(LifeSiteNews) — Plastered across the front of the latest print issue of the venerable conservative Catholic publication First Things are the titles of its top two featured articles: the first is “The Rise and Fall of Gay Activism,” which charts the evolving strategies employed by homosexual activists over recent decades which succeeded in establishing same-sex “marriage” as a norm, but is now losing favor. Fine.
However, just beneath that title is “In the Footsteps of Aeneas,” authored by Spencer Klavan, a much-admired conservative author and thinker. He’s also a homosexual man “married” to a man.
“The irony is rich indeed,” declared Prof. Robert Gagnon in a statement on social media critical of the unselfconscious juxtaposition of articles delivering competing messages, completely at odds with each other.
“Who needs ‘gay activism’ when a conservative Catholic publication considers irrelevant the active unrepentant homosexual behavior of one of its authors?” asked Gagnon. “I’m genuinely shocked,” he added.
“What’s the big deal?” some may ask. “So what? Spencer Klavan published an excellent essay on the Aeneid in a conservative Catholic publication. In no way was he cheerleading for the acceptance of homosexual acts or same-sex marriage.”
That’s a fair question. The issue is one that might not be readily apparent to anyone who hasn’t had to deal with unwanted same-sex attraction in their life.
Here’s the thing: For any same-sex attracted young Christian, the inclusion of a piece by a writer in a homosexual “marriage” not only whispers affirmation of homosexuality and the rectitude of same-sex “marriage,” it shouts it from the rooftops.
I think it’s highly likely that Klavan knows that. His high profile presence at The Daily Wire and within the world of Christian conservative classical education not only normalizes homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” within those worlds, it conquers and tears down what were once sturdy, impenetrable ramparts against such depravity.
In 2023, Klavan published a remarkable book: How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises.
Despite the theme of his book, it starts out with an outright rejection of ancient wisdom and the timeless truth about the immutable definition of marriage, an institution that has done more good for civilization than any other.
The book is dedicated to his “husband,” Joshua Herr, who also works for The Daily Wire.
Young Klavan is an absolutely brilliant writer and educator. While he has a formidable mind, he fails to acknowledge that by having entered into a homosexual “marriage,” he is himself playing a not-insignificant role in the downfall of the West. He has been captured and is a prisoner of the sexual revolution. He has personally surrendered his soul to a great enemy of the Christian West.
In a discussion with Dinesh D’Souza, Klavan said that the crisis of reality our culture now faces boils down to a single question: “Is there anything absolutely true, no matter who says otherwise? Is it just my truth [versus] your truth, or is there absolute truth?”
“There is such a thing as truth. We can know it,” Klavan concluded.
If he were serious about the pursuit of truth and saving the West, Klavan would renounce his “marriage” and publicly proclaim the sublime, immutable truth of sexual complementarity: that marriage is conjugal and can never in reality be a genderless contrivance.
Klavan could be a great hero of the West if he were to reject homosexuality and live chastely as legions of same-sex attracted men and women do. After all, it stands to reason that it is impossible to save Western civilization while simultaneously contributing to its downfall.
This is not a condemnation of Klavan and Herr. It is, however, me – a former gay man – sounding the alarm as to the dangerous political power LGBT forces have amassed, and the damage that it is causing within conservatism.
Same-sex “marriage” is not rooted in conservatism, as some have claimed, and it is not at all guiltless when it comes to the rise of transgenderism and non-binary-ism which are literally mutilating our children’s bodies, minds, and souls.
Two years after publishing How to Save the West, Klavan was a guest on Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ podcast, where he suggested that the reason conservatives fixate on the rise of the “trans” establishment in our nation is because “every major cultural outlet suddenly forced it upon us.”
But that’s also precisely how same-sex “marriage” came upon so quickly in 2015 via the U.S. Supreme Court’s tragic, confounding Obergefell ruling.
Klavan also discussed the absurdity of the “question of whether it’s possible to be born in the ‘wrong body.”
The answer to that question is a resounding “No.”
But here’s the thing: is it possible to be “born gay”? Again, the answer is “No.”
Neither are immutable traits.
Interestingly, a couple years before hosting Klavan on his Heritage Foundation podcast, Kevin Roberts explained in a 2021 Ethics and Public Policy Center interview that if you support same-sex “marriage,” “it means you’re not a movement conservative.”
Conservatism is founded upon timeless principles. “Movement conservatism means ideas tethered to the permanent things, eternal principles that are 100 times more important than any political party or its fortunes in any election cycle,” said Roberts. It recognizes “the existence of an enduring moral order that all of us have imprinted on our souls, or you know, for our atheist friends, on our nature.”
“Same-sex marriage contravenes our understanding of an enduring moral order. Which is at the root of being a movement conservative,” Roberts continued. “It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it just means it’s an opportunity for people like us at Heritage to persuade you otherwise.”
“Everybody belongs in the conservative movement. But not every idea does,” he noted.
Astonishingly, none of that came up during his public discussion with Klavan.
Klavan is a national treasure. He’s the teacher you would want to educate your kids and grandkids because he engenders wonder in the retelling of the classics.
He just needs to get his personal life in line with his profound stated beliefs. If he were to do so, his life – not just his writing – would be a powerful force for strengthening the West.
