Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays
About: This article is published in Sociology of Religion.The article was published on 2013-06-01. It has received 47 citations till now.
Citations
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TL;DR: Regression analyses revealed gender and race were significant predictors of attitudes toward various sexual and gender categories, and holding a literalistic view of the Bible and self-identifying as more religious were related to more negative views toward sexual minorities, while self- identifying as more spiritual was related toMore positive views.
Abstract: Prior research has reported that many Americans hold prejudicial attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities. Most of this research analyzed attitudes toward target categories in isolation and not in relation to attitudes toward heterosexuals. In addition, most previous research has not examined attitudes of members of sexual and gender minority categories toward other categories. While some research has examined the influence of religiosity on attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities, none of these studies has examined religiosity while also examining the influence of spirituality. In this article we drew on insights from queer theory to examine attitudes toward heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, as well as individuals who practice polygamy, among college students. Three samples gathered over a four-year period (2009, 2011, 2013) at a private, nonsectarian, midsized urban university in the Southeastern United States were used. We found that heterosexuals had the most positive rating, followed in order of rating by gay=lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and then those who practice polygamy. Regression analyses revealed gender and race were significant predictors of attitudes toward various sexual and gender categories. Holding a literalistic view of the Bible and self-identifying as more religious were related to more negative views toward sexual minorities, while self-identifying as more spiritual was related to more positive views.
95 citations
Cites background from "Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinar..."
...While there is certainly diversity within religious attitudes toward various groups (Cragun, 2013), our findings echo queer suggestions (Barton, 2012) that religious practice may lie at the heart of prejudicial attitudes toward sexual minorities....
[...]
TL;DR: The article looks beyond major categorical differences to understand how and why identities evolve and vary and to reveal the fundamental interplay of demographic, cultural, and other city features previously thought isolatable.
Abstract: Tools from the study of neighborhood effects, place distinction, and regional identity are employed in an ethnography of four small cities with growing populations of lesbian, bisexual, and queer-identified (LBQ) women to explain why orientations to sexual identity are relatively constant within each site, despite informants' within-city demographic heterogeneity, but vary substantially across the sites, despite common place-based attributes. The author introduces the concept of "sexual identity cultures"--and reveals the defining role of cities in shaping their contours. She finds that LBQ numbers and acceptance, place narratives, and newcomers' encounters with local social attributes serve as touchstones. The article looks beyond major categorical differences (e.g., urban/rural) to understand how and why identities evolve and vary and to reveal the fundamental interplay of demographic, cultural, and other city features previously thought isolatable. The findings challenge notions of identity as fixed and emphasize the degree to which self-understanding and group understanding remain collective accomplishments.
93 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that soci... sociologists have revealed the inadequacy of rational choice explanations of religion and pointed out the need for new lines of research and theorizing to reveal the shortcomings of rational explanation of religion.
Abstract: Over the last three decades, fruitful new lines of research and theorizing have revealed the inadequacy of secularization and rational choice explanations of religion. This article argues that soci...
93 citations
Cites background from "Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinar..."
...There are numerous explorations of the experience of queer believers who have struggled against religious definitions of their sexuality as sinful and disordered (Barton 2012; Thumma and Gray 2004)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this paper, the limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and gender equality are discussed based on 20 interviews with cisgender, heterosexual Christian women, demonstrating how even peop...
Abstract: This article addresses limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and gender equality. Based on 20 interviews with cisgender, heterosexual Christian women, we demonstrate how even peop...
54 citations
Book•
28 Apr 2020TL;DR: Enriquez et al. as discussed by the authors explored how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain dating, marriage, and parenting.
Abstract: Of Love and Papers explores how immigration policies are fundamentally reshaping Latino families. Drawing on interviews with undocumented young adults, Enriquez investigates how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain dating, marriage, and parenting. She illustrates how the imprint of illegality remains, even upon obtaining DACA or permanent residency. Interweaving the perspectives of US citizen romantic partners and children, she exposes the multigenerational punishment that limits the upward mobility of Latino families. Of Love and Papers sparks an intimate understanding of contemporary US immigration policies and their enduring consequences for immigrant families. “By highlighting the ways US immigration policies shape the experiences of romantic love, intimacy, and family formation, Enriquez’s meticulous research calls attention to the enduring injurious effects on undocumented and DACAmented young adults, and on their citizen spouses and children. An innovative and sobering account of the far-reaching consequences of our punishing immigration policies. Timely and compelling.” PIERRETTE HONDAGNEU-SOTELO, Florence Everline Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California “In an engaging and methodologically rigorous narrative, Enriquez sheds novel light on the courtship and dating phase of family formation among undocumented and/or mixed status Mexican immigrant families. Undeniably, it will be of central interest to anyone who cares about immigrants and their families.” CECILIA MENJIVAR, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles LAURA E. ENRIQUEZ is Assistant Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine.
49 citations
References
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TL;DR: Regression analyses revealed gender and race were significant predictors of attitudes toward various sexual and gender categories, and holding a literalistic view of the Bible and self-identifying as more religious were related to more negative views toward sexual minorities, while self- identifying as more spiritual was related toMore positive views.
Abstract: Prior research has reported that many Americans hold prejudicial attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities. Most of this research analyzed attitudes toward target categories in isolation and not in relation to attitudes toward heterosexuals. In addition, most previous research has not examined attitudes of members of sexual and gender minority categories toward other categories. While some research has examined the influence of religiosity on attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities, none of these studies has examined religiosity while also examining the influence of spirituality. In this article we drew on insights from queer theory to examine attitudes toward heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, as well as individuals who practice polygamy, among college students. Three samples gathered over a four-year period (2009, 2011, 2013) at a private, nonsectarian, midsized urban university in the Southeastern United States were used. We found that heterosexuals had the most positive rating, followed in order of rating by gay=lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and then those who practice polygamy. Regression analyses revealed gender and race were significant predictors of attitudes toward various sexual and gender categories. Holding a literalistic view of the Bible and self-identifying as more religious were related to more negative views toward sexual minorities, while self-identifying as more spiritual was related to more positive views.
95 citations
TL;DR: The article looks beyond major categorical differences to understand how and why identities evolve and vary and to reveal the fundamental interplay of demographic, cultural, and other city features previously thought isolatable.
Abstract: Tools from the study of neighborhood effects, place distinction, and regional identity are employed in an ethnography of four small cities with growing populations of lesbian, bisexual, and queer-identified (LBQ) women to explain why orientations to sexual identity are relatively constant within each site, despite informants' within-city demographic heterogeneity, but vary substantially across the sites, despite common place-based attributes. The author introduces the concept of "sexual identity cultures"--and reveals the defining role of cities in shaping their contours. She finds that LBQ numbers and acceptance, place narratives, and newcomers' encounters with local social attributes serve as touchstones. The article looks beyond major categorical differences (e.g., urban/rural) to understand how and why identities evolve and vary and to reveal the fundamental interplay of demographic, cultural, and other city features previously thought isolatable. The findings challenge notions of identity as fixed and emphasize the degree to which self-understanding and group understanding remain collective accomplishments.
93 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that soci... sociologists have revealed the inadequacy of rational choice explanations of religion and pointed out the need for new lines of research and theorizing to reveal the shortcomings of rational explanation of religion.
Abstract: Over the last three decades, fruitful new lines of research and theorizing have revealed the inadequacy of secularization and rational choice explanations of religion. This article argues that soci...
93 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and gender equality are discussed based on 20 interviews with cisgender, heterosexual Christian women, demonstrating how even peop...
Abstract: This article addresses limitations of homonormativity in the pursuit of sexual and gender equality. Based on 20 interviews with cisgender, heterosexual Christian women, we demonstrate how even peop...
54 citations
Book•
28 Apr 2020TL;DR: Enriquez et al. as discussed by the authors explored how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain dating, marriage, and parenting.
Abstract: Of Love and Papers explores how immigration policies are fundamentally reshaping Latino families. Drawing on interviews with undocumented young adults, Enriquez investigates how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain dating, marriage, and parenting. She illustrates how the imprint of illegality remains, even upon obtaining DACA or permanent residency. Interweaving the perspectives of US citizen romantic partners and children, she exposes the multigenerational punishment that limits the upward mobility of Latino families. Of Love and Papers sparks an intimate understanding of contemporary US immigration policies and their enduring consequences for immigrant families. “By highlighting the ways US immigration policies shape the experiences of romantic love, intimacy, and family formation, Enriquez’s meticulous research calls attention to the enduring injurious effects on undocumented and DACAmented young adults, and on their citizen spouses and children. An innovative and sobering account of the far-reaching consequences of our punishing immigration policies. Timely and compelling.” PIERRETTE HONDAGNEU-SOTELO, Florence Everline Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California “In an engaging and methodologically rigorous narrative, Enriquez sheds novel light on the courtship and dating phase of family formation among undocumented and/or mixed status Mexican immigrant families. Undeniably, it will be of central interest to anyone who cares about immigrants and their families.” CECILIA MENJIVAR, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles LAURA E. ENRIQUEZ is Assistant Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine.
49 citations