Seminary Spotlight: Q&A with Pamela Lightsey
What’s your theology of sexuality in 10 words or fewer?
When I think of sexuality, I think of God’s gift to humans and animals to have and express sexual feeling.
Growing up, what did you learn about sexuality in religious spaces? And how, if at all, has that influenced your approach as a scholar and teacher?
I attended church episodically growing up so if there were sermons or teachings about sexuality they were had on days when I was not present. My first interaction with anyone in a church setting talking about sex was a conversation in a Pentecostal environment. Sex was articulated in terms of body-soul dualism; it functioned as something done in “the hush” and wasn’t proper conversation for Sunday morning but they toyed around with it in very unhealthy ways during times of fellowship. Because I have found churches to be incubators of how not to have conversations about sexuality, my writing and teaching have become opportunities for me to craft dialogue and offer resources that are correctives to what takes place in many, not all, religious spaces.
What do you wish every graduate theological student knew about religion and sexuality?
I teach students in my class to remove sexuality from the category of “taboo subjects” both at home and in religious spaces. I think there is a lot of talk about sexuality; I simply wish that talk were not so prescriptive.
How have your students challenged or surprised you in conversations about religion and sexuality?
Every semester my students teach me a phrase used in the LGBTQ community that I’ve never heard before. This semester I learned about “furries”, people who like to have sex dressed as animals. I try to remain open to the idea that sexuality is very complex. Furries?! I would have never imagined. But, such is life.
As you know, our newsletter is called “Sexuality: From the Seminary to the Sanctuary.” How do you help students make connections between their theological education and their practical lives and ministries?
I think the most helpful thing I do is be available to students to talk through their interests and concerns about how the Divine is calling them and how they see their life-journeys shaping up. I don’t offer unsolicited advice but on the other hand, I don’t try to hide the challenges before them. Most importantly, I believe they look at how I have bridged my work — between the academy, communities, and the church — and that helps them to know that they need not be limited to one area. You can’t wrap your arms around the entire world but it is possible to have impact in several contexts.
Lastly, three quick-fire questions.
Book, activity, or article you love to teach when addressing religion and sexuality. Right now it’s my book (Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology) and Cathy Cohen’s “Punks, Bulldaggers and Welfare Queens”
Favorite self-care practice Fishing
What you’re currently reading Anglea Davis’ Freedom is a Constant Struggle (nighttime) and Eve Sedgwick’s Epistemology of the Closet (morning)
Pamela Lightsey is a scholar, social justice activist, and military veteran. She currently serves as Associate Dean for Community Life and Lifelong Learning and Clinical Assistant Professor of Contextual Theology and Practice at Boston University School of Theology. Her academic interests include just war theory, Womanist theology, Queer theology, and African American religious history.
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