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Politics and Practices of LGBTQ Christian Activism in Evangelicalism

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Politics and Practices of LGBTQ Christian Activism in Evangelicalism Community of Counter-Conduct: Politics and Practices of LGBTQ Christian Activism in Evangelicalism By © 2018 Jonathan Burrow-Branine Submitted to the graduate degree program in American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Ben Chappell Sherrie Tucker Henry Bial Lynn Davidman Dave Tell Date Defended: January 25, 2018 The dissertation committee for Jonathan Burrow-Branine certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Community of Counter-Conduct: Politics and Practices of LGBTQ Christian Activism in Evangelicalism Chair: Ben Chappell Date Approved: February 23, 2018 ii Abstract Scholars working at the intersections of American religious studies and gender and sexuality studies have broadened our understanding of the overlapping histories of faith communities and LGBTQ social movements in the US. Despite recent contributions to the history of LGBTQ activism in American religious traditions, this scholarship tends to overlook LGBTQ Christian identity work and activism in conservative Christian communities. Based on participant observation fieldwork with a faith-based nonprofit called The Reformation Project (TRP), this dissertation is an ethnography of how some LGBTQ Christians negotiate identity and difference and seek to create change within evangelicalism. TRP is a national parachurch organization with Kansas roots working to change, through grassroots organizing and theological training, mainly conservative evangelical attitudes and teaching about LGBTQ people. The material for the project is drawn from fieldwork with TRP at church services, conferences, organizing meetings, and other places over a twelve-month period beginning in late 2014. While mostly about the strategies and conversations specific to TRP’s efforts to foster change, I also use TRP as a window into broader conversations underway in evangelicalism about what it means to be LGBTQ and Christian. I make two main arguments throughout the dissertation. First, I argue that the LGBTQ Christian activism I studied can be understood as constituting a community of counter-conduct. Drawing on a concept proposed by Michel Foucault to describe movements of resistance that arise within regimes of power, I show how LGBTQ Christian activism in conservative evangelical spaces is productive of new ethical and political possibilities and ways of being. Second, I describe how the LGBTQ and ally Christians I met attempt to create meaningful inclusivity, while wrestling with iii not only the exclusionary politics of conservative evangelicalism but also their own assumptions about what it means to be LGBTQ and a Christian. By doing so, this project provides fuller accounts of the overlapping relationship between evangelical and LGBTQ social movements and the everyday negotiation of identity, politics, and democratic values in religious spaces. iv Acknowledgements No dissertation is possible without a generous and extensive network of peers, friends, family, and even strangers, and mine has been an embarrassment of riches. I want to thank, first and foremost, all of the gracious and inspiring people I met during my fieldwork. In addition to the many people who took the time to speak with me at TRP events, I owe a debt of gratitude to TRP’s staff and the members of the steering committee. Thanks especially to Paul Creekmore and Matthew Vines for tolerating the presence of a shy and inexperienced ethnographer and making this project possible. I can’t imagine having a better dissertation committee. Ben Chappell, my advisor and chair, provided penetrating feedback and encouragement from the very beginning. Ben, I’m thankful for your insistence on thinking more critically about issues like identity, power, and ethnography (or, “deep hanging out,” as I remember you defining the latter in a graduate seminar)—I learned a lot from you. Lynn Davidman opened my eyes to the role of the body in religious practice when I had the opportunity to work with her on her book Becoming Un-orthodox during its final stages. Even more, the experience changed the trajectory of my own work in many other ways, teaching me to think about “how” questions in ethnographic research and how to listen to interviews on multiple levels. Sherrie Tucker introduced me to theory in American studies. I’m grateful for her teaching me how to allow concepts to emerge from the research. I’m even more grateful for her dogged and close readings of my work. Thanks to Henry Bial for demystifying the genres and conventions of academic writing. Watching Henry during a graduate seminar deconstruct journal articles ultimately made this dissertation much stronger, despite the faults it still bears. I’m grateful to Dave Tell for giving me a deep dive into Foucault and v critical theory. The seeds of the conceptual framework for this project were sown in his Foucault and Biopolitics seminar in 2013. Beyond my committee, the numerous drafts of the various stages and chapters of this dissertation benefitted from incisive feedback from a diverse range of people. I had the happy coincidence of meeting Dawne Moon on a hotel elevator at one of TRP’s conferences. Despite rudely interrupting, after I realized who she was, her conversation with someone else on the elevator, Dawne was eager to talk and invited me to dinner the same evening. I’m incredibly grateful for her generosity and the opportunity to exchange fieldwork stories and share ideas. The other members of my graduate cohort helped me sharpen the earliest ideas that formed the foundation of this project. Thanks to Justine Greve, Steve Marston, Saoussen Nour, Bobbi Rahder, Halimah Williams, and Katie Vaggalis. Along the way, I also had the honor of learning from many other amazing graduate students, in American studies and elsewhere, at KU, but especially Crystal Boson, Finn Boson, and Stephanie Krehbiel. Also, a big thank you to Dr. Jennifer Hamer, whose seminar in methods in American studies gave me the self-confidence to pursue an ethnographic project. I would like to thank audience members and fellow-panel discussants for asking tough questions at several academic conferences where I presented early chapter drafts, including at the 2015 AAA annual meeting in Denver; the 2016 MAASA meeting in Lawrence; the 2017 PCA/ACA annual meeting in San Diego; and the 2017 AAR annual meeting in Boston. All through my graduate studies in the Department of American studies, I also had the great joy of teaching in the Humanities Program. The work funded the bulk of this project, but, more importantly, it also gave me the opportunity to work with and learn vi from some truly smart and passionate people. Thanks particularly to all my students over the years. It was an honor to have played a minor role in your development as individuals and informed citizens. All of the Humanities faculty are great, but I would especially like to thank Rick Botkin, Antha Cotten-Spreckelmeyer, Chris Forth, Jenny Heller, Marike Janzen, Sean Seyer, Dale Urie, and Sandi Zimdars-Swartz. The other graduate teaching assistants in the program were similarly inspiring, especially Ashley Acosta-Fox, Amber Beasley, Andrea Clark, Shelly Cline, Marwa Ghazali, Luke Herrington, Terilyn Johnston Huntington, Emily Leck, Ora McWilliams, Brian Moots, Tamara Ricarda Vitale-Keenan, Rachel Schwaller, Damon Talbott, and Heather Yates. I’m grateful for all the stimulating conversations about inclusive pedagogy and the value of a liberal education. I reserve my greatest gratitude for all the family and friends who gave me encouragement and respite throughout this project. Even though I didn’t always have the time and energy to reciprocate, an unbelievable number of friends went out of their way to include me in their lives and express interest in my work. At the risk of offending friends (both old friends back in Wichita and new ones in Kansas City) for not mentioning them by name, I want to thank Andy Campbell and Ronnie Felder, and all the fabulous people I’ve met through them, for being like family to Jane and myself. Finally, I would not have had the flexibility, tenacity, or courage to complete this project without the unwavering support of Jane and her incredible family. I could list almost all of them, but without Gary and Camille, in particular, this dissertation wouldn’t have been possible. Thanks to Ross, Jax, and Abbey for being the best furry writing companions ever. And, to Jane: here we go, you and me. vii My apologies to the many people I didn’t mention by name. I hope you know how thankful I am for all of you. Any errors or omissions are, of course, my own. viii Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 The Reformation Project and Entering the Field ........................................................... 5 Conversations .............................................................................................................. 8 The Restructuring of American Religion and Queer Secularity .................................. 15 Evangelicalism and Counter-Conduct ........................................................................ 27 Setting and Methods .................................................................................................. 37 Chapter Overview .....................................................................................................
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