Book Launch: CHOOSING LOVE by Dawne Moon & Theresa W. Tobin

Join us for the book launch celebrating the release of CHOOSING LOVE: What LGBTQ+ Christians Can Teach Us All about Relationships, Inclusion, and Justice by Dawne Moon & Theresa W. Tobin!

If a culture war is happening, LGBTQ+ conservative Christians are on the front lines. While many people assume LGBTQ+ people have to say goodbye to the religions with which they grew up, and many do, others occupy the intersection. Choosing Love shows what happens when two identities that seem diametrically opposed—conservative Christian and LGBTQ+—are joined together within one person. Drawing on participant observation and more than one hundred interviews with LGBTQ+ Christians, former Christians, and allies, Dawne Moon and Theresa W. Tobin show how some LGBTQ+ Christians and their allies are working to make their families, churches, and communities more inclusive, loving, and just. These stories expose the brutality of treating shame as a special sacrament for LGBTQ+ people and the toxicity of treating a particular construction of gender as sacred. They teach us the difference between arrogance and relational pride, and that humility is the core of true allyship. They offer contemporary examples of the radical potential of love in movements for social justice.

Written in an approachable style and drawing from diverse sources including Martin Buber, Martin Luther King Jr., Black/Third World feminism, and queer thinkers of color, Choosing Love is for anyone interested in the centrality of relationships in human life, the place of love in the struggle for justice, and the need for justice in any effort to love.

Dawne Moon (she/they) is a queer sociologist who has studied gender, sexuality, and religion for over thirty years. In addition to co-writing Choosing Love, Moon is the author of God, Sex, and Politics, has published in academic journals including Gender & Society, Hypatia, and the American Journal of Sociology. They teach in the department of Social and Cultural Sciences and direct the Gender and Sexualities Studies program at Marquette University. Moon lives in Chicago with their cute queer family and make mosaics and mugs.

Theresa W. Tobin is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Marquette University and Director of the Education Preparedness Program, which creates pathways to higher education for people directly impacted by incarceration. She researches and teaches on topics in feminist philosophy, ethics, and gender and sexuality studies. Her research has appeared in journals such as Hypatia, Feminist International Quarterly, and the Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy. She is a parent of 11-year-old twins and enjoys traveling, camping, cooking, and learning to play the piano.

Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email ZXZlbnRzIHwgd29tZW5hbmRjaGlsZHJlbmZpcnN0ICEgY29t by no later than 14 days before the event. For scholarship tickets or other access needs please email .

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