The myth that the Bible for­bids homo­sex­u­al­i­ty — the myth of ​“God ver­sus Gay” — is behind some of the most divi­sive and painful con­flicts of our day. In this provoca­tive, pas­sion­ate­ly argued, and game-chang­ing book, schol­ar and activist Jay Michael­son shows that not only does the Bible not pro­hib­it same-sex inti­ma­cy, but the vast major­i­ty of its teach­ings sup­port the full equal­i­ty and dig­ni­ty of gay and les­bian peo­ple, from the first flaw it finds in cre­ation (“It is not good for a per­son to be alone”) to the way reli­gious com­mu­ni­ties grow through reflec­tion and con­science. In short, Michael­son observes, reli­gious peo­ple should sup­port equal­i­ty for gays and les­bians — not despite their reli­gion, but because of it.

With close read­ings of the Hebrew Bible and New Tes­ta­ment, the lat­est data on the sci­ence of sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion, and a sym­pa­thet­ic, acces­si­ble, and ecu­meni­cal approach to reli­gious faith, Michael­son makes the case that sex­u­al diver­si­ty is part of the beau­ty of nature and that the recog­ni­tion of same-sex fam­i­lies will strength­en, not threat­en, the val­ues reli­gious peo­ple hold dear. This is an impor­tant book for any­one who has wres­tled with ques­tions of reli­gion and homo­sex­u­al­i­ty: par­ents and pas­tors, believ­ers and skep­tics, advo­cates of ​“gay rights” and oppo­nents of them. What­ev­er your views on reli­gion and sex­u­al diver­si­ty, God vs. Gay is a plea for a more com­pas­sion­ate, informed con­ver­sa­tion — and a first step toward cre­at­ing one.