Christianity and the Limits of Minority Acceptance in America: God Loves (Almost) Everyone [Paperback]

This book explores the ways Christian women in college make sense of bisexual, transgender, polyamorous, and atheist others. Specifically, it explores the ways they express tolerance for some sexual groups, such as lesbian and gay people, while maintaining condemnation of other sexual, gendered, or religious groups. In so doing, this book highlights the limits of Christian tolerance for the advancement of minority rights.

J. E. Sumerau is assistant professor and director of applied sociology at the University of Tampa.
Ryan T. Cragun is associate professor of sociology at the University of Tampa.

Scholars of religion, gender and sexualities, family, inequalities, and political sociology will benefit from this compelling volume. It will also strongly appeal to a general audience, including Christians who are interested in thinking through issues concerning sexual minorities. Overall, the book furthers our knowledge of the complicated ways that normative structures continue to shape reality for Christians living in an increasingly diverse world. American Journal of Sociology

Sumerau and Craguns study of how religious people make sense of the increasing visibility of transgender, intersex, bi+, poly, and unchurched individuals in their midst fills a gaping void in our understanding of how traditional, established gender and religious norms continue to shape civic life in the United States. While a dominant narrative in the sociology of religion extols the limited acceptance of gay and lesbian people within Christendom, the authors show that beneath this veneer of progress there is unabated disdain for those outside mono-, hetero- and cisnormativities. The authors use ethnographic interviews to uncover the contours of this intolerance and describe how it is constructed and maintained. This is a timely, sophisticated, and essential contribution to the sociologies of religion and sexuality. Rick Philips, University of North Florida

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