Seminarian in Searching

My final for my Rehtorical Use of Text Class was to write a “blog essay” in conversation with one of our texts from the semester as well as other bloggers on the internet. Here is the final product that I turned in! I have no idea what grade I got yet, but I think you will all enjoy it!

            Growing up and living in my safe little California Bay Area bubble, there were very few times when I didn’t feel I could live and lean into my queerness in public spaces. The Bay Area is full of diverse and vibrant personalities who display a far more “queer” visibility than I would consider myself to have. This is not the case for many people around the country and world, especially when we have places labeled as the “Bible Belt,” which brings out a connotation for a God-fearing type of theology. It all sparks my curiosity about how colonial reading habits of the Christian Bible still affect bodies in a modern context. How can we break free from the constraints of colonial hermeneutics to create more space for queer bodies?

            In his article, “LGBT/Queer Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible,” author and scholar David Tabb Stewart presents his arguments that a post-colonial and queer interpretation of the Bible has gone beyond just interpretation of Scripture, but instead into a space of embracing queer bodies, giving space to “playfulness” with the text. His view is that heteronormativity functions as an empire, influencing policy bodies in public spaces and determining which bodies can appear in public and which cannot. When a post-colonial queer hermeneutic, the Bible is no longer a backing for a concept of heteronormativity, but gives agency for queer bodies to be visible. 

            In this blog post, by referencing other bloggers and Stewart’s article, I will show that by reading the Bible from a post-colonial queer hermeneutic, we can further view how it has been used by “empire” to discipline bodies in public spaces and further disrupt those boundaries placed on society, which especially affect queer bodies. This not only excludes but also reveals how queer bodies are pushed out of public spaces, but also offers a framework for reclaiming space, visibility, and a sacred presence. 

            “One observation was that the Hebrew Bible’s sexual landscape differs from a twenty-first-century… forbids menstrual sex and rape; prohibits adultery by the wife with any man, but unsymmetrically prohibits adultery by the husband only with another’s wife; governs sexual behaviors by social class; discusses eunuchs and persons naturally infertile; and bounds, but does not categorically forbid, same-sex behavior” (Stewart, p. 291). Stewart’s observation expresses the broad strokes the Hebrew Bible takes on anything out of the norm for patriarchal systems that allow for lots of repression. In today’s modern society, even people who may not view themselves as “queer” are living lifestyles against the views, such as polyamorous or “open” marriage couples. But society is still slow to offer public space even for heterosexual people. Queer bodies disallow the empire to control the unmanageable possibilities, thereby limiting further control on other spaces of society’s life.

            Additionally, we see queer bodies still policed when discussions come up of who can use what bathroom, who can read books to our children, and what teachers are allowed to talk about their marriage, and which ones are not. Public spaces become a battleground when an empire decides what is considered acceptable from whom and what is not. And often the targets of these attacks are those who have no political agenda or proclaim things that do not exist in a state of happiness and truth. 

            Shannon Kearns, as a contributor to the blog Queer Theology, discusses coming into his relationship with his body before realizing he was trans. Growing up, he never felt comfortable in a bathing suit and was terrified of the idea of having to wear a bra one day. However, he was often told by others that his oversized, baggy clothes were not suitable for him. He now lives in a world where he embraces and feels empowered by the scars on his chest. Saying “My body is mine now.”

            Ann Dawahare reflects on very public interpretations of what “Jesus said.” When reviewing if the Bible really does or doesn’t condemn homosexuality, she finds that Jesus really saves a spot at the table for everyone. She points out that not only is there space for queer people, but we also need to recognize and make space for sex workers, disabled bodies, and so many others who are left out of the conversation completely.

            Lwando Scott, a scholar from South Africa, takes it a step even further, arguing that what many call “post-colonial” needs to dig deeper into what that really means. While many groups in South Africa are proclaiming to be doing “post-colonial” work, they are not providing further acceptance for the LGBTQ community. Scott is arguing and working towards providing an understanding that LGBTQ exclusion is deeply rooted in colonization of African countries and not African culture and history. 

            These bloggers remind us that there are numerous avenues and areas where work still needs to be done to create a contemporary, post-colonial space for queer bodies. While it is terrific that LGBTQ people have created spaces for themselves in larger cities, such as the Castro in San Francisco or Capitol Hill in Seattle, we need to push further and establish safe spaces for queer bodies in all physical and virtual spaces. By queering the readings we examine as theologians, we create space to mold and shape these ideas for a brighter future. Together, through our queer hermeneutics, we are unraveling the empire and creating a public presence where our sacred queer bodies belong everywhere.

Works Cited

Dawahare, Anna. “What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?” The Christian Closet, August 11, 2021. https://www.thechristiancloset.com/blog/2021/8/11/yu9ynm7rkiwsy9ay1gqirviflli6d5.

Kearns, Shannon. “Building My Body. Building My Home.” Queer Theology, n.d. Accessed December 10, 2025. https://www.queertheology.com/all/.

Scott, Lwando. Queering Postcolonial Reality – Queer Consciousness. September 11, 2014. https://queerconsciousness.com/queering-postcolonial-reality/.

Tabb Stewart, David. “LGBT/Queer Hermeneutics and the Hebrew Bible.” Currents in Biblical Research 15, no. 3 (2017): 289–314. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476993X16683331.