Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: A Guide for LGBTQ+ Christian Teens

by Leigh Finke (Editor), Jennifer Knapp (Foreword by)

Overview

ALA 2021 Rainbow List Pick

Are you LGBTQ+? Not sure? Whether you're queer or questioning, understanding sexuality and gender identity can be confusing. And if you're a Christian, questions of identity can be even scarier. Is there something wrong with you? Will your friends accept you? When should you tell your family? What about church?

Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: A Guide for LGBTQ+ Christian Teens has answers to all these questions and more. You'll get insight and support from an amazing group of LGBTQ+ professionals, as well as testimonies from young adult queer Christians who've recently been exactly where you are. You'll walk away with a lot of answers, prepared with tools to help. But most importantly, you'll hear the good news: God loves you exactly as you are. No matter your identity or where in your journey of self-discovery you find yourself, you got this.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506465241
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Series:	Queerfully and Wonderfully Made Guides , #1
Pages:	260
Sales rank:	252,823
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Leigh Finke is a writer, media producer, and editor. Her work focuses on religion and culture, and how both intersect with the lives of queer people in the United States.

Born in the Twin Cities, Finke has lived in Chicago, Missoula, and Los Angeles, and has worked in journalism, politics and policy, magazine editing, blogging, podcasting, advocacy, teaching, and academia. This trajectory represents Finke's lifelong love of learning, gathering new experiences, and interacting with diverse communities.

In addition to her professional endeavors, Finke is passionate about LGBTQ+ advocacy, particularly as it relates to the many ways Christianity in the United States has been used to harm queer youth.

Finke and her two kids live in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jennifer Knapp is a highly acclaimed singer-songwriter who got her start in Christian Contemporary Music (CCM). Knapp exited CCM in 2002 at the height of her professional music career. On her return in 2010, she publicly confirmed that she was gay. Today, she performs and tours extensively and actively engages in advocacy work alongside religious communities and leaders that seek to create an open and affirming spiritual home for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of faith.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Jennifer Knapp 8

A Note on Language 12

How Do I Even Know Who I Am? 14

Aren't There Only Two Genders? 19

Is There Something Wrong with Me? 24

Can I Be Queer and Christian? 31

Where Do I Find Accurate Information? 36

Is This a Phase? 39

Won't People Think I'm Doing This for Attention? 43

Aren't Queer People Discriminated Against? That Terrifies Me 47

How Do I Cope with Anxiety and Depression? 52

Interlude: Queer Clichés and What They Teach Us 60

I Think I'm Ready to Tell Someone. But Who Should I Come Out to First? 63

Should I Come Out to My Parents/Guardians? Do I Have To? 69

What If My Family Disapproves? 78

They're Not Accepting, but They Love Me. Don't My Parents Know What's Best for Me? 82

Should I Come Out at School? (Gulp!) 83

Should I Come Out at Church? (Double Gulp!?!) 93

Do I Have to Answer Everyone's Questions? 99

My Church Is Not Going to Like It If I Come Out. What Then? 104

You Don't Have to Come Out 108

Interlude: Queer Icons of Christianity (A Short List) 110

Is My Church's Teaching Abusive? And Can I Leave It? 114

What If My Congregation Is Full of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bigots? 120

What If My Congregation Is Too Affirming? (This Happens!) 125

What If My Pastor, Parents, or Anyone Else Tries to Make Me Straight? 127

What If I Want to Change? 133

What If I'm All Alone in a World of Straight People? 135

Help! I'm in Love with (or at Least Crushing Hard on) My Best Friend! 138

Help! I'm a Horny Queer Teenager! 144

Interlude: The ABCs of LGBTQ+ Cultural Icons 154

Is Bullying Definitely Going to Happen to Me? What Should I Do about It? 158

What If My Friends Reject Me? 167

What about the Bathroom? 171

What about Being Queer Online? 176

How Should I Be Queer … Online? 181

Isn't a Little Online Harassment Just a Part of Being Queer? 187

Why Don't I Fit In with the Queer World I See in Pop Culture? 191

Why Are Bi and Pan People Treated Worse (Even by Other Queer Folks)? 194

Interlude: An 8-Step Program for Queering Your Community 199

What about Partying? (Queer Folk Like to Party … I Think?) 202

Okay, but I'm Serious. Help! I'm, Like, Really Horny! 207

I'm Never Horny. Should I Be Concerned? 208

Can I Look at Porn? 211

How Do I Know When I'm Ready for … It? (We Mean Sex) 217

How Do Queer People Even Have Sex? 222

Can I Go to the Local Queer Sex Shop? (And Why Would I?) 225

Does It Get Better? 227

We've Reached the End. Give Me the Representation I Need and Tell Me What a Queer Future Looks Like 232

Glossary 237

Additional Resources 243

Editorial Reviews

"Indispensable and compassionate guide for queer Christians...An affirming, thorough, and supportive guide for understanding one's identity as well as a pertinent resource for LGBTQ+ allies." [Starred Review] —School Library Journal

"A must-read guide for all queer and questioning Christians (and their allies, too)!" [Starred Review] —Kirkus Reviews

"Queerfully and Wonderfully Made is informative, sincere, and unflinchingly honest. Perhaps most importantly, it takes the questions, feelings, and concerns of teenagers seriously, consistently reminding them of their true name, their true nature: beloved." —Bryan Bliss, National Book Award Longlisted author of We'll Fly Away

"Organized as a candid Q&A, pulsing with wisdom from the authors and other 'witnesses,' this book should be not only in the hands of young people struggling with faith and sexual/gender identity, but on the bookshelf of every youth director, pastor, and Christian educator in the church." —The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister Middle Collegiate Church

"Playfully designed for a youthful audience, this book is conversational and skimmable, cleverly set up like an FAQ. Queerfully and Wonderfully Made is the much-needed guide every queer or questioning Christian teen should have." —Sarah Prager, K12 author of Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World and Rainbow Revolutionaries: 50 LGBTQ People Who Made History

"I wish Queerfully and Wonderfully Made had existed when I was a teenager. On page after page, readers are challenged to practice gentleness with themselves as they wade in the natural questions that come with being a growing, inquisitive person created in God's image." —Broderick Greer, Associate Priest for Liturgy and Young Adults, Saint John's Cathedral, Denver

From the Publisher

07/24/2020

Gr 7 Up—This indispensable and compassionate guide for queer Christians challenges heteronormativity and cisgender as the default. The text pushes back against a culture of silence, invisibility, alienating theology, and close-minded attitudes. Teens are encouraged to express and explore their authentic selves. Chapters cover topics such as definitions of labels, how teens can deal with and protect themselves from unsupportive adults, self-care, getting accurate information, possible reactions and questions, discrimination, coming out, parental rejection, conversion therapy, and consent. There is some discussion of biblical evidence supporting or refuting various ideas, but the emphasis is on making sure readers know that being queer is completely okay and not incompatible with faith. Additionally, the text stresses that if teens feel fear or shame, their church and community have let them down. Graphs, statistics, text boxes, illustrations, and short personal narratives break up the main text. Back matter includes a glossary as well as a comprehensive resource list. Written by a team of contributors with backgrounds in mental health, ministry, art, education, and LGBTQ+ advocacy, this fantastic resource never stops reminding readers that they have value and deserve to live a full, beautiful life. VERDICT An affirming, thorough, and supportive guide for understanding one's identity as well as a pertinent resource for LGBTQ+ allies.—Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elem. Sch., Rosemount, MN

School Library Journal

★ 2020-06-16
A must-read guide for all queer and questioning Christians (and their allies, too)!

Queer youth still face a multitude of challenges while growing up, and these have the potential to be amplified by religious beliefs. Addressing that issue head-on, this guide for Christians seeks to provide counsel, understanding, and gentle guidance across a series of 40-plus chapters that address everything from coming out in a variety of contexts, positive ways to deal with haters, and helping start the conversation about gender-neutral bathrooms at school, to living authentically. The book acknowledges that the advice is sometimes vague, but that’s because the spectrum of queer life is so broad. In this regard, the book excels by speaking to a range of genders and sexual identities; asexuals, nonbinary people, bisexuals, pansexuals, etc., are all addressed with respect and will find useful tips for navigating their early years. The book works better for hunt-and-peck readers as opposed to those reading from cover to cover because some of the information is repetitious, but that repetition may be necessary to counterbalance years of incorrect, inaccurate, or purposely hateful misinformation. The contributors to this fabulous read include mental health experts and religious leaders. Text boxes, pie charts, graphs, and grayscale illustrations support and enhance the main narrative.

A must-have book for libraries, schools, and churches. (note on language, glossary, additional resources, sources) (Self-help. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews