Queer Theology and Social Transformation Twenty Years after Jesus ACTED UP^†

† It was an honor presenting an earlier version of this paper at the American Academy of Religion at the 2015 Annual Meeting and sharing the podium with Robert Goss, Mary Hunt, Mark Jordan, and Patrick Cheng. In addition, some of this paper is based on the Boswell Lecture given at Pacific School of Religion in April 2014. Thanks to Ken Stone, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Jay Johnson.

Abstract

Published in 1993, Goss's Jesus ACTED UP was one of the first attempts to articulate both a radical queer theology and a mission of mainstream social transformation. The subsequent 20 years have revealed gaps between the two, precisely as mainstream LGBT politics has embraced (or perhaps exploited) religion. I focus on four tensions for those straddling the scholarship/activism lines. First, what we are doing: queer theology, and academic discourse generally, value that which is nuanced and complex; mainstream activism prefers the simple and clear. Second, what we want: radical liberation requires systemic change, while mainstream activism works pragmatically and incrementally within the system. Third, who we are: queer theory and theology emphasize the socially constructed and mutable natures of the subject, but mainstream social transformation has “won” with essentialism (“Born This Way,” love is love, etc.). Fourth, what about God: the queer, ironic, eroticized God of queer theology remains, thus far, incomprehensible in the public square where only the unreconstructed God is known. These tensions have erupted in numerous political and social contexts in the two decades since Bob Goss tried to bring radical theology and mainstream activism together, though I conclude by noting that only now might the public square be ready for what he and other queer theologians have to offer.

KEYWORDS:

• queer
• queer theology
• assimilation
• scholar-activist
• alt-ac
• born this way
• social construction

Notes

† It was an honor presenting an earlier version of this paper at the American Academy of Religion at the 2015 Annual Meeting and sharing the podium with Robert Goss, Mary Hunt, Mark Jordan, and Patrick Cheng. In addition, some of this paper is based on the Boswell Lecture given at Pacific School of Religion in April 2014. Thanks to Ken Stone, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Jay Johnson.

1 RuPaul, “Born Naked” lyrics, RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 7, final episode, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztQUcl2v-tU on July 20, 2016.

2 “Alt-acs” is a contraction for “alternative-academics” and refers to a wide variety of persons who teach and produce scholarship but do not hold a traditional tenure-track position at an institution of higher education.

3 Goss, Jesus ACTED UP.

4 See Michaelson, “Were Christians Right About Gay Marriage All Along?” and sources cited there. The article was accessed on July 20, 2016 at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/27/did-christians-get-gay-marriage-right.html

5 Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” 631-60.

6 Michaelson, God vs. Gay?

7 Goss, Jesus ACTED UP, 77–85.

8 Bronsky, Culture Clash, 11–13.

9 Ibid., xvi–xviii.

10 Ibid., 37–43.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid., 1–15.

13 Ibid., 32–35.

14 Ibid., 34.

15 See Moore, God's Gym; Moore, God's Beauty Parlor.

16 Ramer, “Kavvanah for Unexpected Intimacy”.

17 Califia, “Sadomasochism and Spirituality,” 93–108; Bauer, “Man-Boy and Daddy-God,” 81–92; and Peterson, “Leathermen,” 191–214.

18 Goss, Jesus ACTED UP, 25.

19 Althaus-Reid, The Queer God, 2.

20 Ibid., 7.

21 Goss, Jesus ACTED UP, 188–190

22 Heyward, Touching Our Strength, 41.

23 See Goss, Queering Christ.

24 Goss, Jesus ACTED UP, 81.

25 Ibid., 63–69.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jay Michaelson

Jay Michaelson is an Affiliated Assistant Professor at Chicago Theological Seminary and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Previously, he founded two LGBT organizations and worked as an LGBT activist for 10 years. Michaelson holds a JD from Yale Law School, a PhD in Jewish Thought from Hebrew University, and nondenominational rabbinic ordination. He is the author of six books including God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality (Boston: Beacon Press, 2011).