“Unnatural: Spiritual Resiliency in Queer Christian Women”
Rachel Murr
Resource Publications, 2014, 164 Pages

At A Glance: “Unnatural” is a powerful collection of personal stories that highlight the struggles and resilience of queer women and a transgender man within the Christian community, focusing on their journey of maintaining faith amid adversity and exclusion.

Overview: “Unnatural: Spiritual Resiliency in Queer Christian Women” by Rachel Murr is a poignant exploration of the intersection of faith and sexuality through personal narratives. Murr recounts her own struggle as a college student, torn between her identity as a lesbian and her Christian faith, a conflict that persisted for fifteen years until she came out to her evangelical church, sparking further challenges.

The book is a compilation of stories not only about the damaging effects of negative religious messages regarding homosexuality but also about redemption and resilience. Murr shares experiences from her life and interviews with ten queer women and one female-to-male transgender individual, detailing their encounters with judgment, exclusion, reparative therapies, assault, and profound challenges like homelessness, depression, and suicide attempts.

Despite these hardships, each story is marked by an extraordinary capacity for forgiveness, love, belief, advocacy, and healing, showcasing the spiritual resilience within the queer Christian community.

Thoughts from Readers: