For many Christians, "homosexuality" is an issue. It is often considered a matter of "us" versus "them," or worse, for gay men and women, a question of their behavior, not something intrinsic to their identity. Coming Out in Christianity examines this conflict from the point of view of a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians. It focuses on current and former members of two Metropolitan Community Churches in California that serve predominantly LGBT Christians. Based on original research, including more than 70 in-depth interviews, the book explores life histories,...

What do the world's most important religious texts have to say about one of humanity's favorite activities? Editors David W. Machacek and Melissa M. Wilcox have brought together top scholars in the field of religious studies to ask and answer these critical questions. Carefully researched, elegantly written, and respectfully presented, "Sexuality and the World's Religions" explores the intersection of the spiritual and the carnal in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and African and Native American spiritual traditions.

A separate section explores...

Melissa M. Wilcox explores the complex spiritual lives of queer women in the Los Angeles area. She takes the reader on a tour of a colorful array of religious and secular groups that serve as spiritual resources for these women--from the well-known Metropolitan Community Churches to Wiccan covens, from the Gay and Lesbian Sierrans to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Arguing that these women's stories are exemplary cases of postmodern patterns of religious identity, belief, and practice, Wilcox offers a nuanced analysis of contemporary Western spirituality and selfhood, and a detailed...