2021 brings new LGBTQ Christian books and gifts

Last Updated on March 20, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry

New LGBTQ Christian books are being published in 2021, including theology, Bible, history, memoir, church life and spirituality by diverse authors.

Here are summaries of LGBTQ Christian books released so far this year, plus a list of titles that are coming soon. Hard-to-find new gifts for LGBTQ Christians and allies are included too. This article will be updated continuously as the year progresses.

“Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa” by Adriaan van Klinken and Ezra Chitando.

LGBTQ Africans find support from progressive Christianity as revealed by 10 case studies. They show how African activists, thinkers and movements are adapting Christianity to promote justice for LGBTQ people. Christianity is usually dismissed as an anti-LGBTQ force in Africa, but this well-researched book breaks stereotypes, counterbalances secular LGBTQ approaches and powerfully decolonizes queer theory, theology and politics. Van Klinken is professor of religion and African studies at the University of Leeds, and extraordinary professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, University of the Western Cape. He is also co-author of another 2021 book: “Sacred Queer Stories: Ugandan LGBTQ+ Refugee Lives and the Bible,” published by Boydell and Brewer. Chitando is religion professor at the University of Zimbabwe and theology consultant on HIV/AIDS for the World Council of Churches. Published by Oxford University Press.

“Still Stace: My Gay Christian Coming-of-Age Story” by Stacey Chomiak.

A young woman makes peace with her lesbian identity and Christian faith in this young-adult illustrated memoir. It tells the true story of Chomiak’s teenage and young-adult years: finding love, wrestling with family conflicts, and trying to become ex-gay before reaching wholeness and a happy LGBTQ-Christian ending. Stacey Chomiak is a Canadian artist in the animation industry, getting her start on the well-loved series “My Little Pony” and currently art-directing for DreamWorks. Published by Beaming Books.

Recently released

“The God Painter” by Jessica Pegis. Published by Stone Table Books.

“Two Hearts Dancing: A Spiritual Journeybook for Gay Men” by Andrew Ramer. The companion volume to “Two Flutes Playing.” Published by Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock.

“Heaven Come Down: The Story of a Transgender Disciple” by Chrissie Chevasutt. Published by‎ Darton Longman and Todd.

“Collar Confessions: Sharing the Man of God” by Dwight Allen ONeal. (Novel about a black bisexual pastor).

Coming soon and available for pre-order

Nov. 30, 2021
“Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear” by Michael J. O’Loughlin. Published by Broadleaf Books.

March 8, 2022
“The World Cannot Give: A Novel” by Tara Isabella Burton. Published by Simon and Schuster.

March 15, 2022
“Mychal Judge: ‘Take Me Where You Want Me to Go’” by Francis DeBernardo. BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT. Published by Liturgical Press.

April 26, 2022
“Colors of Hope: A Devotional Journal from LGBTQIA+ Christians” by Melissa Guthrie Loy (editor). Published by Chalice Press.

Added in October

BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT.
“The Backwater Sermons: Poems” by Jay Hulme.

“Jesus at a Gay Bar,” a poem that’s a current Internet sensation, is included in this collection from a rising star. Jay Hulme is a transgender poet, educator and recent Anglican convert whose poetry explores his journey to faith and baptism during gender transition and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Blessed are the queers,” he writes in the closing poem, “Beatitudes for a Queerer Church.” His fascination with old church buildings led to a life-changing encounter with the God he had never believed in. He finds angels in the subway, Jesus in a parking structure and God in the abandoned factories of his home city, Leicester, England. Published by Canterbury Press, one of the UK’s leading Anglican publishers.

“Learning to Weave: A Woman-Loving Life” by Jennie Boyd Bull.

A diverse life as a lesbian feminist activist, LGBTQ church pastor, bookstore manager, ashram archivist and Tai Chi teacher is covered in this memoir. Raised in Tennessee, the author pastored Metropolitan Community Churches in Washington DC and Baltimore during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Published by Mountain River Press.

Added in September

BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“Queering Wesley, Queering the Church” by Keegan Osinski.

LGBTQ people today can find affirmation in the sermons of John Wesley, 18th-century leader of the Methodist movement, through this innovative book. Queer theory and Wesleyan theology comes together with queer readings of 10 Wesley sermons. The author is the librarian for theology and ethics at Vanderbilt University and a member of the Church of the Nazarene. Published by Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock.

“Gay, Catholic, and American: My Legal Battle for Marriage Equality and Inclusion” by Gregory Bourke.

A gay Catholic tells how he became an LGBTQ-rights activist after being dismissed as a Boy Scout troop leader for being gay in this memoir. His faith helped him as a named defendant in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell vs. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015. He and his husband raised two adopted children and active members of a Catholic church in Louisville. Published by University of Notre Dame Press.

Added in August

BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT.
“Holy Censorship or Mistranslation? Love, Gender and Sexuality in the Bible” by Renato Lings.

Mistranslated queer Biblical history is revealed as the main cause for centuries of persecution with meticulous scholarship and accessible style. Biblical same-sex love is explored in depth. A close reading of key translations shows that negative Christian attitudes to homosexuality are rooted in tradition, not Bible. Early mistranslations and serious ongoing errors are exposed. Three chapters are devoted to Sodom and Gomorrah. Four same-sex couples each get a chapter in the “Loving Relationships” section: Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, a Centurion and his boy, and the Beloved Disciple. Other chapters cover eunuchs, the Apostle Paul and much more. Currently living in Spain, the author has served in LGBTQ organizations and written and taught extensively on biblical interpretation, translation and issues of gender and sexuality throughout Europe and the Americas. He lives in Spain. Published by Harper Collins India.

“Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer: Church and the Famine of Grace” by Jarel Robinson-Brown.

Queer liberation theology lifts up the voices and history of black LGBTQ Christians in a book that is prophetic yet pastoral. Both the grace and the oppression of queer black faith experiences are examined, with an emphasis on the United Kingdom. Foreword by Pamela Lightsey, professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. The author is a black queer minister of Jamaican and Cuban heritage. He is assistant curate at Saint Botolph’s-Without-Bishopsgate, an Anglican church in London, and has served other churches in Cardiff, South Wales and London. Published by SCM Press.

Jesus and the Beloved Disciple religious medal

Jesus and his Beloved Disciple gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes in this antique French religious medal from the 1930s. Some queer Bible scholars believe that Jesus and his Beloved Disciple were same-sex lovers. The medal is available from the Religious shop on Etsy.

Added in July

“Outlove: A Queer Christian Survival Story” by Julie Rodgers.

An evangelical LGBTQ activist tells how she moved from ex-gay self-denial in the name of faith to marrying a woman at the Washington National Cathedral and helping shut down Exodus International, the largest ex-gay organization. The author of this memoir is an LGBTQ Christian writer, speaker, and leader who lives with her wife in Washington DC. Published by Broadleaf Books.

“The Life of Saint Eufrosine: In Old French Verse, with English Translation” by Amy V. Ogden (Translator).

This epic poem tells the life of Eufrosine / Emerald / Smaragdus of Alexandria, a fifth-century monastic trans saint or cross-dressing saint. Eufrosine was raised as a young woman in a wealthy family, but embraced a male identity and joined a monastery in order to avoid marriage to a man. Only fragments of the poem have been translated before. Published by the Modern Language Association of America.

Julian of Norwich mug: “All shall be well”

A mug shows medieval mystic Julian of Norwich with her cat and her best-loved quote: “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.” Julian is often listed with LGBTQ saints because of her gender-disrupting visions of “Mother Jesus.”

Added in June

“Queer Preaching and Exegesis for Resistance and Resilience” by Donovan Ackley III.

Gender diversity and same-gender loving are celebrated as sacred gifts in this collection of explicitly queer sermons, Bible commentaries, and worship resources. The author also mixes in personal reflections on life since coming out as a trans person with an intersex condition in 2013. The sermons rose from the streets and were first preached at places such as a Pride march and a parking lot where LGBTQ students were unwelcome on their own campus. The author is a theologian, pastor, and yogi who retired from full-time university teaching in religious studies. Independently published. Ackley’s companion book “Sex and Sacrament” was also published this year.

“Tree” by SJ Blasko.

Queer Christian faith experiences and emotions are explored in the poetry collection “Tree.” The poems offer beautiful flashes of insight into the LGBTQ journey of building relationships, creating community and constructing one’s own theology after the pain of Bible-based abuse. The first pages include the striking line, “My partner realized that they loved me at a church retreat…” The book proceeds from there to find and embrace “God who tends with well-water instead of brimstone.” The author is a poet, fantasy writer and LGBTQ Christian from southeast Massachusetts. Independently published.

Gift: Saint Sebastian print by Andrew Freshour. (sold out)

Sebastian, patron saint of gay men, appears with refreshing clarity in a 2020 artwork by Andrew Freshour, a New Hampshire artist and gay Episcopalian. Update in August 2021: The original watercolor is no longer available, but other paintings are for sale at Andrew Freshour Art on Etsy. Sebastian’s halo seems to be carved — or maybe burned — into the wood of the tree behind him. Freshour earned as BFA in illustration from the New Hampshire Institute of Art in 2013.

Added in May

“Made, Known, Loved: Developing LGBTQ-Inclusive Youth Ministry” by Ross Murray.

Church members can learn how to affirm LGBTQ teens in this guide based on a youth ministry with 15+ years of success. The author is founding director of The Naming Project, a faith-based youth ministry and summer camp for LGBTQ young people and allies. He is also a Lutheran deacon who works at the GLAAD Media Institute. Published by Fortress Press, the official publisher for the Lutheran (ELCA) Church.

“Family of Origin, Family of Choice: Stories of Queer Christians” by Katie Hays and Susan A. Chiasson.

First-person testimonies from 15 LGBTQ+ Christians are compiled in “Family of Origin, Family of Choice: Stories of Queer Christians,” edited by Katie Hays and Susan A. Chiasson. Their experiences are as varied as the colors of the rainbow as they discuss coming out and navigating family dynamics. The editors are a pastor and social scientist, both from LGBTQ-friendly Galileo Church near Fort Worth, Texas. Foreword by transgender pastor Paula Stone Williams. Published by Eerdmans.

BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“Queer and Indecent: An Introduction to the Theology of Marcella Althaus Reid” by Thia Cooper.

This much-needed introduction to influential queer theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid shows the development of her core ideas. Althaus-Reid’s work is notoriously difficult to read, but this guide explains how she blends theories from queer studies, post-colonial studies, queer studies, gender and sexuality studies, and feminist and liberation theologies. Born and raised in Argentina, Althaus-Reid became the first woman appointed to a chair in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Author Thia Cooper earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. under Althaus-Reid at Edinburgh’s New College. Now Cooper is religion professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Published by SCM Press.

Added in April

“Affirming: A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality, and Staying in the Church” by Sally Gary.

A devoted Christian finds a way to embrace her lesbianism while keeping her faith in this deeply personal memoir. As she prepares to marry the woman she loves, the author traces the experiences, scriptures and conversations that culminated in her seeing her faith as affirming, not opposing her religious beliefs. The author is founder and executive director of CenterPeace, a Texas nonprofit that has helped churches and families discuss faith and sexuality since 2006. Published by Eerdmans.

“Those Seven References: A Study of Homosexuality in the Bible and Its Impact on the Queer Community of Faith” by John F Dwyer.

God’s love for LGBTQ people is not limited by misuse of a few scriptures, as this intelligent yet accessible work explains. The faulty rationale behind Christian anti-gay bias is revealed. It provides knowledge and words to empower queer Christians and counter baseless accusations by those who use these passages as weapons of exclusion. The author is a gay Episcopal priest who has served in seminary and parish settings, with legal and corporate work experiences before he was ordained. Published by Morehouse Publishing, an imprint of Church Publishing, the official publisher of worship resources for the Episcopal Church.

Added in March

BESTSELLER AT Q SPIRIT
“Sex and Sacrament” by Donovan W. Ackley III.

Queer lives and the sacredness of all bodies are celebrated with resources drawn from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, contemporary Black and Indigenous theological traditions. Intersectional ideas come from personal stories and tools for reflection and practice, such as walking meditation and the Stations of the Cross. With Biblical references in each chapter, the book can be used as a study guide for LGBTQ people and others who have been misinformed that faith defines sex and gender minorities as “wrong.” The author is a theologian, pastor, and yogi who retired from full-time university teaching in religious studies in 2013 after coming out as a trans person with an intersex condition. Independently published.

Added in February

“Love Tenderly: Sacred Stories of Lesbian and Queer Religious” by Grace Surdovel (editor).

Lesbian and queer nuns tell how they integrate their sexual orientation with their commitment to religious life in this revealing anthology. The 23 writers are a cross-section of Catholic sisters, varying in ages, communities, ministries, and stages of self-acceptance. Editor Grace Surdovel is an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister who teaches masters-level technology at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. Foreword by Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry. Published by New Ways Ministry, a provider of LGBTQ Catholic resources for 40-plus years.

“Towards a Theology of Same-Sex Marriage: Squaring the Circle” by Clare Herbert.

LGBTQ relationships expand Christian understandings of marriage in “Towards a Theology of Same-Sex Marriage: Squaring the Circle” by Clare Herbert. Theological discussion is balanced by human stories based on her research and experience as an Anglican priest in a committed same-sex relationship. The author is currently a research fellow at St Augustine’s College of Theology in England. Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

LGBTQ Christian gifts

#FaithfullyLGBT lapel pin

People use the hashtag #faithfullyLGBT to find their favorite content on social media. Now it’s a lapel pin. The colorful, custom-made 1-inch pin is beautifully detailed by the DC Homos Etsy shop.