Re-imagining bisexuality and Christianity: The negotiation of Christianity in the lives of bisexual women and men

Abstract

Research exploring non-heterosexual sexuality and Christianity has tended to conflate 'lesbian and gay', with 'bisexual', effacing the latter. This article explores how bisexual women and men in particular understand their Christianity, where they have been denied access to institutionalised Christianity and have re-imagined their faith. I examine how bisexuality is understood by popular Christian denominations and how respondents challenge these standpoints. The respondents reshaped their faith to be more inclusive of bisexuality and re-imagined their sexuality to fit with their religious faith. I draw upon data from 80 self-completion questionnaires and 20 in-depth interviews.

Intimacy negotiated: The management of relationships and the construction of personal communities in the lives of bisexual women and men

“…Phillip's experience is often reflected in the proliferating research literature on the tension experienced by religious lesbian, gay and bisexual people in their attempts to manage their sexual and religious identities in everyday contexts (e.g. Taylor, 2016;Toft, 2012aToft, , 2012bToft, , 2014Yip, 2010). Jim, a 26-year-old from the Midlands, also took a highly personalized approach to the resolution of his sexuality and religious faith.…”

Exploring the Intersection of Bisexual and Christian Identities: The Negotiation of Gendered Attraction in Intimate Lives

“…In order to explore whether the participants rejected gendered attraction and prioritise other attributes, the chapter will first explore how this fits with bisexual and Christian discourse. I have previously argued (Toft, 2014) that my participants felt more committed to their bisexual identities, with some describing it as their core identity.…”

“…This represents a shift in my understanding of their experiences and how identities are inextricablylinked. Whereas previously my work (e.g., Toft, 2009Toft, , 2012Toft, , 2014 has explored identities as formed entities which exist alongside each other and form the person's 'self', here I acknowledge that in reality referring to an individual's 'bisexual self' or 'Christian self' is reductive and restricts the representation of their experience.…”

Bisexuality

“…These findings are reflected in the literature about faith and sexuality more broadly, which indicate the reclamation of traditionally homophobic and biphobic faiths (including Christianity and Islam) in some countries by LGBT people. For example, Angelia Wilson (2000) describes the way in which Southern US Christian gays and lesbians are developing their own churches and interpretations of Christianity, whilst Farhang Rouhani (2007) discusses Al-Fatiha, a prominent queer Muslim group in the USA (see also Peumans, 2014;Toft, 2014).…”