Gay Men and Religion Unit
The Gay Men and Religion Program Unit invites papers and panels exploring the following subjects/themes:
- The experiences of gay men and men who have sex with men from the global South, including religious experiences, sexual experiences, the formation of identities, social and religious systems/structures; LGBTQ rights in relation to colonialism and de-colonialist responses. We highly encourage papers from a variety of religious identities and belongings.
- We also invite proposals concerning gay men, religion, and violence. Topics might include: violence gay men commit against each other; systematic violence that happens at the intersection of gay men, religion, and society (law, economics, moral norms, etc.); the use of violence in gay activism (e.g., the Lavender Panthers); the role of gay men in non-violent strategies of resistance.
- The Gay Men and Religion Program Unit and the Quaker Studies Program Unit are co-sponsoring a panel featuring Brian Blackmore's forthcoming book, Quaker Approaches to Queer from Temple University Press. We invite responses to the book, and the panel will conclude with author comments.
The Gay Men and Religion Unit: Provides scholarly reflection and writing on the intersections of gay male experience, including sexual experiences, with religious traditions and spiritual practices. Fosters ongoing contributions by (or about) gay men—or men who have sex with men—to religious scholarship in all its forms; we are especially interested in gay men’s experiences across a range of religious traditions and in a wide variety of geographical contexts. Critically challenges homophobic scholarship and religious teaching, on the one hand, and aspects of the LGBTQI equality movement that promote assimilation and normalization of hegemonic patriarchy and heterosexism, on the other. Engages a variety of theoretical and political discourses, which fosters vigorous dialogue between essentialist and constructionist notions of gay male identity; this includes recognizing the insights and limitations of any theoretical and methodological approach to the study of religion and sexuality.