Preliminary Material

What is it about?

This book documents the contributions that Quakers made to the advancement of gay rights during the mid-twentieth century. Between 1946 to 1973, Quakers established the first social service organization for gay people in the United States, wrote the first public and positive evaluation of gay and lesbian sexuality from a religious perspective, and composed the first public statement in support of bisexuality from a religious assembly. This book will also introduce readers to Quakers who were leaders of gay rights organizations as well as describe the presence of Quakers at pivotal moments in gay rights history.

Featured Image

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The history of how Quaker communities evolved to become more open and welcoming of gay and lesbian people in the mid-twentieth century is not well-known, either within or outside of the Religious Society of Friends. Most books and articles about Quaker history do not describe the development of liberal Quaker views on gay and lesbian people, and most books and articles about gay rights history do not examine the important influence of Quakers in the emergence and development of the gay rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the field of LGBTIAQ+ religious studies, there is not a single text devoted to a comprehensive understanding of how the Quaker tradition has historically, culturally, and theologically related to gay and lesbian sexuality. This book provides one of the first scholarly accounts of Quaker contributions to gay liberation during the mid-twentieth century.

Perspectives