Standing in: Self-determination,power,and faith activism of Black lesbian religious leaders

Abstract

This article explores womanist ethical leadership through the experiences of Black lesbian religious leaders led to social justice activism by their religious callings. By examining their oral histories, I use womanist ethicist Katie Cannon’s theory of “womanist emancipatory historiography” as a method for interpreting how these women re-evaluate and revise modern understandings of how race, gender, and sexual identities interact with religious practice and organization in the twenty-first century. This article postulates how their models of leadership can be instructive for future generations countering notable and negative opposition to women in leadership and lesbians in some Black Protestant denominations. Beginning with a delineation of definitions of lesbian identity as activism, the article then explicates the marginal status experienced by these five Black lesbian religious leaders as they “stand in” oppressive structures and concludes with ways these women are active agents of resistance. This exploration is a challenge and call to redirect scholarship toward a more pluralistic vision of Black female leaders.