Rev. Chris Glaser, a Presbyterian minister who is a pioneer in the LGBT religion world, supports Mr. Cooper’s decisions both not to tell and then to tell his sexual orientation publicly. What I found most interesting about Rev. Glaser’s argument is that he uses Henri Nouwen, a beloved Catholic spiritual writer who was also a gay priest who did not reveal his orientation publicly, as his model for this type of decision. In a HuffingtonPost.com essay he writes:
“. . . I have empathy for celebrities who don’t fall all over themselves coming out, despite the good it might do to limit bullying, suicides and inequality.
“A spiritual mentor and friend, Henri J. M. Nouwen, faced the same difficulty. Having written dozens of books on the spiritual life and Christian ministry, Nouwen was a celebrity among Catholics and Protestants alike. But he believed in his call as a celibate priest, while yearning for what Catholic teaching opposed: ‘a particular friendship.’
“He was indeed The Wounded Healer that he wrote of early in his career: those able to bring healing to others while acknowledging personal wounds. Nouwen’s spiritual breakthrough came when he drew too close to a member of his spiritual community, prompting intense self-scrutiny that led to his published journal, ‘The Inner Voice of Love,’ in which he comes to the realization that people will try to hook you in your wounds, and ‘dismiss what God, through you, is saying to them.’ ”
“His biographer, Michael Ford (Wounded Prophet), told me that Nouwen wanted to come out with that book but had been persuaded its message would reach a broader audience if the gender of the friend were not revealed. Nouwen had mentioned to me his concern that his reach would be narrowed if he were defined by this one aspect of his character.
“Shortly after his death in 1996, I was shocked to receive an e-mail from someone quoting ‘the gay theologian’ Henri Nouwen — a verification of Henri’s concern. Thus we might take Anderson Cooper at his word in telling friends he didn’t want to be known as ‘the gay anchor.’
“I have the opposite but analogous experience. Because I became known for my gay activism, I’ve discovered I have been typecast and whatever spiritual insights I might offer the church have been viewed through a prejudicial lens.
“As one who resisted mentioning Henri’s sexuality after his death even after it had become public, I was nonetheless invited by his spiritual community to write about it for an anthology entitled Befriending Life: Encounters with Henri Nouwen. They trusted me, they said, to write about it without sensationalizing it.”
...
Rev. Chris Glaser, a Presbyterian minister who is a pioneer in the LGBT religion world, supports Mr. Cooper’s decisions both not to tell and then to tell his sexual orientation publicly. What I found most interesting about Rev. Glaser’s argument is that he uses Henri Nouwen, a beloved Catholic spiritual writer who was also a gay priest who did not reveal his orientation publicly, as his model for this type of decision. In a HuffingtonPost.com essay he writes:
“. . . I have empathy for celebrities who don’t fall all over themselves coming out, despite the good it might do to limit bullying, suicides and inequality.
“A spiritual mentor and friend, Henri J. M. Nouwen, faced the same difficulty. Having written dozens of books on the spiritual life and Christian ministry, Nouwen was a celebrity among Catholics and Protestants alike. But he believed in his call as a celibate priest, while yearning for what Catholic teaching opposed: ‘a particular friendship.’
“He was indeed The Wounded Healer that he wrote of early in his career: those able to bring healing to others while acknowledging personal wounds. Nouwen’s spiritual breakthrough came when he drew too close to a member of his spiritual community, prompting intense self-scrutiny that led to his published journal, ‘The Inner Voice of Love,’ in which he comes to the realization that people will try to hook you in your wounds, and ‘dismiss what God, through you, is saying to them.’ ”
“His biographer, Michael Ford (Wounded Prophet), told me that Nouwen wanted to come out with that book but had been persuaded its message would reach a broader audience if the gender of the friend were not revealed. Nouwen had mentioned to me his concern that his reach would be narrowed if he were defined by this one aspect of his character.
“Shortly after his death in 1996, I was shocked to receive an e-mail from someone quoting ‘the gay theologian’ Henri Nouwen — a verification of Henri’s concern. Thus we might take Anderson Cooper at his word in telling friends he didn’t want to be known as ‘the gay anchor.’
“I have the opposite but analogous experience. Because I became known for my gay activism, I’ve discovered I have been typecast and whatever spiritual insights I might offer the church have been viewed through a prejudicial lens.
“As one who resisted mentioning Henri’s sexuality after his death even after it had become public, I was nonetheless invited by his spiritual community to write about it for an anthology entitled Befriending Life: Encounters with Henri Nouwen. They trusted me, they said, to write about it without sensationalizing it.”
...
Henri Nouwen
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