Queer Christian confessions: spiritual autobiographies of Gay Christians

Abstract

This paper considers autobiographical writings of six gay Christians, in which they chronicle their spiritual journeys. Most published literature on Christian themes by lesbian and gay authors has focused, on the one hand, on theological and hermeneutical arguments against use of the scriptural canon to denounce homosexuality, and, on the other hand, on devotional writings intended to nurture lesbian and gay Christian spirituality. Strictly autobiographical writings constitute a much smaller, third category. We explore the book‐length writings of six gay Christians by describing the stories as narratives, by identifying commonalities, and by concluding with observations and assessments concerning their function. Although they share some features with other and earlier forms of Christian narrative literature, such as the slave narrative and the conversion testimony, gay spiritual autobiographies chronicle and are defined by the difficulties inherent in reconciling Christian and gay identities.