Episode 933: Dr. Taylor Petrey, History and Theology of Trans and Nonbinary Identity in the LDS Church

My friend Dr. Taylor Petrey (prior editor of Dialogue: a journal of Mormon thought, BA in philosophy and religion from Pace University, and both an MTS and a Th.D. degree from Harvard Divinity School in New Testament and Early Christianity, Professor at Kalamazoo College) joins us to talk about his new Dialogue article called: “History and Theology of Trans and Nonbinary Identity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see show notes). Taylor powerful article takes us through the Church’s history to address transgender/non-binary Latter-day Saint issues starting in the 1970’s through the latest policy statements in 2024 (super painful for many transgender/non-binary folks and their families). Taylor talks about how society generally moved on from the wedge issue of same-sex marriage to a new fear-based wedge issue of transgender and non-binary folks and how that has informed many church members feelings on this topic. Taylor—through extensive interviews with transgender and non-binary folks—talks about how they feel about being transgender/non-binary and how those insights should help inform us how we should feel about them. Taylor—a noted theologian—talks about possible ways our theology has room for our transgender/non-binary friends. I learned so many from Taylor. I encourage everyone to read his Dialog article, listen to this episode, and listen to lots of transgender/non-binary to inform our insights/conclusions about these good folks. Thank you, Taylor, for you much needed work in our community. Links: Taylor’s Dialogue Article: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/history-and-theology-of-trans-and-nonbinary-identity-in-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints/ Other Dialogue Transgender Content: https://www.dialoguejournal.com/curated-topics/transgender/