred to as conversion or reorientation therapy. While the main Side X organization in the United States, Exodus International, is now defunct, many churches and organizations still preach a Side X position, often identified as “transforming” or “sanctifying.”

• Side Y is an offshoot of Side B. Coined by a Christian named Gabriel Blanchard, this category includes same-sex attracted Christians who feel that Side B identifies too closely with the mainstream gay (LGBT+) community, such that the lines between worldly gay culture and proper Christian discipline are problematically blurred. From Gabriel Blanchard’s blog (2016):

The essential character of Side Y, I think, is that it disclaims gay identity: insofar as one’s thoughts, feelings, or experiences deviate from the normal heterosexual pattern, they are to be simply opposed, and normally, shared with others only to gain the needed support for living with this—not disease, maybe, but certainly condition. Their accent tends to be on being a new person in Christ, without reference to sexual orientation as an element of identity.

While a Side B Christian may embrace their SSA nature as a “fact of who they are,” Side Y Christians tend to reject SSA as a “nature” and assert their identity in Christ alone.

The four “sides” of Christian SSA are summed up in the table below. The table is not a perfect representation of the four sides, but it is useful for a big-picture perspective.

For discussion:

1. Which camp do you feel best represents the compassion and truth of Christ toward same-sex attracted people?

2. Adherents of Side B and Side Y have similar views. From what you know about these positions at this point, do you think Side Y is a separate camp from Side B? Or is it just a more "traditional" faction within side B?

3. Exodus International (1976–2013) was a major Side X ministry. Investigate the key details of its rise and fall. Why was it formed? Why did it disband?