2025 brings new LGBTQ Christian books

Last Updated on April 13, 2025 by Kittredge Cherry

New LGBTQ Christian books are being published in 2025, including theology, Bible, history, memoir, church life and spirituality by diverse authors.

Q Spirit presents summaries of LGBTQ Christian books released this year, plus lists of titles that are coming soon or recently published. It will be updated continuously during the year. Books on this list cost less than $75 — usually A LOT less.

The “coming soon” section has expanded in response to its growing importance. Last year publishers started announcing their forthcoming titles much further ahead — sometimes almost a year in advance. “Get ready — 2025 promises a powerful lineup of LGBTQ Christian books,” says Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry, who compiles the booklist.

Added for April

“Trans Biblical: New Approaches to Interpretation and Embodiment in Scripture” by Joseph A. Marchal, Melissa Harl Sellew and Katy E. Valentine (editors).

Gender variance from Genesis through the gospels and beyond is explored by trans and gender-nonconforming Bible scholars in this timely, wide-ranging collection. Diverse contributors show bold new ways of understanding sacred texts while sensitively addressing ongoing debates about gender identity and embodiment. Marchal is professor of religious studies and women’s and gender studies at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Sellew is professor emerita of classical and Near Eastern religions and cultures at the University of Minnesota. Valentine is a public scholar and owner of Soul Forge Coaching. Published by Westminster John Knox Press, official publisher for the Presbyterian Church.

“Mapping New Terrain in Queer Religious Scholarship: Essays in Honor of John Eastburn Boswell” by Bernard S. Schlager (editor).

Queer understandings of theology and scripture are explored by noted academics, religious leaders, and activists in a collection that builds on the legacy of gay Christian history pioneer John Boswell. It features 11 standout essays delivered since 2003 at the annual Boswell Lecture Series hosted by the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS) at Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, California. Schlager is associate professor of history at PSR and executive director of CLGS. Published by Routledge.

Recently released

[* = new additions]

*“Holy Dialogues Devotional for Lent, 2025: Written by LGBT Christians and Their Friends” by Marian Edmonds Allen (editor). Published by Parity. Added April 12.

“Mapping New Terrain in Queer Religious Scholarship: Essays in Honor of John Eastburn Boswell” by Bernard S. Schlager (editor). Published by Routledge.

*“Our Tribe Chanting: A Spiritual Journeybook for Gay Men, the Companion Volume to Two Flutes Playing and Two Hearts Dancing” by Andrew Ramer. Foreword by Toby Johnson. Published by Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock. Added April 4.

*“A Testament of Faith: A fictional narrative of a gay Episcopal priest and his husband” by Kyle Cooke (pen name of Jerry L Collins). Independently published.

Coming soon and available for pre-order

April 15, 2025
*“The Disappearance of Eve and the Gender of Christ: Why Traditional Soteriology Requires a Trans* Savior” by Kevin Carnahan. Published by Fortress Press. Added April 12.

April 15, 2025
“Hey, Mary!” (young-adult graphic novel) by Andrew Wheeler (author) and Rye Hickman (illustrator). Published by Oni Press.

May 13, 2025
“The Rainbow Sheep” (children’s picture book) by David Hayward. Published by Beaming Books.

May 20, 2025
“Queer Devotion: Spirituality Beyond the Binary in Myth, Story, and Practice” by Charlie Claire Burgess. Published by Hay House.

May 27, 2025
“Queer & Christian: Reclaiming the Bible, Our Faith, and Our Place at the Table” by Brandan Robertson. Published by St. Martin’s Essentials.

June 3, 2025
*“Why I Remain a Gay Catholic: A Spiritual-Sexual Journey” by Paul F. Morrissey. Published by Paulist Press.

June 24, 2025
“Reading Secrets: A Queer Inheritance of Life and Scripture” by Malcolm Himschoot. Published by Flare Books.

July 1, 2025
“A Queer Lectionary: (Im)proper Readings from the Margins – Year A” by Peter Carlson (editor). Published by Seabury Books, an imprint of Church Publishing, an official publisher of the Episcopal Church.

Aug. 15, 2025
*“Body Problems: What Intersex Priest Sally Gross Teaches Us About Embodiment, Justice, and Belonging” by M. Wolff. Published by Duke University Press. Added April 13, 2025.

Sept. 30, 2025
*“The Dare Primer on Global Queer Theologies” by Lisa Isherwood and Hugo Córdova Quero (editors). Published by SCM Press.

October 21, 2025
“Queer Communion: Religion in Appalachia” by Davis Shoulders (editor), Foreword by Willie Edward Taylor Carver. Published by University Press of Kentucky.

Added in March

“Public Theology and Violent Rhetoric Examined in a Queer Womanist Critical Ethnography” by Teresa L. Smallwood.

Harm inflicted on LGBTQ people by churches is examined and solutions are suggested in this queer theology book from a scholarly black female lesbian perspective. A proposed framework for wholeness includes self-assessment and ritual from Yoruba and other indigenous spiritual practices. The author is associate professor of public theology at United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Published by T&T Clark.

“How to Win a Million Dollars and BEEP Glitter!: A Mostly True Misadventure” by Luke Stoffel.

A gay Catholic boyhood leads to get-rich-quick schemes, glitter-filled chaos, world travel and maybe even enlightenment in this memoir with humor and heart. The author is an entrepreneur who was recognized as one of New York City’s top LGBTQ artists by GLAAD. Published by Cinderly.

Added in February

“A Prince of a Boy: How One Gay Catholic Helped Change the World” by Brian McNaught.

A gay Catholic who was named “the godfather of gay diversity training” by the New York Times tells his life story in his beautifully written memoir. He reveals his struggles and triumphs as an openly gay man in the Catholic church and the corporate world. The author is an internationally acclaimed corporate diversity trainer who spent 40 years in the LGBTQ rights movement and wrote 13 books on LGBTQ issues. Published by Cascade Books.

“Legends from Lindisfarne: Diverse and Inclusive Saints” by Elizabeth Hopkinson (author) and Anna Hopkinson (illustrator).

Two queer saints –“Marinos: The Trans Monk” and “Our Lady of Montevergine: Affirmer of Same Sex Partners” — are prominently featured in this illustrated set of legends about little-known saints. Most come from the Celtic tradition, and the crisp black-and-white illustrations have a Celtic vibe. Based in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth and Anna Hopkinson are a mother-daughter team that also joined forces on the “Asexual Fairy Tales” series. Published by SilverWood Books.