Too Queer to Be Quaker: The Limits of Liberal Quaker Inclusion of Lesbian and Gay People during the Cold War and Today

October 7, 2024, 7:30pm-9pm Eastern Time (US & Canada) on campus and via Zoom: A First Monday Lecture with Brian Blackmore

Before the gay rights movement gained momentum in the early 1960s, a few very small assemblies of Quakers publicly supported lesbian and gay people ahead of all other religious groups. Most Quakers in the mid-twentieth century, however, did not accept gay and lesbian sexuality, support same-sex partnerships, or attempt to create a sense of belonging for gay and lesbian people in their meetings. This lecture will describe the harm done by Friends in the 1950s towards gay and lesbian people, highlighting the Cold War era attitudes which reinforced the marginalization of gay and lesbian people in the Quaker world. We will also examine the limits of Quaker inclusion today and speculate about the transformation that is needed in the Religious Society of Friends to be more welcoming of the widest possible spectrum of human experience with gender and sexuality.  

Leader

Brian Blackmore is the Director of Quaker Engagement at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), where he works to build enduring relationships between AFSC and Quaker faith communities, Friends schools, and Quaker organizations worldwide. Before coming to AFSC, Brian was the Religious Studies Department Chair and Quaker Worship and Spiritual Life Coordinator at Westtown School. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Temple University with a research focus on the role that Quakers played in the advancement of gay rights during the mid-twentieth century. Brian is a member of Gainesville Monthly Meeting (Southeastern Yearly Meeting).