Thinking Straight

Thinking Striaght, by Robin Reardon, is a fictional novel telling the story of Taylor, an average high school kid, who is forced to attend a Christian camp by his parents in order to "fix" his homosexuality.

Our group recently read this book to help us gain perspective on caring for patients and family members who are gay/lesbian/bisex......whatever. With a clearer perspective our capacity for compassion is greater, and we are better suited to care for, advocate for and love patients who are also gay/lesbian/etc.

After one too many interrogations by his mother about dating, Taylor tells his parents about his sexual attraction toward men. Shocked and ignorantly disgusted they enroll Taylor in Straight to God, a 6 week program that helps troubled teens get back on the right (Godly) path.

The first 3 days for all students at Straight to God is spent in "safe zone," a period of silience. The inmates, I mean students, spend there days doing menial work tasks, writing in journals that will be read by a counselor and attending nightly prayer meeting. Rules are strict and secrets of any kind, written or spoken, are strictly forbidden. The scary part is, there are real places like this today.

The plot of the book moved slowly and had the interest of a poorly written high school soap opera. It did pick up at the end as Taylor joins a secret group which meets to support students like himself. There is a moderate level of character development, mostly apart from the main character, which often happens abruptly instead of gradually.

By the end, however, some enemies have reconciled, and some bonds have been broken. A scandal is uncovered at the facility by Taylor much in the way Harry Potter always seemed to unearth the long-hidden secrets at Hogwarts Castle.

The prose are amature seeming, or at best feel rushed. Sprinkled throughout are text messaging abbreviations to keep the reader in the modern day high schooler's mind set. I never found myself attached to the main character; however, I was happy for him by the end. IMO (in my opinion) one could read only the second half of the book and get the point.

I can easily critique and criticize a movie, but it is new for me to down talk a book. Nevertheless, by the end, Reardon's message is clear and hits home in many ways. She does a good job at painting the plight of young gay Christians so wrapped up in self-hatred due to abusive religious dogma that they're driven to suicide. At an age in life where stability of character is most needed, gay teens are told that there is something inherently wrong with them, that God is displeased with them, and that they need to change who they are down to the center of their being. And this does considerable psychological damage to these fragile children.

Personally, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't force upon myself a sexual attraction toward men. I like women, and that's just the way it is. I am very sympathetic to people who are labeled homosexual when they're told to alter their sexual preference. I'm pretty sure it ain't gon' happen.

The church has had a rough history of rejecting those not like the majority. First is was black ministers. Then it was women that the church shunned from authority, and we're still fighting that stupid battle. Now, I've heard of crowds applauding when a church kicked out a gay man. This is disgusting to me. Honestly, I can't imagine Jesus telling a social outcast to go away. NO! Jesus welcomed the outcasts, spoke to women (and kindly), and hugged leppers!

There's a part of me that is envious of older generations that got to watch our culture shift to a place of much more equality during the Civil Rights Movement. I also would have loved to be alive to watch our society radically begin treating women as equals in the home and work place (Equal Rights). (I'm also aware we still have work to do on these two issues.) But I am eager and hopeful to witness a change in our cultural conscience to a place of acceptance and equality for people with alternative sexual preferences (is this an acceptable phrase?).

Sorry, I've gone on a tangent. -- Reardon's book, Thinking Straight, was not written well. It's slow to get through and mildly captivating. However, it makes a needed point for those willing to read it. There may be better written books on the topic; however, I this is one that will get you thinking and may still be used for book clubs and group discussions as a way to gently prod us in the right direction.