13. Gay, lesbian, LGBT+...or SSA?
Updated: Apr 18
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Knowing the terminology that LGBT+ people use can be helpful for sensitive ministry as well as for understanding how LGBT+ people perceive themselves. The sheer volume of names and identifiers can be daunting. Here is a primer that covers the basics.
A question of names
Identity and authenticity are cornerstones of LGBT+ expression, and it is important to understand the words used to capture identity and authenticity and to use them correctly. According to a Pew study, 42% of all LGBT+ adults consider that their "LGBTQ identity" is "very important" to who they are. This figure is especially high for transgender adults, with 67% giving their sexual identity high importance.
First and most important are the terms gay, lesbian, LGBT+, and SSA, all of which refer to people who experience same-sex attraction. The LGBT+ acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other "sexual minority" categories.
Lesbian: an older term that typically refers only to same-sex attracted females. In a 2023 Gallup poll, 15% of LGBT+ women identified with this term.
Gay: also an older term that can be used to refer to same-sex attracted males or females, though typically it refers only to males. In the Gallup poll, 18% of LGBT+ men preferred this term.
Bisexual: refers to a person who experiences sexual attraction to both sexes in varying degrees at various times. According to the poll, an astonishing 57% of LGBT+ adults (men and women) identified with this term.
Transgender: a person who experiences dysphoria with their biological gender. Account for 12% of LGBT+ adults.
The additional letters QIA are sometimes addeed. These don't relate specifically to same-sex attraction but rather to an array of attitudes and self-perceptions only loosely related to sexual attraction:
Queer: a more recent and very popular term that means essentially "not heterosexual in the traditional sense." A 2020 Williams Institute study found that about 6% of LGBT+ adults prefer this term.
Intersex: refers to a the roughly 1.7% of individuals who have non-specific sex organs or sex organs that make the identification of biological sex difficult. Representation within the LGBT+ community appears to be comparable at 1.4%.
Asexual: refers to people who do generally do not feel sexual attraction to either sex. In 2019, 1.7% of LGBT+ adults identified as asexual.
+ : refers to other categories of "sexual minorities" that are not yet widely recognized. A few of these include pansexual, demisexual, agender.
Christian and SSA?
Whether Christians should identify using any of these terms is widely debated. On the one hand, several prominent same-sex attracted Christian authors and speakers have embraced terms like gay and lesbian. Eve Tushnet, who experiences SSA but is sexually abstinent, has stated, "being gay and Catholic is literally my job." Wesley Hill, an Episcopalian priest often credited as an early voice in the Side B movement, identifies as a "celibate gay Christian." Christian theologian and speaker Gregory Coles also identifies as gay and offers the following explanation in his book SIngle Gay Christian (2017):
I don't want to wear the word gay like a forehead tattoo and attach it to everything I do. I don't want to be 'the gay grad student' or 'the gay worship leader'.... We're more than our sexuality. But there are times I need a word to name my sexuality, and I need a different word to name yours. Without these words, we're glossing over the details that make our stories and challenges unique. (p. 70).
Andrew Bunt, a director at Living Out, likewise identifies as gay and gives a similar reason:
When I talk about sexual orientation, I’m referring to an enduring pattern of sexual attraction and desire. I describe myself as having a same-sex or gay sexual orientation because ever since my early teen years I have only experienced sexual attraction to other men. The concept gives me a helpful way of talking about my experience, especially when talking to others. It gives me a quick and easy way of communicating to those around me about this aspect of my experience of life.
On the other hand, some Christians find that culture-friendly terminology does not adequately express their experience and is furthermore confusing to other Christians. In a 2025 article on LGBT+ issues in the Church, Focus on the Family wisely observed:
[M]ost people assume that when someone says, “I’m gay,” it means the person is not only same-sex attracted, but also acting on their desires and pursuing same-sex romantic or sexual relationships.
Many same-sex attracted Christians (including myself) agree with Focus on the Family's position. Catholic layman Daniel Mattson even wrote a book defending the practice of avoiding culture-friendly titles called Why I Don't Call Myself Gay, subtitled How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace.
It is indeed a controversial issue.
Personally, I shun the term gay because I feel it refers to a mindset and lifestyle that I no longer relate to—even though I still experience same-sex attraction. I tend to cling to statements about identity found in scripture that tell me who I am in Christ and before God. When I steep myself in these statements, I find that the whole "gay identity thing" loses all importance in my life.
In a 2018 Desiring God interview, Sam Allberry put it like this:
As a Christian, one of the key things for me is realizing that identity as Christians is not something that we discover in ourselves, nor is it something we create. It’s something we receive and are given by the only person who can know our actual identity, which is the God who made us. So my identity as a Christian comes from the fact that I’ve been created by God and redeemed by him through the saving work of Jesus.
identity in Christ means more to me than all the other identities put together. I use the term gay when I testify about "my repentance from the gay lifestyle," since that is the period of my life that I associate with the word gay. In all other instances, I prefer the term SSA, which allows me to express the fact of my same-sex attraction when I need to, without misconstruing myself as aligned in some way with mainstream gay culture. But there is a tradeoff: SSA is uncommon outside the Church (and even has very little traction within the Church), so I fall back on the term LGB on the very rare occasion that I need to inform someone that I am not heterosexual.
For discussion:
If you are same-sex attracted, revisit your choice of terms to describe yourself. Have you always used the same term? What is it about the term you currently use that feels "accurate" for you?
Christians like Wesley Hill and Gregory Coles have been criticized for using the phrase gay Christian to describe themselves on the grounds that this is like calling themselves fornicating Christian or lying Christian. Do you agree with this criticism? Why or why not?
What do you make of the all-too-common belief within the Church that same-sex attracted Christians should avoid expressing a "gay identity" in any of its guises?
