Anne Paulk. Restoring Sexual Identity. Harvest House Publishers. 2003.

Christians world-wide are coping with the homosexual issue thanks to the "gay activist groups" and "movie stars coming out shows", or, even someone in our own family announcing they are "gay" or "lesbian". Needless to say, this is a controversial issue causing deep divisions within the Christian community.

Anne Paulk and her husband are now associated with Focus on the Family's "Love Won Out" program that presents information on homosexuality to church groups across this nation. Anne is a former lesbian, thus making her comments in this book even more believable to myself, someone who has never closely known a homosexual or had one in my family (both immediate and extended) to the best of my knowledge.

I read this book with my own point of view very much in focus: I believe the scriptures condemn homosexuality regardless of what some "Christian denominations" and "gay activists" have to say. Even if a woman has strong desires towards other women, they MUST make the choice to refrain from acting on those impulses. In my very humble opinion, the choice to refrain from sinning by participating in a Lesbian relationship is no different than someone refraining from drinking alcohol to excess or any other "sin". The Bible doesn't differentiate between types of sin.

Summary of Contents by Chapter

Chapter 1: Three Stories. This chapter introduces you to 3 different women suffering from feelings they may be lesbian. Their actions, including trying to seek help are also discussed.

Chapter 2: Where Does Same-Sex Attraction Come From? This chapter presents the "truth" about research studies that supposedly prove that gays are born homosexual and cannot be anything different. The public media that publishes the results of this research does not report it when research studies are proven to be flawed or even made up. This is most unfortunate because many people now believe that gays are born.

Paulk discusses the studies then tackles the question of why the theories about being "born gay" are so pervasive in society today. She states:

… I believe that the "born gay" theories are appealing for a couple of reasons. First, they provide an explanation for the feelings of attraction that most women cannot otherwise explain. …. Second, if a woman or man is "born gay," the inner and outer protest is seemingly silenced. Suddenly, homosexuality could not possibly be a moral issue; it is no longer "wrong." [page 46]

Chapter 3: Classic Development of Lesbian Attraction. Reading this chapter provides you with many ways that women may become lesbians. Some make a conscious choice to not live like their mother due to family abuse. Others had difficulty with relationships with men. Regardless of which background led to lesbian behavior, this chapter makes it clear that it is against God's will.

Chapters 4-10. Healthy gender development, support systems, healing from abusive relationships/families, overcoming the temptation of lesbianism, developing healthy relationships with other females, dealing with men, and parenthood are the subjects of the remaining chapters. The information in these chapters is sound and Bible based.

Recommendation

Pastors, church counselors, parents of suspected lesbians, and their friends will all find helpful information in this book. It is biblically sound. The reader will not find scripture twisted to make this behavior acceptable. Therefore, I strongly recommend this book to those who have to cope with a friend or family member announcing that they think they are "gay."

Copyrighted by Diana Pederson, 2005-2009