Attacking the attacker: gay Christians talk back

This paper analyses the accounts constructed by 60 gay male Christians in partnership as stigma management strategies at the level of cognition and rhetoric. Four strategies are identified: (i) attacking the stigma; (ii) attacking the stigmatizer; (iii) use of positive personal experience; and (iv) use of the ontogeneric argument. These strategies are interchangeably and collectively used to dismiss the credibility of the institutionalized Church and the validity of its unfavourable official position on the issue of homosexuality. The effective use of these strategies demonstrates the positive personal identity these gay Christians have developed in this advanced stage of their moral career.