No other issue is as publicly prominent or as vexing for contemporary Mormonism as the relationship between the LDS Church and the LGBTQ community. We will discuss the history of LDS teachings about homosexuality, the recent emergence of “queer Mormon theology,” and how LGBTQ Latter-day Saints navigate the complex tensions of their religion and sexuality.
Patrick will be joined by authors of two recent and important books on these subjects. Blaire Ostler, a philosopher who works at the intersection of queer, Mormon, and transhumanist thought. She is the author of Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction (By Common Consent Press, 2021). Taylor Petrey is an associate professor of religion and chair of the Religion Department at Kalamazoo College. The editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Petrey’s most recent book is Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).