Natural Enemies: The Short History of a Bad Assumption

Dr. Heather R. White is a visiting assistant professor in religion and queer and gender studies at the University of Puget Sound. Their first book, Reforming Sodom: Protestants and the Rise of Gay Rights investigates how religion and LGBTQ+ activism can to be perceived as natural enemies. It also tells about the surprising ways that progressive Christianity shaped the early movement for gay rights. Dr. White speaks to Rachael today about the hidden histories of both sexuality and religion and points to the ruse in the 1970s of the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community Church movement as evidence that we can no longer assume that the histories of queer people and religion separate when the former becomes open and out of the closet. In doing so, Dr. White shares how this assumption has kept queer studies, and religious studies white.

Om Podcasten

This podcast aims to mark and celebrate an emerging theological and religious scholarship among religious people who self-identify as “queer”. Out of the Closet and into the pews aims to get us to understand that Queer Power is not inherently a secular movement, but rather many queer folk understand faith to be associated with their queerness.