Irene Monroe
Rev Irene Monroe was discovered abandoned in a
trash can as an infant ("I call it a miracle day because
normally they didn't clean that side of the park"). Monroe, 42,
grew up in Brooklyn, won a scholarship to Wellesley, and came
out as a lesbian. She later attended the Union Theological
Seminary to challenge "deep-rooted homophobia and misogyny" in
the black church.
Irene Monroe is a columnist, public
theologian, and motivational speaker. As an openly lesbian
African American theologian, she speaks passionately for a
sector of society that is frequently invisible.
Monroe has written extensively on African
American sexuality, gay and lesbian history, and anti-Semitism
in both the Christian and Muslim black communities. She has also
written, spoken, and educated on topics such as classism,
separatism, "gangsta" rap, and gang violence. Recent
publications include, "Louis Farrakhan's Ministry of Misogyny
and Homophobia" and "The Ache Sisters: Discovering the Power of
the Erotic in Ritual."
In December 1997 Monroe was named by Boston
magazine one of that city's 50 most intriguing women. She was
also a nominee for the 1998 Bishop Carl Bean Spirituality Award,
presented by the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership
Forum. Rev Monroe lives with her partner in Cambridge.
Presently, Rev. Monroe writes for a biweekly
column, "The Religion Thang" for Newsweekly, a lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper that circulates
widely throughout the New England states and that has received a
commendation from the Boston mayor's office; a monthly column
online "Queer Take" (www.thewitness.org/agw/agw-monroe.html)
for The Witness Magazine, an Episcopalian journal that
examines church and society in light of faith and conscience.
As a creative and critical thinker, Monroe is not afraid to
tackle complex and controversial topics. Through teaching,
speaking, writing and workshop leadership, she has presented
topics from African American gay and lesbian history and
anti-Semitism in both the black Christian and black Muslim
communities, to women's issues including "Women's Ways of
Reading Biblical Text: Subversive and Empowering Strategies for
Marginalized and Oppressed People" to "Debunking the Notion of a
Hierarchy of Oppressions" and "The Conceptual Trap of
Whiteness."
As a doctoral candidate in the Religion, Gender and Culture
program at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and a
Ford foundation Fellow, she is also the head teaching fellow of
the Rev. Peter Gomes, the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church
at Harvard University and the author of The Good Book.
Monroe attended Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary
at Columbia University, and served as a pastor at an African
American church in New Jersey before going to Harvard.
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