Adriaan van Klinken & Johanna Stiebert 
Sacred Queer Stories [EPUB ebook] 
Ugandan LGBTQ+ Refugee Lives & the Bible

An invaluable insight into the narrative politics and theologies of LGBTQ+ life-storytelling, a key text for those in African Humanities, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, and Refugee Studies.


Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories – Daniel in the Lions’ Den (Old Testament) and Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery (New Testament) –
Sacred Queer Stories explores how readings of biblical stories can reveal their experiences of struggle, their hopes for the future, and their faith in God and humanity. Arguing that the telling of life-stories of marginalised people, such as of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, affirms embodied existence and agency, is socially and politically empowering, and enables human solidarity, the authors also show how the Bible as an authoritative religious text and popular cultural archive in Africa is often used against LGBTQ+ people but can also be reclaimed as a site of meaning, healing, and empowerment. The result of a collaborative project between UK-based academics and a Nairobi-based organisation of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, the book provides a valuable insight into the narrative politics and theologies of LGBTQ+ life-storytelling. A key text for those in African Humanities, Queer Studies, Religious Studies, and Refugee Studies, among others, the book expresses an innovative methodology of inter-reading queer life-stories and biblical stories.

Cuprins

Foreword, by
Stella Nyanzi

Introduction

PART I: UGANDAN LGBTQ+ REFUGEE LIFE STORIES

Story 1: It’s my nature, this is who I am

Story 2: It’s not like heaven here

Story 3: Here we are free to express ourselves without fear

Story 4: I consider this as my new family

Story 5: Personally, I think God is gay

Story 6: Angels don’t have a gender

Story 7: God loves me more than they love me

Story 8: I just wanted an opportunity to express myself

Story 9: I was chased away from the garden of heaven

Story 10: First and foremost, I want to be a free person

Story 11: God has a purpose for us all

Story 12: God doesn’t make mistakes

PART II: INTER-READING UGANDAN LGBTQ+ LIFE STORIES AND BIBLE STORIES

1. Inter-reading Life Stories and Bible Stories

2. Daniel in the Homophobic Lions’ Den

Poem: ‘The Company of Men!’, by
Tom Rogers Muyunga-Mukasa

3. Jesus and the Guys Charged with Indecency

Poem: ‘Accused of a Sodomy Act’, by
Tom Rogers Muyunga-Mukasa

4. Reflection: A Postcolonial and Self-reflexive Reading

Conclusion

Despre autor

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.