Rev. Leanne McCall Tigert | Profile

The Rev. Dr. Leanne McCall Tigert is a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, licensed pastoral psychotherapist, adjunct faculty in pastoral care and counseling at Andover Newton Theological School, writer and activist.

Leanne was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1957 and was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1984. She has been an "out" and outspoken activist in word and pen for more than twenty years. She has provided expert testimony at legislative hearings, brought the voice of religious affirmation to secular work for LGBT justice and has been involved with organizations such as the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns and the Religious Coalition of Freedom to Marry throughout the years. 

Tigert is the author of four books--Coming Out Young and Faithful, Coming Out Through Fire: Surviving the Trauma of Homophobia, Coming Out While Staying In, and Transgendering Faith: Identity, Sexuality and Spirituality--as well as numerous articles. Her writing has twice been nominated for Lambda Literary Awards and once has received the Mayflower Award for Social Justice from the Pilgrim Press.

Leanne has been engaged in pioneering work in pastoral counseling to empower individuals and families healing from internalized homophobia and religious shame. She leads trainings for several professional organizations (AAMFT, NASW, etc.) on affirmative psychotherapy with LGBT persons.

Following her work in Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy, Leanne served as the manager for spiritual care and social work in a nonprofit hospice in central New Hampshire, where she lives with her wife, Rev.Dr. Emily Geoghegan. (Their children and grandchildren live nearby.) In that hospice manager role, Leanne provided training for others on serving LGBTQI+ patients and families.

At this time in 2023, Transgendering Faith (edited by Leanne and Maren Tirabassi) is in process of being translated into Swahili and Luganda in order to be used on pastoral training in Uganda and Eastern Africa.

(This biographical statement provided and revised by Leanne Tigert. In the photo, Leanne is on the left with her wife Emily.)

Biography Date: February, 2005; revised 2023

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