Recommended Reading
Coming Out: Sexuality and Spirituality
Brian Bouldrey, editor. Wrestling with the
Angel: Faith and Religion in the Lives of Gay Men (New
York, New York, USA: Riverhead Books, 1995). Gay writers
from different social and racial backgrounds discuss their
lives and gay spirituality
Debra R. Kolodny Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual
People of Faith (London, England, UK: Continuum, 2000).
Bisexual people from different religious traditions discuss
how their faith practices intersect with their sexuality.
John J. McNeill. Ordained a Jesuit priest in the
Roman Catholic Church, McNeill was expelled from the Society
of Jesus in 1987 for refusing to cease his ministry to gay
men and lesbians. Since then he has served as a
psycho-therapist in New York, in addition to teaching,
writing, and speaking out. His autobiography, Both Feet
Firmly Planted in Midair: My Spiritual Journey
(Louisville, Kentucky, USA: Westminster John Knox Press,
1998), describes the early steps and frequent perils
encountered along his personal journey. In Freedom,
Glorious Freedom: The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of
Life for Gays, Lesbians and Everybody Else (Boston,
Massachusetts, USA: Beacon Press, 1996), he discusses the
presence of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of love in our
daily experiences, and how to arrive at the glorious freedom
of the children of God.
Virginia Ramey Mollenkott and Vanessa Sheridan.
Transgender Journeys Cleveland, Ohio, USA: Pilgrim
Press, 2003). Mollenkott and Sheridan discuss their own
journeys as transgendered Christians, the joy and pain of
being both Christian and gender-variant, and how each
person's enactment of their authentic self helps to create
an environment that moves toward moral justice for all
persons.
Leanne McCall Tigert and Timothy J. Brown.
Coming Out Young and Faithful (Cleveland, Ohio, USA:
Pilgrim Press, 2001). Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender,
and questioning teenagers discuss their experiences in their
communities and churches. Tigert is a minister in the United
Church of Christ (USA) and Brown is the youth and young
adults ministries coordinator of the United Church of Christ
Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Concerns (USA).
Mel White. Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and
Christian in America (New York, USA: Plume/Penguin
Books, 1995) White discusses his coming out as gay after
being an active participant in the “religious right”
movement in America. He describes years of being counselled,
exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven
to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong.
He is now an openly gay Christian, in a faithful, loving
partnership, and committed to ending the religious
persecution of gay people.
Biblical Studies
John Boswell. Christianity, Social Tolerance,
and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the
Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
(Chicago, Illinois, USA: The University of Chicago Press,
1980). This seminal work brought biblical studies and church
history out of the closet. At the time of publication,
Boswell was a professor of history at Yale University (New
Haven, Connecticut, USA) and a member of the Roman Catholic
Church. The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity,
Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality edited by Mathew
Kuefler (Chicago, Illinois, USA: The University of Chicago
Press, 2006) continues the explorations opened up by Boswell.
Robert L. Brawley, editor. Biblical Ethics &
Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture (Louisville,
Kentucky, USA: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996). This
anthology contains liberating articles by Dale B. Martin
(see below), Sarah J. Melcher (PhD candidate at Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and a member of the
Presbyterian Church (USA)), and Choon-Leong Seow (professor
of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary in
Princeton, New Jersey, USA, and a member of the Presbyterian
Church (USA)).
Bernadette J. Brooten. Love Between Women: Early
Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism (Chicago,
Illinois, USA: The University of Chicago Press, 1996).
Brooten examines the role of women in the ancient Roman
world and how early Christians and their Roman neighbours
shared a view of the “natural” order of society, in which
women were passive, submissive partners to men. At the time
of publication, Brooten was a professor of Christian studies
at Brandeis University (Waltham, Massachusetts, USA).
Deryn Guest, Robert E. Goss, Mona West and Thomas
Bohache, editors. The Queer Bible Commentary
(London, England, UK: SCM Press, 2006) Contributors use
feminist, queer, deconstructionist and utopian theories, the
social sciences and historical-critical discourses to
discuss how lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender
perspectives affect the interpretation of biblical texts,
and how biblical texts affect lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or
transgender communities. It includes an extensive
bibliography related to queer interpretation of scripture.
Martti Nissinen. Homoeroticism in the Biblical
World: A Historical Perspective. Translated by Kirsi
Stjerna. (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Fortress Press,
1998). At the time of publication, Nissinen was a professor
of Bible and Ancient Near East at University of Helsinki
(Helsinki, Finland).
Jack Rogers. Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality:
Explode the Myths, Heal the Church (Louisville,
Kentucky, USA: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006). One more
straight male gets it! At the time of publication, Rogers
was a professor emeritus of theology at San Francisco
Theological Seminary (San Francisco, California, USA) and a
member (and former Moderator) of the Presbyterian Church
(USA).
Ken Stone, editor. Queer Commentary and the Hebrew
Bible (Cleveland, Ohio, USA: Pilgrim Press, 2001).
Contributors from different backgrounds and interests -
Jewish, Christian, agnostic, male, female, heterosexual,
gay, and lesbian – discuss individual passages and books and
how queer reading makes a difference to biblical exegesis.
www.hrc.org/scripture Out in Scripture (a website
of the Human Rights Campaign). Comments about the Bible are
placed alongside the real life experiences and concerns of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith and
their allies. Contributors from Jewish and Christian
perspectives discuss fresh approaches to scripture and
preaching based on the Revised Common Lectionary.
Science and Faith
David L. Balch, editor. Homosexuality, Science,
and the “Plain Sense” of Scripture (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, USA: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000). This
anthology includes key biblical scholarship by Phyllis Bird
(professor of Old Testament at Garret-Evangelical
Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, USA, and a
member of the United Methodist Church) and David Fredrickson
(professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint
Paul, Minnesota, USA, and a member of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America).
Alice Ogden Bellis and Terry L. Hufford.
Science, Scripture, and Homosexuality (Cleveland, Ohio,
USA: The Pilgrim Press, 2002). At the time of publication,
Bellis was a professor of Old Testament at Howard University
School of Divinity (Washington, DC, USA) and a member of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) and Hufford was a professor
emeritus of biology at George Washington University
(Washington, DC, USA) and a member of the Presbyterian
Church (USA).
Letha Dawson Scanzoni and Virginia Ramey
Mollenkott. Is the Homosexual my Neighbour?: A
Positive Christian Response (New York, New York, USA:
HarperCollins, 1994). Originally published in 1974 and now
revised and updated, this book discusses sexual orientation
and crucial issues, such as gays in the military, the AIDS
crisis, and genetic research, from scientific,
psychological, and biblical perspectives.
Church – Theology – Religion
Marilyn Bennett Alexander and James Preston.
We were Baptized too: Claiming God's Grace for Lesbians and
Gays (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: Westminster John Knox
Press, 1996). Foreword by Desmond M. Tutu. The church often
lives out its promises to newly baptized members
selectively, forcing gay and lesbian members into silence,
alienation, and doubt. This book discusses how the church
must take seriously its understanding of baptism and
communion as means of grace, justice, and liberation.
Alexander is Executive Director of Perkins Relations at
Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology
(Dallas, Texas, USA) and Preston is Outreach Coordinator for
the Reconciling Congregation Program (Chicago, Illinois,
USA).
Paul Germond and Steve de Gruchy, editors.
Aliens in the Household of God: Homosexuality and Christian
Faith in South Africa (Cape Town, South Africa: David
Philip Publisher, 1997). This book discusses the prejudice
and discrimination that gay people experience within South
African churches and how heterosexism is the problem.
Horace L Griffin. Their Own Receive Them Not:
African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches
(Cleveland, Ohio, USA: The Pilgrim Press, 2006). At the time
of publication, Griffin was a professor of pastoral theology
at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church
(New York, New York, USA) and a member of the Episcopal
Church (USA).
Steve Mallon. Sexuality & Salvation: Why Can’t We
Live Together (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: Scottish
Christian Press, 2004). Mallon discusses the heart of issues
behind sensationalist headlines and develops a new
vocabulary for the debate on sexuality and inclusion. Mallon
is Associate Secretary of Education and Nurture for the
Church of Scotland’s Mission and Discipleship Council.
John McNeill. The Church and the Homosexual
(Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Beacon Press, 1993). Originally
published in 1976 and now in its fourth edition, this book
continues to be a primary resource for pastoral care and
moral theology.
Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Omnigender: A
Trans-religious approach (Cleveland, Ohio, USA: Pilgrim
Press, 2007). Using the Hebrew and Christian scriptures,
church history and other religious traditions and cultures,
Mollenkott discusses the experiences of people who do not
fit within the traditional binary concept of gender:
intersexual, trans-sexual, or otherwise-gendered
individuals. Mollenkott is professor emeritus of English at
the William Paterson University of New Jersey (Wayne, New
Jersey, USA).
Gareth Moore. A Question of Truth: Christianity
and Homosexuality (London, England, UK: Continuum,
2003). Published posthumously. Moore was a lecturer in
theology and philosophy at Oxford University (Oxford,
England, UK) and a Dominican priest in the Roman Catholic
Church.
Elizabeth Stuart, Andy Braunston, Malcolm Edwards, John
McMahon and Tim Morrison. Religion Is a Queer
Thing: A Guide to the Christian Faith for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgendered Persons (Cleveland, Ohio,
USA: Pilgrim Press, 1997). This study guide contains
exercises and liturgies for queer people new to
Christianity, those wanting to reflect on their faith from a
queer perspective, and congregations wishing to make queer
people welcome.
Leanne McCall Tigert and Maren C. Tirabassi,
editors. Transgendering Faith: Identity, Sexuality, and
Spirituality (Cleveland, Ohio, USA: Pilgrim Press,
2004). This book contains essays by professionals and
therapists about transgender issues; stories by transgender
persons from different denominational, age, ethnic, and
racial backgrounds; and worship resources for churches
wishing to welcome transgender people.
Same-sex Relationships
John Boswell. Same-sex Unions in Premodern
Europe (New York, New York, USA: Villard Books, 1994).
Boswell traces same-sex unions from ancient Greece to
Christianised Europe, in which moral ambivalence toward
human sexuality of any kind gradually gave way to
intolerance, but not before the Church created liturgies to
bless loving unions both straight and gay. Catholic and
Orthodox liturgies for same-sex unions – translated into
English for the first time – are included.
John McNeill. Taking A Chance On God: Liberating
Theology For Gays, Lesbians, and Their Lovers, Families and
Friends (Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Beacon Press,
1996). McNeill discusses a new ethical understanding and
acceptance of homosexual relationships as morally good, and
gay love as a deeper sharing in divine love. He
distinguishes pathological religion from healthy religion,
applying the principle that whatever is good theology must
also be good psychology, and vice versa.
Elizabeth Stuart. Just Good Friends: Towards a
Lesbian and Gay Theology of Relationships. (London,
England, UK: Continuum, 1995). Stuart discusses friendship
as the most appropriate model for relationships of sexual
intimacy, both for heterosexual and gay and lesbian
relationships. Stuart is a professor of Christian theology
at the University of Winchester (Winchester, England, UK)
and the Archbishop of the Province of Great Britain and
Ireland of the Liberal Catholic Church International.
Worship Resources
Kittredge Cherry and Zalmon Sherwood,
editors. Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship,
Ceremonies, and Celebrations (Louisville, Kentucky, USA:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1995). This book contains many
different worship services for and primarily by lesbians and
gay men.
Kelly Turney, editor. Shaping Sanctuary:
Proclaiming God’s Grace in an Inclusive Church (Chicago,
Illinois, USA: Reconciling Congregation Program, 2000). This
book contains essays, sermons, liturgies and hymns from the
welcoming church movement.