God and Difference interlaces Christian theology with queer and feminist theory for both critical and constructive ends. Linn Marie Tonstad uses queer theory to show certain failures of Christian thinking about God, gender, and sexuality. She employs queer theory to dissect trinitarian discourse and the resonances found in contemporary Christian thought between sexual difference and difference within the trinity. Tonstad critiques a broad swath of prominent Christian theologians who either use queer theory in their work or affirm the validity of same-sex relationships, arguing that their work inadvertently promotes gendered hierarchy. This volume contributes to central debates in Christianity over divine and human personhood, gendered relationality, and the trinity, and provides original accounts of God, sexual difference, and Christian community that are both theologically rich and thoroughly queer.

Sexual rhetoric is the self-conscious and critical engagement with discourses of sexuality that exposes both their naturalization and their queering, their torquing to create different or counter-discourses, giving voice and agency to multiple and complex sexual experiences. This volume explores the intersection of rhetoric and sexuality through the varieties of methods available in the fields of rhetoric and writing studies, including case studies, theoretical questioning, ethnographies, or close (and distant) readings of "texts" that help us think through the rhetorical force of sexuality and the sexual force of rhetoric.

How LGBTQ community life in a small Midwestern city differs from that in larger cities with established gayborhoods River City is a small, Midwestern, postindustrial city surrounded by green hills and farmland with a population of just over 50,000. Most River City residents are white, working-class Catholics, a demographic associated with conservative sexual politics. Yet LGBTQ residents of River City describe it as a progressive, welcoming, and safe space, with active LGBTQ youth groups and regular drag shows that test the capacity of bars. In this compelling examination of LGBTQ communities in seemingly "unfriendly" places, Queering the Midwest highlights the ambivalence of LGBTQ lives in the rural Midwest, where LGBTQ organizations and events occur occasionally but are generally not grounded in long-standing LGBTQ institutions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observation, Clare Forstie offers the story of a community that does not fit neatly into a narrative of progress or decline. Rather, this book reveals the contradictions of River City's LGBTQ community, where people feel both safe and unnoticed, have a sense of belonging and persistent marginalization, and have friendships that do and don't matter. These "ambivalent communities" in small Midwestern cities challenge the ways we think about LGBTQ communities and relationships and push us to embrace the contradictions, failures, and possibilities of LGBTQ communities across the American Midwest.

Gender, Sex, and Politics: In the Streets and Between the Sheets in the 21st Century includes twenty-seven chapters organized into five sections: Gender, Sexuality and Social Control; Pornography; Sex and Social Media; Dating, Desire, and the Politics of Hooking Up; and Issues in Sexual Pleasure and Safety. This anthology presents these topics using a point-counterpoint-different point framework. Its arguments and perspectives do not pit writers against each other in a binary pro/con debate format. Instead, a variety of views are juxtaposed to encourage critical thinking and robust conversation. This framework enables readers to assess the strengths and shortcomings of conflicting ideas. The chapters are organized in a way that will challenge cherished beliefs and hone both academic and personal insight. Gender, Sex, and Politics is ideal for sparking debates in intro to women's and gender studies, sexuality, and gender courses.

Against the backdrop of brutal invasion, it is much easier for right-wing figures to target marginalised groups, and during wartime the queer community is exceedingly vulnerable to persecution, scapegoating and censorship. Being visibly queer in Ukraine is an act of rebellion in itself, but LGBTQI+ people find ways to express themselves against all odds, to create beyond all constraints. And what is queerness without defiance - the linking of arms, the echo of a hundred voices? Every voice tells a story, and this anthology is a platform for these voices, an archive of their existence. It is time for them to tell their stories on their own terms - and for the rest of the world to stand in solidarity with them. Proceeds from the sales of this book go to a selection of charities supporting LGBTQI+ people in Ukraine. The list is periodically reviewed so that funds go to where they're most sorely needed, but includes: TU Platform Mariupol (Supporting queer youth), Queers For Ukraine (Supporting people with HIV in Ukraine and delivering much-needed hormones for the trans community) and Insight NGO (Humanitarian Aid for the LGBTQI+ community in Ukraine).

Each year, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) asylum seekers apply for asylum in EU Member States.This book considers the position of LGBTI asylum seekers in European asylum law. Developing an encompassing approach to the topic, the book identifies and analyzes the main legal issues arising in relation to LGBTI people seeking asylum including: the underestimation of the relevance of criminalization of sexual orientation as well as the large scale violence against trans people in countries of origin by some European states; the requirement to seek State protection against violence even when they originate from countries where sexual orientation or gender identity is criminalized, or where the authorities are homophobic; the particular hurdles faced during credibility assessment on account of persisting stereotypes; and queer families and refugee law. The book gives a state of the art overview of law in Europe, both at the level of European legislation and at the level of Member State practice. While being largely focused on Europe, the book also takes into account asylum decisions from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States and is of relevance internationally, offering analysis of issues which are not specific to particular legal systems.

In Unseen Flesh Nessette Falu explores how Black lesbians in Brazil define and sustain their well-being and self-worth against persistent racial, sexual, class, and gender-based prejudice. Focusing on the trauma caused by interactions with gynecologists, Falu draws on in-depth ethnographic work among the Black lesbian community to reveal their profoundly negative affective experiences within Brazil’s deeply biased medical system. In the face of such entrenched, intersectional intimate violence, Falu’s informants actively pursue well-being in ways that channel their struggle for self-worth toward broader goals of social change, self care, and communal action. Demonstrating how the racist and heteronormative underpinnings of gynecology erase Black lesbian subjecthood through mental, emotional, and physical traumas, Falu explores the daily resistance and abolitionist practices of worth-making that claim and sustain Black queer identity and living. Falu rethinks the medicalization of race, sex, and gender in Brazil and elsewhere while offering a new perspective on Black queer life through well-being grounded in relationships, socioeconomic struggles, the erotic, and freedom strivings.

The traditional concept of family as being exclusively heterosexual has resulted in myth-generation about lesbian parents as well as fostering limitations in the programs and benefits that support more diverse nontraditional families. Social Work with Lesbian Parent Families: Ecological Perspectives explores the variety of social systems with which lesbian parent families interact, with a focus on implications for improved, diversity-affirming service delivery and policy development. Unlike other literature on lesbian parent families, this revealing resource pulls together work on lesbian parenting from various researchers across a broad range of disciplines and presents this work from the ecosystems perspective so that the reader may view the experiences of lesbian parent families in a holistic way. The research goes beyond simple comparisons between lesbian and straight mothers. This useful text provides more complex research data, including both a more sophisticated view of the diverse communities in which lesbian parents are found, and more innovative ways of studying the issues relevant to social service providers. Developmental and life issues negotiated by lesbian parent families are discussed in detail using a strengths-based approach to intervention with individuals, families, small groups, communities, and larger systems. This unique book has the strong potential to influence the policies that impact lesbian parent families. Social Work with Lesbian Parent Families: Ecological Perspectives is a valuable resource for social workers, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, marriage and family therapists, public policy and administration professionals, students, and academics doing research on sexual orientation and family. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services.

First published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book accessibly explores the phenomenon of internalized homonegativity among same gender loving Black men who love other men, providing practical tools to help therapists identify the underlying motivations for their clients' feelings. Written from personal and clinical experience, P. Ryan Grant defines internalized homonegativity as the negative thoughts felt by a person due to their same gender loving identity. The book's introduction provides a backdrop of the developmental experiences Black same gender loving men often encounter and connects theoretical concepts with qualitative Black same gender loving male experiences. Chapters then explore the contextual consequences of internalized homonegativity and educate readers on how conditioned shame and anxiety relating to these factors alter mental health and functioning in various spaces. The final part of the book presents therapeutic techniques based on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to assist readers in helping clients to navigate a homonegative world. This book is essential reading for sex therapists, educators, students, and sexuality professionals who are looking for resources on working with Black same gender loving male clients, as well as those occupations seeking to create programs for Black same gender loving men. It will also be a helpful resource for Black same gender loving men seeking to live value-based lives.

Lala (lesbian) and gay communities in mainland China have emerged rapidly in the 21st century. Alongside new freedoms and modernizing reforms, and with mainstream media and society increasingly tolerant, lalas still experience immense family and social pressures to a degree that this book argues is deeply gendered. The first anthropological study to examine everyday lala lives, intimacies, and communities in China, the chapters explore changing articulations of sexual subjectivity, gendered T-P (tomboy-wife) roles, family and kinship, same-sex weddings, lala-gay contract marriages, and community activism. Engebretsen analyzes lala strategies of complicit transgressions to balance surface respectability and undeclared same-sex desires, why "being normal" emerges a deep aspiration and sign of respectability, and why openly lived homosexuality and public activism often are not. Queer Women in Urban China develops a critical ethnographic analysis through the conceptual lens of "different normativities," tracing the paradoxes and intricacies of the desire for normal life alongside aspirations for recognition, equality, and freedom, and argues that dominant paradigms fixed on categories, identities, and the absolute value of public visibility are ill-equipped to fully understand these complexities. This book complements existing perspectives on sexual and gender diversity, contemporary China, and the politics and theories of justice, recognition, and similitude in global times.

Children and families come in all shapes and sizes, as do members of staff. LGBT Diversity and Inclusion in Early Years Education will support practitioners in thinking about LGBT issues in relation to their early years practice. It examines the history of equalities legislation and the diversity of families with LGBT members alongside pragmatic advice to ensure that all children, families and staff feel welcomed and celebrated in the early years setting. This book offers realistic advice and practical guidance, which results from years of first-hand experience in the early years sector. The chapters explore key topics such as: A brief history of legislation in the UK in regard to LGBT diversity Good practice with children and families LGBT diversity in an early years work environment Resourcing for equality Including case studies, reading lists and links to useful websites and organisations, this book will be valuable reading for all early years practitioners and students that want to promote an inclusive environment for the children in their care.

Children and families come in all shapes and sizes, as do members of staff. LGBT Diversity and Inclusion in Early Years Education will support practitioners in thinking about LGBT issues in relation to their early years practice. It examines the history of equalities legislation and the diversity of families with LGBT members alongside pragmatic advice to ensure that all children, families and staff feel welcomed and celebrated in the early years setting. This book offers realistic advice and practical guidance, which results from years of first-hand experience in the early years sector. The chapters explore key topics such as: A brief history of legislation in the UK in regard to LGBT diversity Good practice with children and families LGBT diversity in an early years work environment Resourcing for equality Including case studies, reading lists and links to useful websites and organisations, this book will be valuable reading for all early years practitioners and students that want to promote an inclusive environment for the children in their care.

Although the last decade has seen steady progress towards wider acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, LGBTQ residential and commercial areas have come under increasing pressure from gentrification and redevelopment initiatives. As a result many of these neighborhoods are losing their special character as safe havens for sexual and gender minorities. Urban planners and municipal officials have sometimes ignored the transformation of these neighborhoods and at other times been complicit in these changes. Planning and LGBTQ Communities brings together experienced planners, administrators, and researchers in the fields of planning and geography to reflect on the evolution of urban neighborhoods in which LGBTQ populations live, work, and play. The authors examine a variety of LGBTQ residential and commercial areas to highlight policy and planning links to the development of these neighborhoods. Each chapter explores a particular urban context and asks how the field of planning has enabled, facilitated, and/or neglected the specialized and diverse needs of the LGBTQ population. A central theme of this book is that urban planners need to think "beyond queer space" because LGBTQ populations are more diverse and dispersed than the white gay male populations that created many of the most visible gayborhoods. The authors provide practical guidance for cities and citizens seeking to strengthen neighborhoods that have an explicit LGBTQ focus as well as other areas that are LGBTQ-friendly. They also encourage broader awareness of the needs of this marginalized population and the need to establish more formal linkages between municipal government and a range of LGBTQ groups. Planning and LGBTQ Communities also adds useful material for graduate level courses in planning theory, urban and regional theory, planning for multicultural cities, urban geography, and geographies of gender and sexuality.

While there is no shortage of studies addressing the state's regulation of the sexual, research into the ways in which the sexual governs the state and its attributes is still in its infancy. The Sexual Constitution of Political Authority argues that there are good reasons to suppose that our understandings of state power quiver with erotic undercurrents. The book maintains, more specifically, that the relationship between ideas of political authority and male same-sex desire is especially fraught. Through a series of case studies where a statesman's same-sex desire was put on trial (either literally or metaphorically) as a problem for the good exercise of public powers, the book shows the resilience and adaptability of cultural beliefs in the incompatibility between public office and male same-sex desire. Some of the case studies analysed are familiar ground for both political/constitutional history and the history of sexuality. The Sexual Constitution of Political Authority argues, however, that only by systematically reading questions of institutional politics and questions of sexuality through each other will we have access to the most interesting insights that a study of these trials can generate. Whether they involve obscure public officials or iconic rulers such as Hadrian and James I, these compelling fragments of queer history reveal that the disavowal of male same-sex desire has been, and partly remains, central to mainstream understandings of political authority.

Although the last decade has seen steady progress towards wider acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, LGBTQ residential and commercial areas have come under increasing pressure from gentrification and redevelopment initiatives. As a result many of these neighborhoods are losing their special character as safe havens for sexual and gender minorities. Urban planners and municipal officials have sometimes ignored the transformation of these neighborhoods and at other times been complicit in these changes. Planning and LGBTQ Communities brings together experienced planners, administrators, and researchers in the fields of planning and geography to reflect on the evolution of urban neighborhoods in which LGBTQ populations live, work, and play. The authors examine a variety of LGBTQ residential and commercial areas to highlight policy and planning links to the development of these neighborhoods. Each chapter explores a particular urban context and asks how the field of planning has enabled, facilitated, and/or neglected the specialized and diverse needs of the LGBTQ population. A central theme of this book is that urban planners need to think "beyond queer space" because LGBTQ populations are more diverse and dispersed than the white gay male populations that created many of the most visible gayborhoods. The authors provide practical guidance for cities and citizens seeking to strengthen neighborhoods that have an explicit LGBTQ focus as well as other areas that are LGBTQ-friendly. They also encourage broader awareness of the needs of this marginalized population and the need to establish more formal linkages between municipal government and a range of LGBTQ groups. Planning and LGBTQ Communities also adds useful material for graduate level courses in planning theory, urban and regional theory, planning for multicultural cities, urban geography, and geographies of gender and sexuality.

Critical Approaches to Science and Religion offers a new direction for scholarship on science and religion that examines social, political, and ecological concerns long part of the field but never properly centered. The works that make up this volume are not preoccupied with traditional philosophical or theological issues. Instead, the book draws on three vital schools of thought: critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial theory. Featuring a diverse array of contributors, it develops critical perspectives by examining how histories of empire, slavery, colonialism, and patriarchy have shaped the many relationships between science and religion in the modern era. In so doing, this book lays the groundwork for scholars interested in speaking directly to matters such as climate change, structural racism, immigration, health care, reproductive justice, and sexual identity.

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A completely extraordinary autobiography. One that reads like the most outlandish, beguiling fiction but that is - amazingly - all true' - William Boyd, Sunday Times bestselling author 'Outrageous fun...my goodness there are knee-tremblers galore in this racy memoir' - The Times 'A wonderful journey through 20th Century history. I thoroughly enjoyed it' - Lady Anne Glenconner, author of Lady in Waiting --- For fear of growing up like his stiff-upper-lipped Uncle Dick, Roderic Fenwick Owen (1921-2011) survived Eton, Oxford and the Second World War to become a travel writer, experiencing the varied wonders of the 20th century's people and places in that guise. Frequently finding himself party to crucial historical events (including experiencing Nazi Germany in 1939 and the Pentagon during the Cold War Years), his life featured a stellar cast of characters from Eisenhower and Jackson Pollock to Christopher Lee and Sean Connery. At the heart of Roddy's writing adventures lay his search for love, even if just for the night. He fell head over heels for, and married a Polynesian princess while beachcombing in Tahiti, but when a dazzling trip to 1950s New York opened his eyes to the fact he was more attracted to men than women, he was forced to continue his quest for his soulmate under threat of danger. This was at a time when the police were prosecuting and imprisoning more gay men than ever before, including some of his friends. Lyrical, witty and at times jaw-droppingly unbelievable, Oh, What A Lovely Century is both a highly personal memoir and a marvellous obituary of an ever-changing and now lost world - that was frequently the best of times, and sometimes the worst. --- 'A joy' - The Telegraph 'Entertaining [and] particularly vivid' - Mail on Sunday 'Riotous' - Evening Standard 'Gamey, rollicking and hugely entertaining' - Spectator 'Stuffed to the gills with raucous anecdotes and mesmerising detail ... Fenwick Owen's memoirs are witty and touching but also an important record of how society has changed' - Jessica Fellowes, author of The Mitford Murders

The French Republic does not discriminate or differentiate between individuals in terms of gender, difference or ethnicity. However recent legislation has enshrined the rights of gays and lesbians and it is this legislation that has inspired the author to examine the unique relationship between the Republic and its citizens - in this case gay and lesbian citizens. The author assesses the impact the new legislation has had on France as a democratic, multicultural republic founded on equality of citizenship, and on the lesbian and gay community, caught between inclusion and exclusion. The book combines approaches from sociology, political science, legal studies, cultural studies and the study of gender and sexuality, and will appeal to academics and postgraduates in these fields.

This volume showcases cutting-edge research in the linguistic and discursive study of masculinities, comprising the first significant edited collection on language and masculinities since Johnson and Meinhof's 1997 volume. Overall, the chapters are linked together by a critical analytical perspective that seeks to understand the relationships between discourse, masculinities, and power. Whereas some of the chapters offer detailed, linguistically informed critiques of the ways in which old and new expressions of masculinities are complicit in the reproduction of men's hegemonic positions of power, others provide a more complex picture, one in which collusion and subversion go hand in hand. Contributions argue for the need for research on language and masculinities to expand its remit so as to engage with "gay masculinities," and unsettle gendered categories in order to consider the ways in which women, transgender, and intersex individuals also perform a variety of masculinities. Finally, unlike Johnson and Meinhof's 1997 collection, this volume not only offers a wider-and perhaps "queerer" perspective-on the study of language and masculinities, but also covers a broader geographical and socio-cultural spectrum, including work on Brazil, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa.

* Edited by the founding editor of the American Journal of Sexuality Education who is a renowned and respected name in the field, with chapters written by contributors to the journal. * Covers a broad range of hot topics, including areas which are often overlooked or address marginalized audiences, such as porn, consent, gender identity, and race. * No current text in the field that looks at sexuality education in such an interdisciplinary way. * Accessibly written, this book aims to present essays that capture essential research findings in sexuality education, helping help professionals stay up-to-date with the latest in the field. * Each chapter describe the author's key findings, explain the significance and application of their work, and explore new developments since the last time their work was developed. * Essays are aimed at a wide range of occupations and academic disciplines, such as public health professionals and students of human sexuality, gender studies, biology, psychology, sociology, as well as community educators, school nurses and health teachers, and administrative leaders affiliated with sexuality education programs at community-based organizations.

In Solidarity: Friendship, Family, and Activism Beyond Gay and Straight shows what being an ally (in this case to LGBTQ+ persons and communities) requires, means, and does. Through prose, poetry, performance text, and film, the work takes readers inside relationships across sexual orientation and serves as an exemplar of activist scholarship. In Solidarity makes a unique and compelling contribution to courses on LGBTQ+ studies, sexualities, gender, identity, relationships, or the family.

According to David Halperin, sexuality in our time is typified by a "crisis in contemporary sexual definition." What is sexuality? What does it mean to have a sexual identity or orientation? What is the relationship between sexuality as a knowledge construct, on one hand, and the often messy flows of desire and practices of love, on the other? How and why are some sexual, erotic, and intimate practices normalized and others marginalized?

Queer Theory has emerged in the West as one of the most provocative analytical tools in the humanities and social sciences. It scrutinizes identity and social structures that take heteronormativity for granted that do not question the social construction of heterosexuality as normative in relation to its oppositional binary, homosexuality. At the same time, bisexuality is a practice, identity, and orientation that challenges the binary logic around which cultural notions of sexuality are organized. It is a portal to the imagination of a world of amorous expression beyond that divide.

This provocative collection presents bisexuality and queer theory as two parallel thought collectives that have made significant contributions to cultural discourses about sexual and amorous practices since the onset of the AIDS era, and explores the ideas that circulate in these thought collectives today. We learn much about the construction and experience of sexuality, and the power it still holds throughout the contemporary Western world to shape identities and practices. This volume challenges our understanding of what it means to be sexual, to have a sexual identity, and to practise the arts of loving.

This book was orginally published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality."

Lesbian Sexuality has remained largely ignored in Japan despite increasing exposure of disadvantaged minority groups, including gay men. This book is the first comprehensive academic exploration of contemporary lesbian sexuality in Japanese society. The author employs an interdisciplinary approach and this book will be of great value to those working or interested in the areas of Japanese, lesbian and gender studies as well as Japanese history, anthropology and cultural studies.