Queer Theology
What is Queer Theology?
Queer Theology Overview
Queer theology is a fascinating and complex field that intersects theology and queer theory. It challenges traditional norms and offers a transgressive approach to understanding God, the Bible, and the church.
Purpose of Queer Theology
As queer theologian Linn Marie Tonstad has noted, the purpose of queer theology is not to make a biblical case for affirming same-sex relationships or for supporting gay, bisexual, and transgender people:
“[Q]ueer theology is not about apologetics for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities in Christianity.”
— Linn Marie Tonstad, Queer Theology 1
Similarly, queer theologian Patrick Cheng has argued that queer theology is not about apologetics for inclusion. Instead, Cheng describes it as 'talking about God' in a self-consciously transgressive manner:
“[Q]ueer theology is self-consciously transgressive in terms of methodology…[It] can be understood as a way of doing theology that is rooted in queer theory.”
— Patrick Cheng, Radical Love 4
What is Queer Theory?
Queer theory is an academic field of study dating back to the 1980s and 1990s that focuses on challenging norms related to gender and sexuality. It encompasses a range of ideas about gender and sexuality, but one of its most significant elements is its distinctive use of the term 'queer.'
“Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence.”
— David Halperin, Saint Foucault 5
Annamarie Jagose, in her book Queer Theory: An Introduction, wrote that 'queer maintains a relation of resistance to whatever constitutes the normal.' Judith Butler, an influential theorist of gender, has likewise argued that 'normalizing the queer would be, after all, its sad finish.'
What Does It Mean to “Queer” Theology?
Queer theologians use the word 'queer' as a verb as well as an adjective, arguing that we should 'queer' the Bible, theology, and the church. While many people assume that 'queering' these things simply means making them inclusive of gay, bisexual, and transgender people, queer theologians clarify that it goes far beyond that.
“‘Queer’ is used to describe an action that ‘turns upside down, inside out’ that which is seen as normative… To ‘queer’ something is to engage with a methodology that challenges and disrupts the status quo.”
— Patrick Cheng, Radical Love 10
What Does Queer Theology Look Like in Practice?
Cheng describes queer theology as serving a similar role to 'the court jester or the subversive traditions of Mardi Gras.' While it can contain a range of ideas and beliefs–some more radical than others–the fact that it is subversive by design means that it is often intentionally shocking and offensive.
In her 2003 book The Queer God, leading queer theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid argued that the Trinity should be 'understood as an orgy' and that 'the Queer theologian can be seen as putting her hands under the skirt of God.'
References
- Tonstad, Linn Marie. Queer Theology. Cascade Books, 2018, p. 3.
- Cheng, Patrick. Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology. Seabury Books, 2011, p. 9.
- Halperin, David. Saint Foucault: Towards a Gay Hagiography. Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 62.
- Jagose, Annamarie. Queer Theory: An Introduction, New York University Press, 1996, p. 99.
- Butler, Judith. “Against Proper Objects,” differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 6.2+3 (1994), 21.
- Rubin, Gayle. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality,” Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality, ed. Vance, Carole. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984, p. 282.
- Warner, Michael. The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life, Harvard University Press, 1999, pp. 97, 115, 192.
- Althaus-Reid, Marcella. The Queer God, Routledge, 2003, pp. 57, 30.
- Schneider, Laurel C. “Homosexuality, Queer Theory, and Christian Theology,” Men and Masculinities in Christianity and Judaism: A Critical Reader, ed. Krondorfer, Björn. SCM Press, 2009, p. 66.
