Julie Lyons is one brave woman

Julie Lyons is the editor of the Dallas Observer, the local alt-weekly. She is also an Evangelical Christian. I had no idea. She writes this column for the Observer's blog Unfair Park (a local pun) called "Bible Girl." Last week, in a negative review of gay activist pastor Mel White's latest book, she wrote the following jaw-dropping words -- jaw-dropping, because they come from someone who works in the alternative press:

But in my profession and in my sphere—the alternative press—gay marriage is pretty much a non-issue. Anyone who opposes it—in other words, someone who holds an alternative view–is considered a bigot, a hater and a homophobe. Yeah, I know: irony and all that. But we in the alternative press are pretty good at failing to detect the uniformity of our nonconformity. And in the face of that, I’m just gonna have to risk all of those nasty labels and carve out my own middle ground.

I believe my parents’ generation was wrong to advance the idea that men and women are interchangeable parts. I reject the Daddy-optional family plan—the degrading and diminution of men, of women, of sex–so prevalent today.

I don’t believe it was a biological accident that, in marriage to a member of the opposite gender, we’re forced to embrace the Other. It isn’t easy for most of us; it’s incredibly uncomfortable at times. But it causes us to wrench ourselves away just a little bit from the stinking self-absorption of this age.

God designed it that way, and it’s a good thing for our kids—a life-affirming thing. It affirms the value of their lives, above and beyond our own.

Now do you get this? Marriage is sacred to me. Leave it alone.

There is one last point that constitutes my middle ground. In the alternative press I work and have worked with many outstanding gay and lesbian colleagues. This is my passionate belief as well: They have a right to live and work and prosper in this country.

I will not be found guilty of treating their convictions with contempt.

I ask the same for mine.

Wow. That's exactly how I feel, and the situation in the mainstream press is just about as uniform as in the alt-press on this issue. But wait, this week Julie -- who is married with kids -- comes back with a stunner of a Bible Girl column, in which she discusses her own struggles with same-sex attraction, and how her faith helped her deal with it. Love her or hate her for it, it's fearless stuff. And considering how conformist media circles are, even as they congratulate themselves on their freethinking ways, admirably courageous.