In this episode, we talk with our wonderful friend and fierce LGBTQ+ Christian advocate Lauren Dempster (she/they). They share the story of their winding faith journey and how they came to terms with their bisexuality and non-binary gender identity. She also talks about the painful process of coming out to her non-affirming church and eventually choosing to leave it.
You can follow Lauren on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @laurensgaylife. Their dog also has an Instagram, @milo.the.rescue. You should also follow The Voyage Meetup, @thevoyagemeetup on Insta--it’s an awesome group for LGBTQ+ people of faith, where April met Lauren! We meet the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month (which is coincidentally when we’ll also be dropping episodes each month!).
Lauren brings up Matthew Vines’ book God and the Gay Christian in this episode as a resource that helped her, and although we didn’t bring this up in the episode, we wanted to explain in the show notes why we would not recommend this book (though we do acknowledge it has been helpful for many people in reconciling their sexuality theologically with their faith). Matthew Vines has managed his own organization, The Reformation Project, quite poorly, particularly when it comes to the work of antiracism--in 2019, the entire staff at RP quit, many of which were people of color. You can get an inside look of what the organizational culture was like in this great article by AnaYelsi Velasco Sanchez- https://medium.com/@anayelsivelascosanchez/when-organizations-devolve-the-whitewashing-of-the-reformation-project-fda9b24cc24f. Also, Matthew Vines’ book and the Reformation Project still assert that sex must only be in the context of marriage, and they do not support ethical polyamourous relationships, so we cannot in good conscience support that purity culture bullshit. Here are some books by other LGBTQ+ authors that we would recommend instead (and the last one is an ally but is good if you’re looking for something very theology-based):
One Coin Found by Emmy Kegler
Undivided by Vicky Beeching
Does Jesus Really Love Me? By Jeff Chu
Bad Theology Kills by Kevin Garcia
Changing Our Mind by David Gushee
Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!
