here were quite a few writers I knew (of) in this book which gave it a stronger connection than if it had been 24 unknown writers. Rev Kate Botley writes an afterword and Juno Dawson and Amrou Al-Kadhi, Dustin Lance Black, Jeanette Winterson for a few. The book offers essays by believers and non-believers and from a variety of religious traditions, including Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and various branches of Christianity, with some changing branches or coming to or from the church. All of them take exception to the way religion has approached people from the LGBTQIA+ community, some have found peace and acceptance (both ways) and some haven't and there is no judgement made by the book as a whole.

We see triumphs, such as Dustin Lance Black returning to a big Pride celebration run by people from the Church of Latter Day Saints and Tamsin Omond managing to pull together a wedding ceremony in the middle of an Extinction Rebellion protest, and of course moments of darkness, escape and clarity. John L. Bell's account of speaking out after 30 years of not mentioning his sexuality was very moving, and there was a lot of intersectionality of race and LGBTQIA+ status, too. Kate Bottley's piece at the end, sharing how she eventually spoke out about equal marriage and has supported her child and gone on Pride marches with her was lovely, too. An honest and wide-ranging read that I'm glad to have finally got to.

A book that everyone should read. It is very interesting and there are some interesting stories and also some heartbreaking ones too.
I found it both interesting and fascinating in equal measure

Really interesting topics discussed in every entry, and really had me as the reader unpicking my own beliefs, and even bias, on religion and queer identity being one.

So many heartbreaking stories, and each voice built together really beautifully. Fascinating insights into a variety of experiences. A really important book, would recommend to anyone

Featuring essays from well known authors, Jeanette Winterson and Juno Dawson and the screenwriter and director Dustin Lance Black, The Book of Queer Prophets looks at the what it means to be religious and a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Book of Queer Prophets is a thought-provoking read, but I found it a little uneven. This is often the case with anthologies, where I connect with some writers and essays more than others. While there are essays about Islam and Judaism, this is a predominately Christian focused collection. It is also western-centric.

The afterword is an essay by Reverend Kate Bottley, familiar to many people as a result of appearing on Gogglebox, about how she became an LGBTQ+ ally. I understand why her experience was included, but I think the range of religious LGBTQ+ people we heard from could have been expanded before including allies.

Overall, I would recommend The Book of Queer Prophets if you are looking to broaden your LGBTQ+ non-fiction reading. The standout essays for me were The Queer Prophet by Amrou Al-Kadhi, Mustangs and Mama Dragons by Dustin Lance Black and A Letter to My Nephew by Jarel Robinson-Brown.

I have always been interested in how those who are both queer and religious reconcile the two aspects of their identities. In this superb essay collection there is a piece on said topic, but there are also a plethora of other writings that address and explore many facets of queer and LGBTQ+ identity from a variety of different angles. It's a fascinating, poignant and deeply moving anthology featuring several interesting, up-and-coming writers with plenty of relevant things to say and add to the conversation on LGBTQ+ rights.

This was a gorgeous collection of essays about the queer identity. A book to make you think, brimming with an uplifting and hopeful edge

I was intrigued to try this ARC because of its main themes, and I was very interested to see how these themes interacted with each other: the LGBT+ community and the perspective of the religious community. This collection of essays is accessible in that it provides a huge variety of voices: from queer perspectives to religious allyships, to religious queer people, the list goes on, and I think it offers a really good opportunity to celebrate what diversity is all about - offering a unique and interesting variety of insights in life, to accept difference and act in harmony. Of course, there is a huge history behind LGBT+ relations and religion, but this really celebrates the idea of the queer prophet and is a useful educational resource. Essays, I think, make this even more appealing to access because it makes readers more like to click with at least one of the different voices, thereby making the book in whole more relatable to a wider range of people. It breaks the collection up into different voices to really emphasise the power of listening to people with differing values and living life with appreciation of others.

The Book of Queer Prophets contains a multitude of fascinating insights from a spectrum of LGBTQ+ authors on their own relationships with their sexuality, gender identity and their faith (or lack of). Established, well known names such as Jeanette Winterson – who of course provides one of the most compelling, beautifully written essays of the bunch – rub shoulders with lesser-known authors. These essays are, for the most part, very moving – even the ones that come to a happier conclusion than their siblings.

As someone who is queer myself, I found the explorations of faith very interesting. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of religion and faith from an outside perspective, and these essays examine faith so thoroughly from every angle. In particular, I was very taken on a personal level with Jay Hulme’s ‘How To Get God’s Attention’, as I too find cathedrals to be very peaceful, contemplative places. Hulme managed to put into words much of my own experience of these ancient, beautiful buildings.

If there is one criticism I have, I’d like the spectrum of authors to be broader than it is. It seems the balance is skewed quite heavily towards cis, white authors, and I’d have liked to hear more from trans or non-binary writers as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK (William Collins) for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can't even begin to articulate how I felt whilst reading this book. It's equal parts inspiring and heart-breaking. As someone who isn't religious, I was really interested to hear the stories of people on the lgbtq+ spectrum speaking about their own voices stories of their experiences with religion.

This book explores various religious beliefs and their stance on the lgbtq+ community, most of which on a base level seem to deny the identity of those who are different, and don't conform to a ""regular"" heterosexual relationship between a man and a woman. Yet, on a deeper level and through some more progressive figures in each of these authors' lives, they managed to break through that base level belief and find a place in their life where they can be happy with their faith and sexuality intertwining and I love that so much. We see a lot of negativity where the lqbtq+ communities and religion meet and this book doesn't deny the negativity, but instead tells true, inspiring stories of people overcoming this divide.

I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to read this book and I'm honestly just in awe of all of these authors and their stories. I think that this book could be so incredibly valuable to an lgbtq+ audience who feel as though they don't fit in within their religious communities. It's so important for there to be more of these own voices stories out there.

After much thought, I have decided to DNF this book. I wanted to feel inspired by the stories, - and for the most part I was, but not enough to keep reading this. I was drawn to this because of my own faith and sexuality. I have been trying to figure out a way to balance my faith and my queerness and I waited for a sense of community and belonging which never came. Maybe I projected and expected things from this book and I wasn't receptive to what it could give me instead. I think I have a problem with the format - some of these essays were too short and I would have liked more substance at times. What would happen is that I would be invested in what they were saying, only for the essay to end abruptly.
Even if I didn't finish this, I loved how honest and raw some of these essays were. Some of the authors shared their own traumatic and often painful experiences and it was kind of triggering for me - I didn't respond to these things well but I still think they're necessary. But it wasn't all dark; some parts were uplifting and I love how they all say that it's okay to be yourself. It's not so much about religion but what others make of it. This collection is a brilliant idea and I found some of these stories very informative and I have no doubt that it will help many other religious and queer people navigate their faith.

An interesting collection of essays on the topic of religion and sexuality. This was a hard one for me at times. It was definitely best read as singular essays, put down for a while for some thinking time and then moving onto the next one - so it took about a month to read and digest.

To be honest I picked up this due to Ruth Hunt being attached to the book. Some of the essays are of better quality than others, and naturally some spoke to me more than others too.

I'd recommend this to anyone - in fact I think it should be read by everybody, whether people of faith or LGBTQ+ or not.

I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Queer Prophets is the book I needed when I was coming out. I was raised in a strict evangelical American style church in the UK. When I first tried to come out to my Mum at 13 , she immediately told me I was going to hell, this book would have been an fantastic resource for both of us, providing relatable stories grounded in faith.

The Book of Queer Prophets is a collection of essays by LGBTQ+ people of a variety of different faiths and religious affiliations discussing their own experiences navigating their sexuality within the confines of their religion, and their religion within the confines of their sexuality. The folx writing the essays often had to forge a new path for themselves, and they explain how they did so and what elements of scripture that they found comfort and acceptance in.

The tone and styles of the essays vary, as do the epxeriences of the people writing them. I personally found the content rich, relatable and wholly important. I think this book aimed at teens and adults and I am definitely going to purchase a copy for my mum on release day with the hope that it will help us each understand each other's perspectives.

As someone who is queer, but has never been religious, I’ve always been curious to hear from those who have overlapping experiences with the two. This book was a fascinating blend of stories that were all incredibly unique, between the author’s queer identity, culture, upbringing, and faith, or lack thereof. It allowed me some insight into common experiences that queer people raised in religious households may have, while also making it clear that there is no single way to be queer, or religious, and any combination of the two is entirely possible to exist as. Though I’ve met queer people before who’ve managed to reconcile their faith with their identity, I also knew that for many, this is not the case, and sometimes is entirely impossible for them specifically. It’s a difficult book to read in some places, and incredibly frustrating at times, but on the whole it’s beautiful to read about those who have learned to exist with connections to both their identity and faith, and even more important to read about those who haven’t.

This book is beautifully written and honestly makes you think.

The honest truths and feelings that people have had when questioning part of their identity is heartbreaking and something I feel like many people can relate to. This book doesn’t focus around just Christianity and I’m really glad it gets the view of different people across the LGBT+ community.

I’m not religious nor do I live in a religious household, none of my family are religious so I will never experience the things the people in this book have, and it really opened my eyes to the issues that they face. I knew that it wasn’t easy for religious LGBT+ people, but this really helped to open my eyes and mind to the experiences.

I feel like this is a book that people should really read and experience for themself, religious or not.

There isn’t, or needn’t be, a contradiction between faith and queerness, as the authors included in this anthology would agree. Many of them are stalwarts at Greenbelt, a progressive Christian summer festival – Church of Scotland minister John L. Bell even came out there, in his late sixties, in 2017. I’m a lapsed regular attendee, so a lot of the names were familiar to me, including those of poets Rachel Mann and Padraig O’Tuama.

Most of the contributors are Christian, then, including ordained priests like Desmond Tutu’s daughter, Mpho, and LGBT ally Kate Bottley, but we also hear from Michael Segalov, a gay Jewish man in London, and from Amrou Al-Kahdi (author of Unicorn: The Memoir of a Muslim Drag Queen), who describes the affirmation they found in the Sufi tradition. Dustin Lance Black tells of the exclusion LGBT Mormons still encounter.

Jarel Robinson-Brown addresses his lament on mistreatment to his nephew, as James Baldwin did in “My Dungeon Shook” (in The Fire Next Time). Tamsin Omond recounts getting married to Melissa on a London bridge in the middle of an Extinction Rebellion protest. Erin Clark, though bisexual, knows she can pass as straight because she’s marrying a man – so is she ‘gay enough?’ Two trans poets write of the way cathedrals drew them into faith. The only weaker pieces are by Jeanette Winterson (there’s nothing new if you’ve read her memoir) and Juno Dawson (entirely throwaway; ‘I’m an atheist, but it’s okay to be religious, too’).

Again and again, these writers voice the certainty that they are who God means them to be. A few of them engage with particular passages from the Bible, offering contextual critiques or new interpretations, but most turn to scripture for its overall message of love and justice. Self-knowledge is a key component of their search for truth. And the truth sets people free.

(3.5 stars)

This book contains twenty one essays about the intersection between sexuality and religion. Each essay is written by a different person, mostly members of the queer community aside from one ally at the end. This book contains both a christian lesbian and a muslim drag queen. Theologians, priests and conversion therapy survivors. Trans and nonbinary people. Artists, activists and writers. Diverse races and nationalities. The different essays cover many different experiences and each gives a unique viewpoint on being both religious and queer. The essays do seem to be predominantly christian, although several different denominations are included.

Can you be both queer and religious? This is a question that many queer people (including myself) have struggled with. So much homophobia and transphobia seems to come from religious communities, and so many queer people have been hurt by religion. But these essays show that for many queer people, it is possible to be both queer and religious, and to be so without supressing part of your identity. This book doesn't deny the hurt and pain that religion causes to many queer people. In fact, it shows that there is hope, and that there are ways to be both queer and religious without needing to 'reconcile' with your identity, or pick and choose which parts of yourself you can express.

This book is beautifully written and at times it's almost poetic. Every story is moving and emotional. Many of the essays talk about family rejection, abuse, exorcisms and conversion therapy, the belief that you are going to hell, and having to choose between religion and identity. Some of the writers explore religion on their own, discovering their own truth. Others have experiences of God, either within or outside of organised religion. There is plenty of discussion of religious texts and how religious groups cherry pick or twist texts to suit their bigotry. The writers of colour talk about reclaiming God as something for them, rather than the weternised, colonial idea of God as a cis straight white man. There are also stories from queer people who have lost their faith entirely, and how conflicting and confusing that can be, and even a story about coming to faith from a non religious background. Whilst there are common themes across all of the essays, each one is a unique voice letting the reader into their heart and mind.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't always an easy read, due to a lot of the issues feeling very personal to me, but a message of hope truly does wind its way through the pages. I think this is the kind of book lots of people could benefit from reading. Queer people struggling with religion, religious people who don't understand why this is an issue for queer people, and even athiests who don't understand why it's all such a big debate.

I'll leave you with this quote, which I felt really sums up a lot of the experiences, regardless of religion, and really resonated with me: 'It's not Allah who forbade my queer identity, but the people who ignored the well of alternative potentials in the Quran'.

An interesting, if sometimes uneven collection (like every collection in general, I’d say) of essays from queer people regarding religion and faith, acceptance of LGBTQ+, and how organised religions and individuals alike have both progressed and still need to progress in that regard.

Many of these essays resonated with me, not because I am a believer, but precisely because I’m not anymore: I was raised a Catholic, but could never reconcile religion with all the intolerance (whether snide and discreet or absolutely blatant) it tends to teach. There was always, for me, a clear contradiction between “Jesus is love” and “…but only for people who correspond to the official credo (aka usual cisgender, heterosexual, and if they’re white, it’s even better). Not that these essays have given me renewed faith in any belief whatsoever, but it was good to read about how other people lived this, whether they retained or found their faith again, and especially when it comes to ministers (several of the writers in this collection are or were ordained). While there’s a depressing side to it, considering there’s still a lot of work to be done, there’s also much hope in here for society to change in the future.

I do wish there had been more input, though, from people coming from other faiths than the Abrahamic religions. The book’s synopsis does mention “Is it possible to believe in God and be gay?”, so I don’t know if that was to be read as “strictly God in its Islamic or Judeo-Christian acception” or not. I’d still have been interested in additional perspectives. What about Hinduism, Shinto, Wicca? Do monotheistic religions really have a monopoly on intolerance when it comes to LGBTQ+?

Conclusion: 3.5 stars

An important book where many different LGBT people write about their own relationships with their faith, a mix of faiths is included alongside a range of experiences including many who have been ordained and then cast out for being LGBT. Some are moving including the Mpho Tutu van Furth Archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter, Jarel Robinson-Brown who both write eloquently about being ordained Black LGBT people who are then cast out. There is also an excellent essay from Jeanette Winterson on fundamentalism and binaries that makes some really important long overdue points about extremism and 'othering'. This book is moving, enlightening and vital to ensuring that LGBT people of faith find their space in the world.


With thanks to net galley for a free ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

A really interesting collection of essays on queerness and faith. I found it a little patchy - some essays are better than others - but the ones that were good were really excellent. Overall an uplifting and hopeful book.