Gay Religion

Scott Thumma is professor of sociology of religion and web and distance education at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary. Edward R. Gray is visiting assistant professor of religion at Emory University and the executive director of YouthPride, a community based youth service and advocacy organization in Atlanta.

This collection of essays can inform an issue that has too much divided religious folk in recent decades. Perhaps if we knew more about the subject we seem determined to debate so fiercely we might make some progress toward actually hearing one another. Thumma and Gray have given us a source of information which has heretofore been entirely missing. Now, if we will use it the church might return to its more ancient work.

• Chapter 1 ForewordChapter 2 IntroductionPart 3 Part I: Denominational Heritage ExpressionsChapter 4 Part I IntroductionChapter 5 Gay Gods of the City: The Emergence of the Gay and Lesbian Ethnic ParishChapter 6 Reconciling Congregations Bridging Gay and Straight CommunitiesChapter 7 No Longer an Oxymoron: Integrating Gay and Lesbian Seventh-day Adventist IdentitiesChapter 8 Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay EvangelicalChapter 9 Why Join A Gay Synagogue?Chapter 10 Latter-Day Saint Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered SpiritualityChapter 11 Sexuality and Gender in Santería: LGBT Identities at the Crossroads of Santería Religious Practices and BeliefsChapter 12 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Buddhist PractitionersChapter 13 Shades of Grey or Back to Nature? The Enduring Qualities of Ex-Gay MinistriesPart 14 Part II: Subaltern / Sectarian ExpressionsChapter 17 Part IntroductionChapter 17 Pluralism and Diversity: Music as Discourse and Information in a Gay and Lesbian CongregationChapter 18 "St Gerard Teaches Him That Love Cancels That Out:" Devotion to St. Gerard Maiella Among Italian American Catholic Gay Men in Newark, New JerseyChapter 19 A Religion of One's Own: Gender and LGBT ReligiositiesChapter 20 Liberation in Truth: African American Lesbians Reflect on Religion, Spirituality, and Their ChurchChapter 21 Utopian Imaginaries and Faerie Practice:Mapping Routes of Relational AgencyChapter 22 Queering the Dragonfest: Changing Sexualities in a Post- Patriarchal ReligionPart 23 Part III: Popular ExpressionsChapter 24 Part III IntroductionChapter 25 The Gospel Hour: Liminality, Identity, & Religion in a Gay BarChapter 26 Intermediaries: Spirit and Transcendence in a Sample of "Third Gendered" North AmericansChapter 27 Rite to Party: Circuit Parties and Religious ExperienceChapter 30 Gay Men's Spiritual Experience in the Leather CommunityChapter 30 The Harvey Milk Show: Violence, Desire, and Gay Popular CultureChapter 31 Conclusion: Gay Religion as a Cultural ProductionChapter 31 The Spirit Within: Gay Male Culture as a Spiritual VenueChapter 32 Appendix: LGBT Religious Support and Advocacy Group InformationChapter 33 Index