Born Again Queer
Conversation with the Author
Sunday, May 31 @ 3pm | 1502 Edgehill Ave, Nashville, TN
Join us on Sunday, May 31 at 3 PM for a talk by Rev. Dr. William Stell, who will share insights from his latest book, Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity. This event is free and open to the public. Professor and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair of Feminist Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Dr. Ellen Armour will facilitate a conversation and Q&A session following the Dr. Stell’s talk. We are also partnering with Parnassus Books to offer copies of the book for purchase, along with a signing with the author. Click here for directions and parking.
Born Again Queer tells the story of how homophobia came to dominate and define evangelicalism. Believe it or not, homosexuality used to be a peripheral concern for most evangelicals. In fact, before the 1970s, evangelicals generally talked about homosexuality less often than other Protestants did. Over time, for multiple reasons, evangelical leaders turned it into a defining issue—arguably the defining issue—for their movement.
All along the way, however, those antigay evangelical leaders faced challenges. The history of evangelicalism and homosexuality has been marked by shifts, tensions, contradictions, and internal dissent. Most significantly, in the 1970s and 1980s, antigay evangelical leaders had to overpower a surprisingly influential network of evangelical gay activists in their midst. This network of authors, ministers, and professors—all veterans of major evangelical institutions—used characteristically evangelical language to argue that Christians should affirm the civil rights, relationships, and ministries of gay and lesbian people.
Born Again Queer concentrates on four of the most prominent evangelical gay activists in this period: Rev. Troy Perry, the founder of a predominantly LGBTQ+ denomination called the Metropolitan Community Churches; Dr. Ralph Blair, the founder of a gay advocacy organization called Evangelicals Concerned; and Dr. Virginia Mollenkott and Letha Scanzoni, leaders of the evangelical feminist movement and coauthors of the book Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? By the late 1970s, some journalists and scholars of religion were wondering if these activists might shape the future of evangelicalism.
Of course, that future did not materialize, in part due to the attacks of antigay evangelical leaders. Even so, the history of the rise and fall of evangelical gay activism shows us that evangelical homophobia as we know it today had to be made. This book tells that story, and it will change how you think about evangelicalism, LGBTQ+ movements, and religion and politics in the United States.