u/Important-Cow-6810

I hope this topic is okay.

The fact is I am Eastern Orthodox and gay, and being one is probably in some ways more difficult than being Catholic and gay. (though that's only my own impression)

But I think we probably share the same difficulties of finding likeminded faithful gay people to date.

Up to this point, I have never focused solely on whether someone is a Christian or not when choosing to date, since being a sexual minority is already its own struggle; but considering how many people in gay dating are also extremely commitment-averse, I am starting to wonder if finding someone who is faithful to God might be a better idea if I want a committed, non-transactional relationship.

If anyone has any advice or stories from personal experience to share to help me, a struggling Christian desiring a relationship built on love, please share them!

Thank you.

"[O]pposition to “sexual diversity” is one of the key (perhaps the key) axes around which contemporary Orthodox identity is structured. Sex and gender issues are the cornerstone of contemporary Orthodox identity. Through this opposition to “sexual diversity” the construction of “we”-identity happens in opposition to “them.” Moreover, “we” are not only different from “them” (in Russian case “they” refer to post-Christian liberal West), but “we” are morally superior to “them”: “we” are moral, “they” are immoral; “we” are spiritual, “they” are material. This logic was perfectly illustrated by one of the speakers at our conference who contrasted moral Christians to immoral “new pagans”—he proved that the case of Russian Orthodoxy is not an exception.

There are a number of burning questions which require answers. What does it mean to be an Orthodox Christian today (as opposed to being an atheist or non-Orthodox Christian)? What distinguishes a true believer from a non-believer? Where are the signs of apostasy? What makes Orthodox Christians “the salt of the earth”? Where is the proof that Christians have not dissolved into the everyday reality of contemporary secular societies? Opposition to “sexual diversity” has become an answer these questions. This opposition has become a line which allows to differentiate “us” and “them,” to establish a stable identity and a stable system of coordinates in the rapidly changing reality of contemporary fluid societies.

So, to repeat: opposition to “sexual diversity” is the axis, the cornerstone on which contemporary Orthodox identity is constructed. For example, opposition to same-sex marriage is becoming in Russian Orthodox contexts a kind of “shibboleth” that allows “true” believers to quickly differentiate who they are dealing with: is he one of “us” Christians, or is he one of “them”—immoral liberal, pseudo-Christian, etc. Opposition to “sexual diversity” is not a theologically justified position, it is a mechanism for constructing contemporary Orthodox identity."

from

Eastern Orthodox Identity and “Aggressive Liberalism”: Non-Theological Aspects of the Confrontation Dr. Dmitry Uzlaner

https://publicorthodoxy.org/2019/10/09/eastern-orthodox-identity-and-aggressive-liberalism-non-theological-aspects-of-the-confrontation/

Serious question: how do you find people to date?