Gay & Lesbian Theology, Queer Theology: Bibliography (v 1.0, thematic)

August 28, 2010 — Terence Weldon

For many people, the words “gay theology”, or even more, “queer theology” sound like a contradiction in terms, but it has been around explicitly for some decades now – and implicitly, according to some theologians, from the very beginning, as Christianity is inherently gender-neutral.  I still remember to excitement I felt when I first discovered that such a concept even existed, and have been dazzled and excited as I have continued to explore the work of serious theologians writing from an explicitly gay, lesbian, or queer perspective.  This preliminary bibliography is based on Elizabeth Stuart’s book, “Gay and Lesbian Theology: Repetitions with Critical Differences“, which serves to summarize and critique the work of the early writers in gay and lesbian theology, before arguing for a need to move beyond these  early frameworks, to “Queer Theology”.  The list below uses Stuart’s chapter divisions to provide a rough thematic grouping of the books listed, with some additions of my own to include books published later. This is no more than an initial offering – other titles, especially more recent titles and single articles from periodicals or collections, will be added continually.

There is a great deal that could be written about each of these books, which has for a long time been leaving me unclear how best to handle a comprehensive guide to queer religious books. The approach I have settled on is not to attempt to do everything myself in one place, but instead to settle for copious links to existing sources. The theologian’s name includes a link to basic biographical material on the writer and her’his work. For each book, the title has a link to its Google books page, where you will often find an overview of the book, reviews or links to reviews, and in some cases, contents and previews as well as basic bibliographical details. Should you wish to buy the book, I also include links to Amazon – either Amazon.com, or Amazon.co.uk (for UK and EU readers).

Listing here does not imply that I have personally read a book. However, it does imply that it is recommended or discussed as an important contribution by a source that I trust, and would in time, like to read for myself. For some specific books that I have read myself, I will write about them separately in independent posts – and add links to those posts under the relevant titles. For now, I am concentrating on simply providing some book lists. Later, I will also get to my own interpretations, summaries and readers’ guides.

FOUNDATION  TEXT:

STUART, ELIZABETH

Gay & Lesbian Theologies: Repetitions With Critical Difference (Hampshire UK and Burlington, VT, Ashgate, 2003)
Buy From Amazon.com/ Buy from Amazon UK (more…)

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In Celebration: Rev Jane Spahr, “Lesbyterian”

August 28, 2010 — Terence Weldon

With the widespread press attention to the gay and lesbian bishops in the Episcopalian church, the ECLA decision last year to recognize openly gay and lesbian clergy in committed and faithful relationships, and this summer’s decision (not yet ratified) by the Presbyterian Church of the USA to do the same, it is too easy to overlook the fact that gay and lesbian clergy have been around for a long time – right from the start of ordained ministry. Of the earliest years, I have written before, but I am now finding numerous reports of openly gay or lesbian clergy in modern times, going back a lot further than I had recognised. (The earliest clear example I have found so far is of Rev. Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford, who was ordained a Universalist minister in 1868 – claiming to be the first woman to be ordained in New England.) The problem is not that there were not gay or lesbian clergy, but getting them recognised. Recognition, however, is important, and achieving it has been a major problem, with many courageous men and women making stands, suffering persecution, and securing a series of breakthroughs along the way.

In the Presbyterian Church, one of these pioneers has been Rev Jane Spahr, who was in the news this week for her appearance in a church court for conducting same sex marriages in California in 2008, during the few months when they were fully legal in California law- but not sanctioned by the church’s own regulations. I will come back to the weddings, and the trial, later. First, I want to go back a little further.

(more…)

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“Hungochani” – Homosexuality in Southern Africa: Book Review

August 27, 2010 — Terence Weldon

For all the noise in the press about modern popular opposition to “homosexuality” as being supposedly foreign to African tradition, I know that this is simply not true. The records of early explorers and ethnographers have shown clearly that same-sex erotic practices and gender fluidity were recognized across all regions of the continent before the advent of the colonial period. It is not homosexuality that was introduced by the European colonists, but homophobia which was imposed by the missionaries – just as modern African homophobia is being stirred up and enflamed by Western evangelists. A review of a book by Marc Epprecht on the history of homosexuality in Southern Africa  suggests that the book is not only an excellent analysis, but also timely. I offer here some extracts ( for the full review, go to JMMS):

Hungochani: The History Of A Dissident Sexuality In Southern Africa

For any reader interested in the history of non-normative sexual relationships in southern Africa, it would be difficult to find a more illuminating or well-researched book than Marc Epprecht’s Hungochani: The History of a Dissident Sexuality in Southern Africa. (more…)

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Housekeeping, Serendipities.

August 27, 2010 — Terence Weldon

One of the dual joys and curses of the blogosphere is how finding one intriguing post can quickly lead, by a series of links, to any number of others, taking one along a multitude of paths which diverge, clash with each other, or suddenly create new resonance for other recent readings. This is stimulating, but also distracting.

I have been quiet here over the past week or so, as I have had some personal distractions which left me short of time for a few days, and then I felt the need to focus on some reading, backroom work and reflection rather than simply writing reactive posts to current news. The results have been largely productive (I think), with new sources for materials, some fascinating new insights and ideas to share, and a clearer conception of how I want to move ahead. The challenge will be knowing how to get all these conflicting channels down, before being distracted and going off at a tangent once again.

For example, last night I was intrigued by a post at Jesus in Love on “Queer Disciples in the Bible“, which introduces an academic article titled “Dandy Discipleship_ A Queering of Mark’s Male Disciples“ in the New Zealand peer-reviewed Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality (JMMS) . As Kittredge had usefully included a link to the original article, I followed it – and was delighted to find that this is one of those rare beasts, an open access journal – which meant that I could browse further in both the current issue and the archives – which I did with profit.

In the current issue , the article immediately following the one on queering Mark’s disciples was titled “Constructing Masculinity, De Utero Patris from the Womb of the Father“, which immediately caught my eye. Just yesterday, I was reading “Queer Trinity” in Gerard Loughlin‘s “Queer Theology: Rethinking the Western Body (BBPG)“, which had me dazzled and completely captivated for its elucidation of the gender queer Trinity, ideas which kept me engrossed and thoughtful for long after I put the book down – and which was the first time I had come across the reference to the phrase “the womb of the Father”, which originated at the Council of Toledo. This is an important concept which I dearly want to share – as soon as I feel confident that I can do so without distorting the theology behind it.

Exploring the archives, I then came across a review of “Hungochani“, a book on the history of homosexuality in Southern Africa.  For all the noise in the press about modern popular opposition to “homosexuality” as being supposedly foreign to African tradition, I know that this is simply not true. The records of early explorers and ethnographers have shown clearly that same-sex erotic practices and gender fluidity were recognized across all regions of the continent before the advent of the colonial period. It is not homosexuality that was introduced by the European colonists, but homophobia which was imposed by the missionaries – just as modern African homophobia is being stirred up and enflamed by Western evangelists. So that was guaranteed to catch my eye – I will be shortly be posting extracts from that review, too.

Meanwhile, I have been exploring some extensive lists of historical figures, and classifying them by field of activity for my “Queers in History” pages. In doing so, I have been finding many more notable gay cardinals and bishops than I was previously aware of, and also some new saints and quasi-saints , which need to be written up – as soon as I can verify my information. I will also be expanding my existing collection of mostly clerical Queers in History, to include selections of monarchs, generals, politicians, and (later) some other groupings: from the worlds of sports and business for instance. (And music, art and literature – but really, that’s too easy.)

In between all of this, I am continuing to update my bibliographies, on gay & lesbian theology, on Scripture, spirituality, queer history, science and anthropology- and that’s just for starters. As each list takes some basic shape, I will start to post them, and then expand continually, together with occasional reviews and readers’ guides for the more important books .

So, I’ve been quiet the last week – but not idle. I’m back, and ready to begin again, posting regular commentary, but also (which is more important to me), collecting information of more lasting value, introducing important ideas of others, useful resources, and retrievals from queer history, inside and outside the church.

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What Gay Catholics Have Done: Memoir, Biography as Sacred Texts (Bibliography).

August 19, 2010 — Terence Weldon

One of the tools we can use to negotiate the challenge of being authentically gay /lesbian /or otherwise queer is to understand what otehrs have done. Dugan McGuinley, in “Acts of Faith, Acts of Love”  describes gay Catholic autobiographies as “sacred texts” – that is, as texts that are worth reading and reflecting on, because they can teach us a great deal about ourselves, the church, and God – and the relationships between them.  This is the same idea I was stumbling towards after first writing about Fr James Martin’s piece at America blog, “What is a Gay Catholic to do?”, and my subsequent collections of posts under the generic title of “What Gay Catholics Have Done” (which I continue to add to, and assemble on this page).

My brief collection is nowhere near extensive enough to do justice the subject, nor will it ever do more than introduce the topic. There are many fine collections of such stories, and even more full length stories. The bibliography below represents a small beginning of a continuing work in progress,  to suggest some of the biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs that may be read in that spirit. Initially, the list is drawn heavily from the texts discussed in McGinley, which means that they are heavily skewed towards Catholics and gay men – but I will be constantly working towards redressing that balance.

Like all the bibliographies I am compiling, inclusion does not imply that I have personally read every book. However, this is not just an arbitrary list. Every item carries with it at least a second hand recommendation, based on material I have read about it elsewhere, either in a recommendation from a trusted source, or as a work discussed and cited as important in another book.  So, if I have not read everything, inclusion here does guarantee that I would like to – if only there were “world enough, and time”.

My intention for each entry is to include basic bibliographical information, a link to reviews at Google books (where available), and links to purchase opportunities at Amazon.com and also Amazon.UK.  This is very much a work in progress. Initially, the list is incomplete, and links will not all be working – but the page will be continuously updated. Keep checking back.

Foundation Text:

McGinley, Dugan
Acts of Faith, Acts of Love :Gay Catholic Autobiographies as Sacred Texts.
Review at Google Books /Buy at Amazon.com/Buy at Amazon UK

Full Length Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs

Arpin, Robert

Wonderfully,Fearfully Made: Letters on Living With Hope, Teaching Understanding, and Ministering With Love, From a Gay Catholic Priest With AIDS. (Harper San Francisco, 1993)
Review at Google Books /Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Campo, Rafael

The Other Man Was Me: A Voyage to the New World (Houston, Arte Publico Press, 1994)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

The Desire to Heal: A Doctor’s Education in Empathy, Identity, and Poetry (New York, W W Norton, 1997)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Diva (Durham, NC. Duke University Press, 1999)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

De Caro, Frank:

A Boy Named Phyllis: A Suburban Memoir (NY, Viking, 1996)
Reviews at Google Books/ Buy from Amazon.com /A Boy Named Phyllis: A Suburban Memoir

Evans, Amie:

Queer and Catholic
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amaxon UK

Holleran, Andrew

The Beauty of Men (New York, Plume, 1997)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Horrigan,Patrick E

Widescreen Dreams: Growing Up Gay At the Movies (Madison, U of Wisconsin Press, 1999)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Johnson, Fenton:

Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey (
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey

Kopay, David & Young, Perry:

David Kopay Story
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/Buy From Amazon UK

McNaught, Brian:

Disturbed Peace: Selected Writings of an Irish Catholic Homosexual
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

On Being Gay: Thoughts on Family, Faith, and Love (Stonewall Inn Editions)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/Buy from Amazon UK

McNeill, John

Both Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air (Louisville, Wesminster John Knox, 1998)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Morrison, James:

Broken Fever: Reflections of Gay Boyhood
Reviews at Google Books /Broken Fever: Reflections of Gay Boyhood

Pallone, David

Behind The Mask:My Double Life in Baseball
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/ Buy From Amazon UK

Plante, David

The Catholic
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/ Buy From Amazon UK

Rodriguez, Richard

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (NY, Bantam, 1982)
Reviews at Google Books/ Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father (NY, Penguin, 1992)
Reviews at Google Books/ Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK
Brown: The Last Discovery of America (NY, Viking, 2002)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/ Buy From Amazon UK
Sullivan, Andrew
Love Undetectable:Notes on Friendship, Sex and Survival (NY, Alfred A Knopf, 1997)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/ Buy From Amazon UK
Virtually Normal
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com/ Buy From Amazon UK
Zuniga, Jose
Soldier of the Year: the Story of a Gay American Patriot (NY, Pocket Books, 1994)

Short Articles and Interviews
Aelred, Father: “Without Shame“, in “Homosexuality in the Priesthood and the Religious Life“, ed Grammick (See below)
Amos, Brother:  “Inheritance for the disinherited”, in “Homosexuality in the Priesthood and the Religious Life“, ed Grammick (See below)
Curzon: Daniel: “Why I am an Ex-Catholic”, in Re-Creations, ed Lake (See below)

Rodriguez,

Richard and

Crowley, Paul: “An Ancient Catholic: An Interview With Richard Rodriguez”, i

n : “Catholic Lives, Contemporary America”, ed

Thomas J Ferraro (1997)


Anthologies (Primarily Catholic or Faith Based)

Bouldrey, Brian: (NY, Riverhead Books, 1995)

Wrestling with the Angel: Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men
Reviews at Google Books /Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Grammick, Jeanine

Homosexuality in the Priesthood and the Religious Life ((NY, Crossroad, 1989)
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Lake, Catherine

ReCreations: Religion and Spirituality in the Lives of Queer People
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Mecca, Thomas Avioli

Hey, Paesan!
Reviews at Google Books/Buy From Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Thompson, Mark

Gay Soul: Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit and Nature with Sixteen Writers, Healers, Teachers
Reviews at Google Books/ Buy from Amazon.com / Buy from Amazon UK

General Anthologies, with some Catholics included

Binder, Wolfgang, and Breinig, Helmbrecht:

American Contradictions: Interviews with Nine American Writers (Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1995)
Reviews at Google Books / Buy from Amazon.com / Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Fellows, Will: Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest

Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Gambone, Phillip:

Something Inside: Conversations With Gay Fiction Writers
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Kramer, Joseph:

Body and Soul
Reviews at Google Books/Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

Merla, Patrick

Boys Like Us
Reviews at Google Books/ Buy from Amazon.com /Buy from Amazon UK

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Adoption, UK: “Catholic Care” Agency Denied Equalities Exemption.

August 19, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Here in the UK,  equality under the law for the queer community is taken seriously. Although we do not yet have full gay marriage, the legal status of civil partnerships is virtually identical to that of civil marriage in all but name.  Adoption regulations are also explicit in prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Ever since the sexual orientation regulations affecting adoption were promulgated, the Catholic Church has sought to avoid their legal responsibilities in the agencies it operates –  mostly unsuccessfully.  One by one, most of the agencies have cut their formal ties with the church, so as to avoid embarrassing it while continuing to provide services within the framework of the law. One agency in Leeds, Catholic Care, has attempted to get around the regulations by changing the terms of its “charitable aims”, to state explicitly that it exists to serve only heterosexual couples. In news released overnight, the Charities Commission has rejected this application. The agency laments that it will now have to close, and that the children will lose out.

This is nonsense. All it needs to do, is to follow the example of eleven other Catholic adoption agencies before it, and recognise that the interests of the child are more important than slavish obedience to the decrees of bishops. The interests of a child are to be placed with the best parents available. Sometimes, the best available parents will happen to be gay or lesbian. There are numerous scientific studies demonstrate this – even in the animal kingdom, sometimes same sex couples make better parents. Ordinary Catholics know it too – mot Catholics approve of gay adoption, just as most Catholics in many countries approve of gay marriage.

It really is time that the Catholic bishops, and the organizations associated with them, began to consider the evidence before pronouncing for the entire church on matters which they clearly do not understand.

This is the press release from the Roman Catholic Caucus of the LGCM:

Catholic Care: Charity Commissioners’ Decision

The Roman Catholic Caucus of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is delighted at the news that the Charity Commissioners have refused to consent to a change in the charitable objects of the Roman Catholic adoption agency Catholic Care which would have provided that the charity’s adoption services were to be provided to “heterosexuals only”.


Celia Gardiner, Convenor of the Caucus, said:

“The proposed amendments were deeply offensive to many Catholics. Catholic values dictate that the agency should do its utmost to find loving homes for the children it exists to serve. These objects would have compromised the agency’s ability to do so.

Eleven Catholic adoption agencies have successfully adapted so as to comply with the Sexual Orientation Regulations and do so with active support from practising Catholics. We hope that Catholic Care will do the same.”

See also:

The Fallacy of the Church Push Against Gay Adoption

Family Equality and the Question of Evidence

Catholics Support Gay Adoption

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R.I. Catholics Support Gay Marriage – 2 to 1!

August 19, 2010 — Terence Weldon

In New England, just two of the six states do not yet have marriage equality – Maine, where gay marriage was passed by the legislature before being disappointingly overturned, and Rhode Island.  I would expect that to change next year, after a new governor is elected in November.

The two factors most commonly quoted as reasons for the failure to secure gay marriage have been the implacable opposition of the current governor Don Carcieri, and the high proportion of Catholic voters. (At 46%, this is the highest in the US).  However, a new state level poll confirms what has become apparent at the national level. Support for marriage equality has grown, local Catholics support gay marriage – and support has grown faster among Catholics than among other groups. (more…)

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Some Divine Patrons of Queer Love

August 18, 2010 — Terence Weldon

In Christian theology, we are told that we are made “in God’s image and likeness.” Taking a broader view across all religions, it is more accurate to say that humans make gods & goddesses in our image and likeness – even where they are visualized in non-human form, their reported behaviour is frequently anthropomorphic.

This is especially obvious outside of the monotheistic religions. In these, the necessity for imagining gods & goddesses in relationships and interactions with other gods produces tales of jealousy, rivalry, and amorous adventures that look remarkably human.   Reflecting what each culture sees in itself, the deities also reflect a range of interests, temperaments – and sexual preferences. Many pantheons, especially those from Classical Greece and Rome, China, India, South America and Oceania, feature prominent gods and goddesses who had homosexual relationships or adventures. (Hindu deities are especially notable for the ease with which many of them change gender from time to time).

This much I knew. But the biggest surprise for me yesterday, when I was reading some more about LGBT themes in mythology, was the discovery that in some mythologies, there are gods who are specifically designated not just as practitioners, but even as patrons of male homosexuality.

(more…)

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Gay Marriage, Nepal.

August 18, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Gay marriage in Nepal is back in the news, with the first same sex wedding in the country between foreigners ( Sanjay Shah, 42, a Briton from Leicester, and an Indian man who did not want to be identified).

The government is bound by a ruling of the constitutional court to provide for equality for all couples, and legal provision for same sex weddings is expected to be included in the new constitution currently being worked out, and due to be enacted some time in 2011. However, even in advance of the legislative environment coming into place, several same sex weddings have already taken place. These are not “legal” weddings because the regulations do not yet provide for them – however, in rural areas, most people do not bother to have their marriages registered with government, as marriages performed by religious leaders are widely accepted. (more…)

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Marriage Equality for Luxembourg (But Not Yet).

August 17, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Months ago, I wrote that Luxembourg had promised same sex marriage legislation before the summer recess – and the promise has been kept. A bill was introduced last week that will extend existing marriage regulations to same sex couples, and will also provide for “simple” adoption rights, but not “full” adoption. (No, I don’t know what that means.)

Although the legislation has bee introduced, this does not mean gay or lesbian weddings just yet. The recess has intervened, and the legislation cannot be debated or passed until the autumn. There should not be serious opposition, though, and the new arrangements are likely to take effect from the start of 2011.  This is likely to make Luxembourg the eighth country in Europe, and the eleventh worldwide, to introduce full marriage equality.

It’s a small country, but symbolically this is every important as the marriage advances in bigger countries, as yet one more indicator of the inexorable march across western Europe towards full family equality. Already, almost the whole of Europe provides for  equal treatment via strong civil unions or civil partnerships, and there is steady movement towards converting those to full marriage. Luxembourg will (likely) be next, Finland will follow (the legislative process has started, but will take longer to complete – probably by 2012).  In the UK, pressure is building, in the political parties, and in public support.  (Slovenia has already passed legislation in the lower house , in March this year – but I have been completely unable to track down any information on progress since then.)

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