35 See Mark D. Jordan, The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997).
36 See Virginia Burrus, The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004); Burrus et al., Seducing Augustine.
37 See Gareth Moore, A Question of Truth: Christianity and Homosexuality (London: Continuum, 2003), 27–37.
38 See Bruce Bagemihl, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999).
39 See, e. g., Rembert G. Weakland, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009); Robert L Arpin, Wonderfully, Fearfully Made: Letters on Living with Hope, Teaching Understanding, and Ministering with Love, from a Gay Catholic Priest with AIDS (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993); Paul Murray, Life in Paradox: The Story of a Gay Catholic Priest (Winchester UK: O Books, 2008); Amie M. Evans and Trebor Healey, eds., Queer and Catholic (New York: Routledge, 2008); Dugan McGinley, Acts of Faith, Acts of Love: Gay Catholic Autobiographies as Sacred Texts (New York: Continuum, 2004); Scott Pomfret, Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008).
40 Moore, A Question of Truth, 282.
41 For a discussion on moral argumentation and homosexuality, see Pim Pronk, Against Nature?: Types ofMoral Argumentation Regarding Homosexuality (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993).
42 For the intersection of queer theory with religious studies, see Armour and St. Ville, Bodily Citations; James Bernauer and Jeremy Carrette, eds., Michel Foucault and Theology: The Politics of Religious Experience (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2004); Jeremy R. Carrette, Foucault and Religion: Spiritual Corporality and Political Spirituality (London: Routledge, 2000).
43 For examples of postcolonial readings of classical theologians, see Kwok Pui-lan, Don H. Compier, and Joerg Rieger, eds., Empire and the Christian Tradition: New Readings of Classical Theologians (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007).
44 See Peter Sweasey, From Queer to Eternity: Spirituality in the Lives of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People (London: Cassell, 1997); Catherine Lake, ed., Recreations: Religion and Spirituality in the Lives of Queer People (Toronto: Queer Press, 1999); Evans and Healey, Queer and Catholic; Justin R. Cannon, Sanctified: An Anthology of Poetry by LGBT Christians (Scotts Valley, CA: Createspace, 2008).
45 Robert E. Goss, “Passionate Love for Christ: Out of the Closet, Into the Streets,” in Male Lust: Pleasure, Power, and Transformation, ed. Kerwin Kay, Jill Nagle, and Baruch Gould (Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2000), 298, 301.
46 Carter Heyward, Touching Our Strength: The Erotic as Power and the Love of God (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1989), 93.
47 Laurel Dykstra, “Jesus, Bread, Wine and Roses: A Bisexual Feminist at the Catholic Worker,” in Blessed Bi Spirit: Bisexual People of Faith, ed. Debra R. Kolodny (New York: Continuum, 2000), 78–79, 87.
48 Tanis, Trans-Gendered, 1, 4.
49 It should be noted that the Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments, including marriage, but most Protestant denominations recognize only two sacraments: baptism and Eucharist. Here, I use the term “sacrament” broadly as a formal rite of the church.
50 See 1 Sam. 20:16.
51 See Ruth 1:16.
52 See Wilson, Our Tribe, 140–57
53 Williams, Just As I Am, 120–23.
54 Boswell, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, 218–19.
55 See Alan Bray, The Friend (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003); see also Alan Bray, “Friendship, the Family and Liturgy: A Rite for Blessing Friendship in Traditional Christianity,” Theology and Sexuality, no. 13 (Sept. 2000): 15–33. For example, Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman was buried in the same grave as his close friend Ambrose St. John, but what was left of Newman’s remains were moved as the Roman Catholic Church prepared to beatify him in 2010.
56 There is, of course, disagreement within the progressive LGBT faith community as to whether same-sex marriage ultimately benefits queer people or is merely a way of reinscribing patriarchal values. See, e.g., Mary E. Hunt, “Same-Sex Marriage and Relational Justice,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 20, no. 2 (Fall 2004): 83–92.
57 Richard P. Hardy, Loving Men: Gay Partners, Spirituality, and AIDS (New York: Continuum, 1998), 183. For a discussion of how the sacred manifests itself in the sex lives of gay men, see David Nimmons, The Soul Beneath the Skin: The Unseen Hearts and Habits of Gay Men (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2002). For a general discussion of same-sex relationships and blessings, see Mark D. Jordan, ed., Authorizing Marriage?: Canon, Tradition, and Critique in the Blessing of Same-Sex Unions (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006).
Chapter Two
How did queer theology come into being? Although the term “queer theology” is fairly new, LGBT-positive theological works actually have been in existence since the mid-1950s. This chapter will review the evolution of queer theology over the last half-century. Note that the term “queer” is being used here in a broad sense; that is, it is being used as an umbrella term to describe theology by and for LGBT people.
In particular, this chapter will review four different strands in the evolution of queer theology: (1) apologetic theology, (2) liberation theology, (3) relational theology, and (4) queer theology. The first strand, apologetic theology, can be summarized by the phrase “gay is good.” Its primary purpose is to show that one can be both LGBT and Christian. The second strand, liberation theology, goes beyond mere acceptance and argues that liberation from the oppressions of heterosexism and homophobia is at the very heart of the gospel. The third strand, relational theology, centers upon the notion that God is found in the “erotic”—that is, in the midst of mutual relationship with another. The fourth and final strand, queer theology, challenges the notion that binary categories with respect to sexuality (for example, homosexuality vs. heterosexuality) or gender identity (for example, female vs. male) are fixed and impermeable.
It is important to note that these four strands of queer theology are not intended to divide the history of queer theology into distinct theological “eras.” Rather, they are roughly chronological ways of describing certain trends in the development of queer theology over the last fifty years. Furthermore, these four strands are not mutually exclusive. That is, any given work of queer theology may contain one or more of these strands. For example, certain books relating to transgender theology might be considered queer theology because they challenge essentialist and binary conceptions of gender. However, such books might also be considered apologetic theology to the extent that they are arguing that “trans is good” and that one can be both a transgender person and a faithful Christian.
Four Strands of Queer Theology
Apologetic Theology
The first strand in the evolution of queer theology is apologetic theology. As noted above, this strand can be summarized by the slogan “gay is good.” That is, these early theologians were primarily concerned with showing how LGBT (or, more accurately, gay and lesbian) people can be faithful Christians without the need to hide or change