As a gay man approaching 60 and a long-time LGBTQ activist, I can’t help but point out how a declaration of Christianity often feels aggressive.

It doesn’t escape the attention of LGBTQ people in the United States that the majority of self-identified Christians today have problems with our morality and sometimes even with our existence.

It doesn’t escape our attention we aren’t welcome in their churches, at least not as fully participating members in leadership positions.

For us, a declaration of Christianity can be more than a microaggression.

It can feel downright hostile.

When I hear someone say, “I’m a Christian,” my instinctive reaction is to shrink back.

To me, American Christianity (rather independent of denomination) often feels exceptionalist in the same unacceptable sense that we talk about American exceptionalism on the political or cultural stage.

Things like racism and homophobia seem like unavoidable effects of such exceptionalism.