A landmark collection of personal histories from LGBTQIA+ Unitarian Universalists.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association launched what would become the UU Rainbow History Project, convening two groundbreaking conferences and creating a digital archive to preserve LGBTQIA+ Unitarian Universalist history. Defiantly Joyful grows out of that important effort to honor and reckon with that history.
Edited by Diana K. McLean, this collection brings together personal stories from LGBTQIA+ Unitarian Universalists, both religious professionals and laypeople, across a wide spectrum of identities and experiences. Through personal essays, sermons, and archival materials, contributors share what it has meant to live, serve, and seek belonging within Unitarian Universalism. The stories captured here bear witness to moments of great courage, as Unitarian Universalists took faithful risks to further the cause of justice and inclusion-revealing moments of joy and transformation alongside struggle and harm. Taken together, they illuminate how Unitarian Universalism has both shaped and been shaped by LGBTQIA+ lives, capturing pivotal chapters in the movement's history.
Rich with insight and anchored by a timeline of Unitarian Universalist LGBTQIA+ history more thorough than any previously available, Defiantly Joyful honors the trailblazers who came before while challenging and inspiring readers to consider the work still ahead and continue the fight. This history is still being written.
Preface
Unitarian Universalists, individually and collectively, have often been at the forefront of LGBTQIA+ justice efforts. We were among the first religious organizations to conduct same-sex services of union. We were among the first to ordain openly gay male clergy, and later openly lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clergy. We responded with love rather than hate to the AIDS crisis. We were leaders in the fight for marriage equality in a variety of states and at the national level.
Our shared Unitarian Universalist values, outlined in Article II of the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association, as updated in 2024, includes the statement "We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion." We have demonstrated for decades that "every person" certainly includes LGBTQIA+ folks.
It is equally true, however, that we have not been perfect in this area. My wife and I are both Unitarian Universalist women ministers-a queer clergy couple, something that just a generation ago might have been unthinkable even in our liberal denomination. When I came out in 2014, I didn't worry at all about losing either the faith to which I had belonged since childhood or my position as ministerial intern at a Unitarian Universalist congregation. My colleagues in ministry did not have that safety just a few decades ago, during the same years that my family was discovering Unitarian Universalism. I do not remember any openly LGBTQIA+ people in my childhood church, and I now realize that, even in a liberal religious setting like ours, being out might not have felt safe in 1970s–80s Nebraska. I was sobered to realize that only within my lifetime has our liberal denomination begun to consider the humanity and rights of LGBTQIA+ folks-and not always compassionately. I also recognize that as a white woman, my queer identity is still more readily accepted than some others'.
There are barriers to full inclusion even today, particularly for trans and nonbinary people. Clergy and other religious professionals, in particular, have often found it hard to find and keep congregational positions. The barriers are still more complex for people who are marginalized on more than one axis of identity, such as sexual orientation and race, or gender identity and neurotype. We have ma
