Sacred Queer Stories

ADRIAAN VAN KLINKEN is Professor of Religion and African Studies, University of Leeds and Director of the Leeds University Centre for African Studies and of the Centre for Religion and Public Life. His books include Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism and Arts of Resistance in Africa (Penn State University Press, 2019), Religions in Contemporary Africa: An Introduction (co-authored with Laura Grillo and Hassan Ndzovu; Routledge, 2019) and Transforming Masculinities in African Christianity: Gender Controversies in Times of AIDS (Ashgate, 2013) (Routledge, 2019). He is Co-Chair, African Religions Group, American Academy of Religion, Executive editor of Religion and Gender and a member of the editorial boards of Religion; Reading Religion; African Journal of Gender and Religion and Journal of Africana Religions. JOHANNA STIEBERT is Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Leeds and Deputy Head of School (School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science). She is the author of Rape Myths, the Bible, and #MeToo (Routledge, 2020), First-Degree Incest and the Hebrew Bible: Sex in the Family (Bloomsbury T&T Clark 2016) and co-editor of The Bible, Centres and Margins: Dialogues Between Postcolonial African and British Biblical Scholars (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018). She is on the editorial boards of Journal for Biblical Studies, Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies and Oguaa: Journal of Religion and Human Values. SEBYALA BRIAN is co-founder of The Nature Network, the first LGBTIQ refugee organization in Nairobi. Sebyala is Coordinator, with overall management of the organisation. FREDRICK HUDSON is co-founder of The Nature Network, the first LGBTIQ refugee organization in Nairobi. Frederick is responsibile for communications and media strategy. He is also a Research assistant on a project headed by the University of Leeds.

• Foreword, by Stella Nyanzi IntroductionPART I: UGANDAN LGBTQ+ REFUGEE LIFE STORIESStory 1: It's my nature, this is who I amStory 2: It's not like heaven hereStory 3: Here we are free to express ourselves without fearStory 4: I consider this as my new familyStory 5: Personally, I think God is gayStory 6: Angels don't have a genderStory 7: God loves me more than they love meStory 8: I just wanted an opportunity to express myselfStory 9: I was chased away from the garden of heavenStory 10: First and foremost, I want to be a free personStory 11: God has a purpose for us allStory 12: God doesn't make mistakesPART II: INTER-READING UGANDAN LGBTQ+ LIFE STORIES AND BIBLE STORIES1. Inter-reading Life Stories and Bible Stories2. Daniel in the Homophobic Lions' DenPoem: 'The Company of Men!', by Tom Rogers Muyunga-Mukasa3. Jesus and the Guys Charged with IndecencyPoem: 'Accused of a Sodomy Act', by Tom Rogers Muyunga-Mukasa4. Reflection: A Postcolonial and Self-reflexive ReadingConclusion

Sacred Queer Stories is a daring exposition of the relationship between LGBTQ+ experiences and religious stories that need to be further explored. Aside from recounting personal stories, the text has become an indispensable landmark for alternative interpretations of religious texts in Africa that position such texts as friendly and corrective rather than horrific and repelling