{"id":13645,"date":"2020-06-29T08:03:52","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T12:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=13645"},"modified":"2022-03-21T16:13:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T20:13:44","slug":"religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion Chair’s Book Offers ‘Glimmers of Hope’ for LGBTQ Mormons"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Religion
Kalamazoo College Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey wrote Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism<\/em> as a history of gender identity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Religion
Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey has authored his second book, Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An often-forgotten member of the religious right and its views on gender identity are the subjects of a historical book released this month by Kalamazoo College Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey.<\/p>\n

Petrey said the post-World War II views of Evangelicals and conservative Catholics are well-documented, as they traditionally reflect political opposition to feminism, same-sex relationships and trans identities. But what about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons? That record has been incomplete if not completely non-existent until the release of Petrey\u2019s book Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism, <\/em>published by the University of North Carolina Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to situate Latter-day Saints in a broader conversation about the nature of gender and sexuality,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cI\u2019m showing what\u2019s most surprising is that even conservative religious groups think not that gender and sexuality are fixed and predetermined or divinely ordained categories, but rather they rely on social constructions of gender to make sense of conservative teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LDS Church\u2019s leadership and older generations of church members have steadfastly maintained conservative views related to gender identity despite experiencing some discrimination themselves from other denominations.<\/p>\n

\u201cLatter-day Saints have often felt that sting of being excluded from the broader culture of Christianity,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cBut one of the strategies they\u2019ve used to integrate themselves into the broader culture of Christianity has been to adopt these conservative values and create social and political alliances with the religious right. That made a lot of sense after World War II. It created a kind of alliance or shared identity to say, \u2018We\u2019re Christians just like you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

However, younger generations of Latter-day Saints in congregations nationwide have commonly aligned themselves with more progressive views.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a local level, you might find a diverse range of views on these topics with a generational divide,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cYounger members tend to be much more liberal. They might not be as liberal as generational peers, but much more than their own older generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views as a result of this trend. Yet the historical record shows how the church\u2019s teachings have shifted somewhat, prompting some optimistic outlooks for Mormons in the LGBTQ community, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe popular story that most people know or believe is that the church has never changed its teachings,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cIt\u2019s a common way that many churches express themselves. \u2018We\u2019ve always taught this.\u2019 What the book shows, actually, is the church has changed its teachings quite a bit in the last 70 years. And for many people, that gives some glimmers of hope that it may continue to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petrey\u2019s\u00a0first\u00a0book,\u00a0Resurrecting Parts: Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction and Sexual Difference,\u00a0<\/em>was released\u00a0in 2015. He also edited\u00a0Re-Making the World Christianity and Categories: Essays in Honor of Karen L. King<\/em>\u00a0in 2019 and the just-published co-edited volume The Routledge Handbook on Mormonism and Gender <\/em>in 2020.\u00a0In 2018,\u00a0Petrey\u00a0was prominently interviewed in\u00a0Church and State<\/em><\/a>, a documentary about the toppling of Utah’s gay marriage ban,\u00a0and\u00a0he\u00a0currently is the editor of\u00a0Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought<\/em>.\u00a0Plus,\u00a0his latest\u00a0work,\u00a0available online<\/a>\u00a0and at bookstores,\u00a0has generated public enthusiasm since the first advance copies were distributed about six weeks ago\u00a0and Petrey is looking forward to receiving more feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been overwhelmed by the positive response,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cImmediately, the most eager readers were other Latter-day Saints, especially gay Latter-day Saints, and I\u2019ve been incredibly happy with the first reviews that have come out online and the buzz about the book so far.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An often-forgotten member of the religious right and its views on gender identity are the subjects of a historical book released this month by Kalamazoo College Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey. Petrey said the post-World War II views of Evangelicals and conservative Catholics are well-documented, as they traditionally reflect political opposition to feminism, same-sex relationships […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":13652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233],"tags":[39,66],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-13645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","tag-faculty","tag-religion"],"yoast_head":"\r\nReligion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-29T12:03:52+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-21T20:13:44+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"856\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1360\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-29T12:03:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-21T20:13:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\"},\"description\":\"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg\",\"width\":856,\"height\":1360,\"caption\":\"Tabernacles of Clay\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Religion Chair’s Book Offers ‘Glimmers of Hope’ for LGBTQ Mormons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News and Events\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\",\"name\":\"Andy Brown\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Brown\"},\"description\":\"As the Director of News and Social Media, Andy shares the stories that distinguish Kalamazoo College through social media, the Web and the news media. Contact him at abrown@kzoo.edu.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/contact-us\/\"]}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Religion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons","description":"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Religion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons","og_description":"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.","og_url":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/","og_site_name":"News and Events","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege","article_published_time":"2020-06-29T12:03:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-21T20:13:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":856,"height":1360,"url":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@kcollege","twitter_site":"@kcollege","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Brown","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/","url":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/","name":"Religion Chair's Book Offers 'Glimmers of Hope' for LGBTQ Mormons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-29T12:03:52+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-21T20:13:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166"},"description":"The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views. Yet the historical record shows the church\u2019s teachings have shifted, prompting optimism.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","width":856,"height":1360,"caption":"Tabernacles of Clay"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Religion Chair’s Book Offers ‘Glimmers of Hope’ for LGBTQ Mormons"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/","name":"News and Events","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166","name":"Andy Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andy Brown"},"description":"As the Director of News and Social Media, Andy shares the stories that distinguish Kalamazoo College through social media, the Web and the news media. Contact him at abrown@kzoo.edu.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/contact-us\/"]}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Andy Brown","author_link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/author\/abrown\/"},"guten_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",856,1360,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay-94x150.jpg",94,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay-300x477.jpg",300,477,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",856,1360,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay-504x800.jpg",504,800,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",856,1360,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",856,1360,false],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",252,400,false],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",378,600,false],"pl-blogpost-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",252,400,false],"pl-blogpost-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",378,600,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",504,800,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",856,1360,false],"guten_post_layout_square_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",755,1200,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",252,400,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",566,900,false],"guten_post_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",378,600,false],"campus-posts-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",189,300,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",189,300,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",252,400,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay.jpg",378,600,false]},"category_info":"<a aria-label=\"archive of category Faculty & Staff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/faculty-staff\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Faculty & Staff<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/faculty\/\" rel=\"tag\">faculty<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/religion\/\" rel=\"tag\">religion<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/religion\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<figure id=\"attachment_13647\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13647\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-13647 size-full\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Tabernacles-of-Clay-History-of-Mormons.jpg\" alt=\"Religion Department Chairman's Book Tabernacles of Clay\" width=\"300\" height=\"453\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13647\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kalamazoo College Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey wrote <em>Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism<\/em> as a history of gender identity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13649\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13649\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-13649\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/06\/Religion-Department-Chair-Taylor-Petrey-300x450.jpg\" alt=\"Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey\" width=\"250\" height=\"370\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13649\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey has authored his second book, <em>Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An often-forgotten member of the religious right and its views on gender identity are the subjects of a historical book released this month by Kalamazoo College Religion Department Chair Taylor Petrey.<\/p>\n<p>Petrey said the post-World War II views of Evangelicals and conservative Catholics are well-documented, as they traditionally reflect political opposition to feminism, same-sex relationships and trans identities. But what about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons? That record has been incomplete if not completely non-existent until the release of Petrey\u2019s book <em>Tabernacles of Clay: Sexuality and Gender in Modern Mormonism, <\/em>published by the University of North Carolina Press.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m trying to situate Latter-day Saints in a broader conversation about the nature of gender and sexuality,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cI\u2019m showing what\u2019s most surprising is that even conservative religious groups think not that gender and sexuality are fixed and predetermined or divinely ordained categories, but rather they rely on social constructions of gender to make sense of conservative teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The LDS Church\u2019s leadership and older generations of church members have steadfastly maintained conservative views related to gender identity despite experiencing some discrimination themselves from other denominations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLatter-day Saints have often felt that sting of being excluded from the broader culture of Christianity,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cBut one of the strategies they\u2019ve used to integrate themselves into the broader culture of Christianity has been to adopt these conservative values and create social and political alliances with the religious right. That made a lot of sense after World War II. It created a kind of alliance or shared identity to say, \u2018We\u2019re Christians just like you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, younger generations of Latter-day Saints in congregations nationwide have commonly aligned themselves with more progressive views.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a local level, you might find a diverse range of views on these topics with a generational divide,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cYounger members tend to be much more liberal. They might not be as liberal as generational peers, but much more than their own older generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The book doesn\u2019t push for change toward more progressive views as a result of this trend. Yet the historical record shows how the church\u2019s teachings have shifted somewhat, prompting some optimistic outlooks for Mormons in the LGBTQ community, for example.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe popular story that most people know or believe is that the church has never changed its teachings,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cIt\u2019s a common way that many churches express themselves. \u2018We\u2019ve always taught this.\u2019 What the book shows, actually, is the church has changed its teachings quite a bit in the last 70 years. And for many people, that gives some glimmers of hope that it may continue to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Petrey\u2019s\u00a0first\u00a0book,\u00a0<em>Resurrecting Parts: Early Christians on Desire, Reproduction and Sexual Difference,\u00a0<\/em>was released\u00a0in 2015. He also edited\u00a0<em>Re-Making the World Christianity and Categories: Essays in Honor of Karen L. King<\/em>\u00a0in 2019 and the just-published co-edited volume <em>The Routledge Handbook on Mormonism and Gender <\/em>in 2020.\u00a0In 2018,\u00a0Petrey\u00a0was prominently interviewed in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/gay-marriage-documentary\/\"><em>Church and State<\/em><\/a>, a documentary about the toppling of Utah’s gay marriage ban,\u00a0and\u00a0he\u00a0currently is the editor of\u00a0<em>Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought<\/em>.\u00a0Plus,\u00a0his latest\u00a0work,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/uncpress.org\/book\/9781469656229\/tabernacles-of-clay\/\">available online<\/a>\u00a0and at bookstores,\u00a0has generated public enthusiasm since the first advance copies were distributed about six weeks ago\u00a0and Petrey is looking forward to receiving more feedback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been overwhelmed by the positive response,\u201d Petrey said. \u201cImmediately, the most eager readers were other Latter-day Saints, especially gay Latter-day Saints, and I\u2019ve been incredibly happy with the first reviews that have come out online and the buzz about the book so far.\u201d<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13645"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13651,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645\/revisions\/13651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13645"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=13645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}