top of page
Search

Being Trans and The Bible- Resources

Updated: 3 days ago

On July 23, 2026, MashUp in collaboration with TheHaven615 and Trans Aid Nashville are hosting a intimate dinner and discussion on transness and the Bible. This discussion is led by Quinn Bacon (she/they) and Jai Davis (they/them).


Listed below are some takeway resources for this poignant conversation.


Books

  • Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective – Kelly Brown Douglas

    Historicizes how the Church came to police Black sexuality

  • Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology – Patrick Cheng

    Accessible entry point into queer theology proper.

  • Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship – Kath Weston 

    The foundational text on chosen family as kinship structure. Ballroom houses are doing exactly what Weston theorizes.

  • Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity  – Alexis Pauline Gumbs

    Poetic, experimental, and deeply theological without announcing itself as such. World-making through language itself.

  • Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity – C. Riley Snorton 

    Traces how Blackness and transness have been historically co-constructed.

  • Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times – Jasbir Puar 

    Theorizes the monster/terrorist figure and how bodies get marked as threats to social order.


Essays:

"Monster Culture (Seven Theses)"  — Jeffrey Jerome Cohen  

The classic theoretical framework for the monster as cultural production. 


Podcasts:


Web Resources:


Local Churches/Worshipping Communities:

  • Vision Church Nashville

  • Holy Trinity Community Church

  • GracePointe Church

  • First Unitarian Universalist Church

  • Nashville Friends Meeting

  • New Covenant Christian Church Nashville

  • Belmont UMC

  • First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville



Social Media Pages to Follow:

 @ alter_call_podcast  (IG)

@ donnellwrites ( IG & Tiktok)

@ mjivoryjr

@ holysmokesmovement

@ tfc.virtual

@ thegardeningtheologian



LGBT Advocacy Vandy Cohort 

Courageous Voices in Action

Courageous Voices in Action (CVA) is a cohort of 15-20 adults in the Nashville and Middle TN area who are interested in taking steps to advance LGBTQIA+ inclusion and thriving in our local communities. CVA is a collaboration between the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality and the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions, both housed at Vanderbilt Divinity School. 

 

Themes that the cohort centers on throughout the year are: LGBTQIA+ advocacy and community engagement in Nashville and Middle Tennessee, intersections of LGBTQIA+ identities and spiritual/religious identities, and moral courage toward action. 

 

The cohort meets from September-May, once a month in person and at least once a month virtually. We focus on building relationships, foundational knowledge, and practical skills toward enacting positive social change for LGBTQIA+ persons and communities. Past cohort members have been both allies and LGBTQ+ identified, and variously connected to area LGBTQ+ organizations, corporate employee LGBTQ+ resource groups, religious communities, and/or community organizing initiatives. These connections are by no means required, but we do encourage curiosity and a desire to contribute to the flourishing of the LGBTQ+ community in Tennessee and beyond.

 

Interested? Complete the interest form and Rachel Heath (Assistant Director, Carpenter Program) will be in touch. 


Link to Interest Form:





bottom of page