LGBTQ+ lifestyle unacceptable, says Nagaland church body

The Nagaland Baptist Church Council’s statement follows an extremist group’s order to LGBTQ+ “propagators” to quit Naga-inhabited areas

Representational image of pride flag | Photo Credit: Reuters

The LGBTQ+ lifestyle is unacceptable according to the biblical principles, an apex church organisation in Christian-majority Nagaland has said.

LGBTQ+ expands to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and all other sexual orientations.

A statement issued by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) on March 12 affirming its opposition to LGBTQ+ lifestyle came a week after an extremist group asked the “propagators of the community” to quit Naga-inhabited areas.

The demand from the Niki Sumi faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) was in connection with the first LGBTQ+ conclave held on February 29 in Dimapur, the State’s commercial hub.

Rev. Zelhou Keyho, the NBCC general secretary, underscored the church’s responsibility to stand firm on issues challenging its faith and morality, rooted in unchanging biblical standards.

“We are not against the people who struggle with an LGBTQ+ lifestyle. Love the person but hate the sin should always be our approach. We also cannot criminalise and stigmatise them. The church’s position is simply to state that our lifestyle is against the teachings of our faith and practice,” his statement read.

Rev. Keyho expressed concern over society’s shift towards measuring everything by personal happiness rather than God’s holiness. The role of the church, he said, is to ensure a community of grace that shows love and understanding to those whose orientations are different without being judgmental, but not endorsing and advocating their behaviour.

He said such societal changes have compelled the church to take biblical morality and ethics more seriously and to be more compassionate to those who struggle with their sexual orientation without condemning them.

The NSCN faction, on the other hand, said the LGBTQ+ culture was alien to the Naga society and the propagators of such sexual orientations were trying “to corrupt and tow away the minds of Naga people, especially the younger generation, from our cultural and religious beliefs”.