gender and sexuality
An Oral History of Shame
An Excerpt From Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free
Cowboy for Christ
Gender-bending love at Bible camp. From Believer, Beware, now available as an e-book!
Fear of God, Love of Armpits
Imagine riding New York City subways in the heat of summer…with an armpit fetish. Such is the fate of Samuel. Meet him and others who seek the services of Mistress…
When Pessimism Tramples Truth
Roger Scruton’s New York Times column “When Hope Tramples Truth” extols the virtues of pessimism by decrying the mindlessness of those endorsing marriage equality. But it turns out that being…
Haters in the Public Square
Thursday evening I’m driving up Connecticut Avenue on my way to my reading at Politics & Prose and the cab driver has NPR on the radio. All Things Considered is…
Telling Trans Stories
While reporting on trans issues, a friend connected me with Shay Kearns (aka Anarchist Reverend). In my email exchanges with this seminary graduate (M.Div from Union Theological Seminary in New…
Love in Action, Except Not
For those who wonder how they can respond when they see Michele Bachmann’s husband and other ex-gay activists spewing hatred, the documentary This is Love in Action demonstrates what can happen when…
Do You Feel Mutilated?
Sudden activity on an old front in the worldwide circumcision wars: Africa. While two legislators in California announced efforts to ban the San Francisco circumcision-ban ballot measure, The Atlantic reported on a…
A Crime Against Fertility
Dearest Daughter, I can only hope this message reaches you safely. After the Government tossed me into an Unmarked Van I was taken to this Place. I know not where…
Oprah-atic Citizenship
I’m really excited to announce that my interview with Kathryn Lofton, one of the most creative and brilliant young scholars of religion around right now, is now up at The…
Freak Flags Flying
Being a parent is an endlessly surprising enterprise. My children perplex me in ways that are both deeply disturbing as well as off-the-hook, beyond brilliant. I can say with absolute…
