Thursday, June 25, 2026
5 pm Pacific/6 pm Mountain/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern
Join us as we discuss a new and groundbreaking history of evangelicalism and homosexuality in the United States. In Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity (Princeton University Press, 2026), William Stell argues that evangelical homophobia used to be much less dominant and much more vulnerable than it has been in recent years. The book traces efforts in the 1970s and 1980s to open the doors of evangelical churches to the relationships and ministries of their gay and lesbian members. Through extensive interviews and archival research, Stell crafts a historical account that alters conventional thinking about the evangelical movement and LGBTQ+ activism.
William Stell, PhD is a faculty fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at New York University. He will be in conversation with Danny Ballon-Garst, a scholar of religion and sexuality in the United States who recently completed his PhD in American religious history at Emory University.