Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America

From Library Journal
This is the account of a deeply religious man's coming to terms with his gayness and the impact that process had on his life. A former ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and other religious-right personalities, White offers a compelling story; gay readers raised in a fundamentalist Christian environment will find themselves saying, "That happened to me." Yet the book's subtitle is somewhat misleading. This is not really so much about being gay and Christian in America as it is the story of one individual's struggles. To describe what it means to be gay and Christian is truly a difficult task; perhaps there is no one concrete definition. Recommended for public, academic, and theological libraries and gay/lesbian resource centers.Lee Arnold, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
There are plenty of clergymen's coming-out stories (most by Anglican priests) and plenty of gay replies to Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other antigay Christian evangelists, but on both counts, this is the one everybody's been waiting for. Raised in the same mold as those religious-right leaders, White was their colleague and collaborator. He ghostwrote two books for Falwell (including Mr. Moral Majority's "autobiography"), one for Robertson, and speeches for nonclerical gay-baiter Ollie North and the less problematic Billy Graham. Before the ghosting, White pursued a hectically successful career as an evangelical filmmaker, conference and retreat organizer, and occasional preacher. All the while, he, a married man with two children, struggled with homosexuality, which he says he felt from his earliest awareness of sexual consciousness. He lasted 25 years as a committed family man before he and long-suffering wife Lyla agreed he had to come out completely and divorced. Although decidedly egotistical (we especially wish White would say more about his heroic wife), this autobiography is moving, inspirational, and not a little spectacular--which makes it all the more readable. Ray Olson


From Kirkus Reviews
Mel White, an evangelical minister and former ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other prominent leaders of the religious right, here describes his half-century-long struggle to accept himself as a gay Christian. Deeply angered by the recent gay-bashing tactics of his former clients, White says he could stand to ``be a ghost no longer''; after years in the closet, writing for others, he finally had to tell his own story. He leads us though his shame-ridden adolescence, his anguishing attempts to make his marriage work, his high-speed career as a Christian writer and minister, and, perhaps most painfully, his attempts to ``cure'' himself of homosexuality through prayer, electric-shock therapy, and guilt. White's is the story of a ``man of God'' enduring nearly unbearable suffering before finding the strength to preach the good news. It is also a coming-out story. White's style suffers, at points, from the pitfalls of clich‚ and polemical simplification. Yet his ability to reconcile his divergent identities, as preacher and gay man, gives his voice a unique, impassioned confidence. His tale is inspired, and strengthened, by a commitment to two warring communities. He seeks acceptance and civil rights for other gay men and lesbians yet also wants to deliver his fellow Christians from their own hatred. Readers will be moved by White's search for an accepting community, which he finally finds in the Metropolitan Community Church, a gay and lesbian nondenominational Christian congregation. Stranger at the Gate is likely to provoke useful dialogue among mainstream Christians and to offer unsentimental hope and comfort to many who are struggling to reconcile homosexual desires with hostile, yet deeply valued, religious traditions. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
As seen on 60 Minutes. Until Christmas Eve 1991, Mel White was regarded by the leaders of the religious right as one of their most talented and productive supporters. He penned speeches for Ollie North, was a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, worked with Jim Bakker. What they didn't know is that Mel White--evangelical minister, committed Christian, family man--is gay. In this book, White details his twenty-five years of being counseled, exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong. His salvation--to be openly gay and Christian--is much more than a unique coming-out story. "Fascinating... harrowing... a remarkable and important story." --Dallas Morning News


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This autobiography, read by the author, carries a vital, heartfelt message of topical significance as it portrays a fascinating personal odyssey. For decades the author strove to follow the creed of his conservative Christian family, church, and community. Although he married, had children, and ghostwrote for the Christian right (i.e., the reverends Falwell, Robertson, Graham, Baker; Oliver North; and others), he was gay. He tried every "cure": prayer, self-denial, shock therapy, and analysis but couldn't deny his God-given nature. Now dean of Dallas Cathedral of Hope, the world's largest gay church, he examines the religious right for which he worked. Gays have replaced Communists as the right's scapegoat for fundraising. He's witnessed the consequence: an immense toll of suicides, violence, and self-hatred among gays. The eloquent, spiritual life story of torment and triumph narrated by White and introduced by his wife appeals to all who need to understand identity crises. A successful publicity tour has placed Stranger at the Gate in the national spotlight. Recommended for most public libraries.-James Dudley, Copiague, N.Y.


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