Exploring the intersections of gender, sexuality, and kinship within the context of Latter-day Saint theology and history, this provocative book theorizes the Mormon faith's complex relationship with heteronormativity and its history of anti-LGBTQ teaching and practice. Taylor G. Petrey delves into both traditional and contemporary interpretations of Mormon teachings, challenging conventional views by proposing that Mormonism, despite its conservative leanings, contains elements that can be reinterpreted through a queer lens. Petrey reexamines and resignifies Mormon cosmology through the lens of queer theory, offering a fresh perspective on divine relationships, gender fluidity, and the concept of kinship itself.
Petrey's work draws together queer studies and the academic study of religion in new ways, providing a nuanced understanding of how religious narratives and doctrines can be reimagined to include more diverse interpretations of identity and community.
Taylor G. Petrey is professor of religion at Kalamazoo College and author of Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism.
