Until everybody gets there: creating space for lesbian sexuality and faith in the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands

Abstract

This thesis deals with the strategies by which lesbian women in the (Calvinist Protestant) Reformed Churches deal with the seemingly contradictory identity of being both Christian and homosexual. From a feminist cultural studies perspective, this thesis is an ethnographic study of the lives and contexts of these women. It deals, first, with the theological discourses that have introduced within the context of Reformed theology a general norm by which homosexual identity is accepted, but homosexual behaviour is condemned. Secondly, through a series of interviews this thesis brings to the fore the often creative ways by which lesbian women negotiate their position within a religious environment that often restricts and disciplines their (sexual) freedom, and that is often characterised by a strong focus on male (homo)sexuality and experience. Within this thesis theoretical approaches and methods are used from gender studies, queer studies and - theology and gay and lesbian studies and - theology.