Honest Life, An – Faithful and Gay - Softcover

In this autobiographical study Geoffrey Hooper has produced a work of compelling interest. He explores with searing honesty his struggle to affirm his integrity as a married Anglican priest who has to face the ultimate inescapable truth of his same sex orientation. The profound internal struggle as he acknowledges that he is a gay man is paralleled by the complex ambivalence or overt hostility of the external world. Family, Church and wider society combine to create a context which demands every ounce of his emotional resilience and courage. This is a narrative illuminated at different stages by Geoffrey's understanding of priesthood, theology, psychology and therapeutic process. It also bears witness to his steadfast commitment to Christian faith in the face of difficulties which continually threaten to undermine him. The book is also beautifully written. --Professor Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia. Co-founder of Norwich Centre. Bestselling author

An Honest Life is a poignant memoir - much more than a gay coming-out story. With searing honesty the author tries to discover why he first resisted a call to ordination and denied his repressed sexuality. He examines the unconscious defences and cultural pressures which kept him in a heterosexual marriage, and condemns the intolerance and hypocrisy he encountered within the established church, while applauding the support he received from some bishops. The book is enriched by personal stories, contributions from other protagonists, and by the author drawing on a literary reservoir of fellow pilgrims' journeys of faith and evolutionary growth towards integrity over sexual identity. Most movingly, Geoffrey Hooper tells of the joy he personally experienced when 'the love that dare not speak its name' bid him welcome and he did sit and eat.