Last update 10/17/06 - All links verified and updated.
Most of the following books are available from Amazon Books or Chi Rho Press (a spiritual GLBT publishing house). There are always more titlesbeing published so it's worth also doing a search on their websites. Titles with links are ready to order online from one or both of these companies. In cases when they are available from both sources, I've tried to provide links to both sites. Those without links may be out of print, but are worth trying to find through other sources such as your local library or used bookstores.
Please feel free to redistribute the list below to anyone who could use the support.
The Anti-Gay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right - Didi Herman
A smart, thorough, concise book describing why and how conservative Protestant evangelicals employ antigay rhetoric in politics, journalism, and worship. Herman deploys her many talents in an introduction that puts such phenomena as "ex-gay ministries" in the context of the conservative Protestant worldview.
The Bible and Homosexuality - Rev. Michael E. England
Included are chapters on our understanding of "inspiration;" critical interpretation; textual, historical, source, and form criticism; detailed discussions about scripture verses used to condemn homosexuality; the "contra naturam" (against nature) argument; heterosexual marriages as the "only Biblical model;" adultery and fornication; and a bibliography.
But Lord, They're Gay - Sylvia Pennington
Originally a born again evangelist who set out to "save and change" homosexuals, Pennington has become the pastor of a predominantly gay congregation.
Called OUT: The Voices and Gifts of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Presbyterians - Edited by Jane Adams Spahr, Kathryn Poethig, Selisse Berry, and Melinda V. McLain
(Also available from Chi Rho Press.)
A long-awaited book wherein 39 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Presbyterians tell their stories about their lives in -- and out -- of the Presbyterian Church. An important book for all who either are lesbian or gay or would seek to understand gay people of faith, regardless of their religion.
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century - John Boswell
highly acclaimed study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the Christian West challenges received opinion and our own preconceptions about the Church's past relationship to its gay members, among whom were priests, bishops and even canonized saints. this book opens up a new area of historical inquiry and helps elucidate the origins and operations of intolerance as a social force.
The Church and the Homosexual - John J. McNeil
Father McNeil's outstanding work, which convincingly establishes that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, has brought comfort to thousands of gay and lesbian Christians since its original publication in 1976. The author calls on the Vatican to make a public act of repentance for its homophobia.
Come Home! Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men and Lesbians - Chris Glaser
This book's five sections include: Welcoming God's Acceptance, Receiving Our Inheritance, Discerning Our Call, Making Our Witness, and Declaring Our Vision. Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong called the first edition "powerful, sensitive, and provocative. ...Christians, gay and straight, need this book if we are to be the body of Christ."
Coming Out to God: Prayers for Lesbians and Gay Men, Their Families and Friends - Chris Glaser
"In this collection of sixty prayers ...Chris Glaser opens new vistas to us in prayer, discipleship, and the relationship between spirituality and sexuality. ...This book is a classic in devotional literature which one will return to again and again." --Merrill M. Follansbee, co-founder of the Sacramento chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
From Wounded Hearts: Faith Stories of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People and Those Who Love Them - Compiled and Edited by Roberta Showalter Kreider
"As the issue of homosexuality is debated in our churches we seldom ask the people we are calling sinners to tell us about their own personal experience of relationship with God. My own life and attitude has been profoundly changed by listening to the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people and their families." -- From the Introduction by Roberta Showalter Kreider
Gay Theology Without Apology - Gary David Comstock
Presenting a theology forged out of personal experience, informed and guided by Scripture and tradition, Comstock holds up the contradictions in the Bible and examines the various facets of Jesus--not to condemn inconsistencies, but to draw from them the strengths and beauty they may hold for everyone who claims Christianity as his or her faith.
Gays Under Grace - A Gay Christian's Response to the Moral Majority - Maury Johnston
The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart - Peter J. Gomes
A vivid, common sense and wise analysis of what the Bible means for us today. As an African American gay man, Gomes is interested in re-viewing the biblical passages on sexuality and race, but The Good Book is much more than a revisionist look at controversial biblical passages. Gomes is interested in rediscovering how the Bible can find a place in our emotional and political lives, as well as in our religious beliefs.
Holy Homosexuals: The Truth about being Gay or Lesbian and Christian (Revised Edition) - Michael S. Piazza
What does it mean for lesbian and gay people that Jesus was tempted "like we are in every way?" Fundamentalists have created God in their image. What if God has qualities other than being "right wing, upper middle class, white, and male?" In the Revised Edition, Rev. Piazza challenges us to look at God from a different angle.
Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?: A Positive Christian Response - Letha Dawson Scanzoni, Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (Contributor)
A classic work of gay spirituality -- revised to reflect today's issues, including gays in the military, the AIDS crisis, and genetic research on homosexuality.
The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology - Mark D. Jordan
Traces the medieval invention of the concept of sodomy and its place in modern American context. Examines paradoxes in the moral teaching on sexuality, especially the theological context for same-sex genital acts, by exploring the history of Christian writings.
The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay - Troy Perry
The Moral Teaching of Paul - Victor Paul Furnish
Provides helpful, clearly written and provocative background for understanding St. Paul's thinking on moral issues. It places the Pauline writings on matters like homosexuality in context and shows how they relate to pagan philosophical movements and Jewish thinking of Paul's time.
New Testament and Homosexuality - Robin Scroggs
Scroggs sat amazed as he heard the Bible being invoked by ministers in ways that were wholly inappropriate to any canons of biblical scholarship. He has no personal interest but sees the tragic results of false biblical scholarship and the tragic rejections of homosexuals in the name of Christian righteousness or even love. It is about time someone spoke honestly about the issue, not just from emotional homophobic assumptions of what the New Testament really says.
Openly Gay, Openly Christian: How the Bible Really Is Gay Friendly - Samuel, Rev. Kader
The Bible really is gay-friendly and affirming, says Rev. Samuel Kader as he shows in his ground-breaking book what lessons can be learned from Scripture, history and experience. Here in direct language we find what is really contained in the Bible regarding homosexuality and gay relationship, and the results are truly surprising.
Reclaiming the Sacred: The Bible in Gay and Lesbian Literature - Raymond-Jean Frontain (Editor)
Reclaiming the Sacred counteracts the manipulative and oppressive uses to which modern writers and thinkers put the Bible and the "morality" it is presumed to inscribe. An important tool for understanding the role of the Bible in gay and lesbian culture, this remarkable book makes a powerful contribution to the advancement of studies on queer sanctity.
Religion Is a Queer Thing: A Guide to the Christian Faith for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Persons - Elizabeth Stuart, Andy Braunston, Malcolm Edwards, John McMahon (Contributor), Tim Morrison (Contributor)
Since the mid-1980s, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians have found confidence in their ability to define their own experience and think theologically about it. "Queer" theology has emerged as a distinctive theological tradition.
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture - John Shelby Spong
A television clergyman calls for a reclaiming of the Bible from the narrow-minded literalism of fundamentalism that has been used to justify slavery, ban textbooks, deny homosexuals their rights, subordinate women, and justify war.
Spiritual Direction and the Gay Person - James L. Empereur
The author of this practical and liberating book has many years of experience in the spiritual direction of gays and lesbians. To be gay or lesbian, he says, is to have received a special blessing from God. Spiritual directors, by recognizing and encouraging the homosexual giftedness of their directees, are calling them out of their tombs--an echo of the cry of Jesus, as the still-bound Lazarus emerges from the darkness of the tomb: "Unbind him and let him go!"
Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity - Bruce Bawer
Bawer has put into eloquent and decisive language what many mainline Christians and non-Christians have quietly suspected but been unable to verbalize -- namely that Fundamentalist Christianity is barely Christian at all. Bawer reveals a so-called Fundamentalist movement that readily displays a blatant disregard for the most salient message of the Gospels: selfless love and service to all.
Steps to Recovery from Bible Abuse - Rembert Truluck
(also available from Chi Rho Press)
A response to the abusive use of the Bible against gays and lesbians and all others oppressed and alienated by religion. Information and encouragement to equip gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people and all others who have been abused and oppressed by religion to learn the truth and to rejoice and grow in their God-given worth as individuals.
Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America - Mel White
White examines his own life as a devout Christian, husband, father, and preacher, and details the extreme and painful measures he took to deny his natural sexual desires. He provides a shocking firsthand account of the methods and tactics the religious right uses to wage a campaign of fear and hatred against homosexuals.
Taking a Chance on God: Liberating Theology for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Lovers, Families, and Friends - John J. McNeill
Featuring a new preface, a guidebook draws on the principles of the gay and lesbian liberation movement and the author's counseling experience with homosexuals to show gays and lesbians how to maintain their identity within the Christian church.
Uncommon Calling: A Gay Christian's Struggle to Serve the Church - Chris Glaser
Gay Christians will recognize elements of their own stories in Glaser's narrative. And the whole church may discover its own uncommon calling to fully welcome gays into the family of faith.
We Were Baptized Too: Claiming God's Grace for Lesbians and Gays - Marilyn Bennett Alexander & James Preston
Within the liturgy, congregations pledge to accept, love forgive and nurture the newly baptized member. The church, however, often lives out this covenant selectively, forcing its gay/lesbian members into silence, alienation, and doubt.
What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality - Daniel A. Helminiak, Ph.D.
Helminiak gathers scholarly evidence to argue against biblical literalism and all those who wield the Scriptures to condemn homosexuality.
The Word Is Out: Daily Reflections on the Bible for Lesbians and Gay Men - Chris Glaser
This lively collection of 365 meditations explodes fundamentalist misconceptions of the Bible's stance on homosexuality and offers inspiration to lesbian and gay Christians. Richly written, evocative, and often surprising, this book reinterprets the Scriptures to offer meditations comprised of a brief Bible selection, insightful words of reflection, and a short prayer/affirmation.
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