Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos: A Conversation with Taylor Petrey
January 13, 2025Play
Join Dialogue Book Review editor Caroline Kline in a thought-provoking discussion with Taylor Petrey about his groundbreaking new book, Queering Kinship in the Mormon Cosmos, published by the University of North Carolina Press. Petrey’s work offers a fresh lens on the intersections of gender, sexuality, and kinship within Latter-day Saint theology and history. Drawing on queer theory, Petrey reexamines Mormon cosmology to explore divine relationships, gender fluidity, and the evolving concept of kinship.
Taylor Petrey is the editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. He holds a BA in philosophy and religion from Pace University, and both an MTSE and a Th.D. degree from Harvard Divinity School in New Testament and Early Christianity. Petrey joined the faculty of Kalamazoo College in 2010 and served as the Director of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality program from 2012 through 2016. He is currently chair of the Religion Department. Petrey is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on Mormonism, gender, sexuality, and early Christian thought. His essay “Toward a Post-Heterosexual Mormon Theology” received Dialogue‘s Best Article award in 2011 and has become one of the most downloaded and cited articles in the journal’s history.
In this episode, Caroline and Taylor dive into the inspiration behind the book, its implications for contemporary discussions about identity and community, and how it challenges and enriches traditional understandings of Mormon thought. Whether you’re a scholar, a believer, or simply curious, this conversation promises to open up new avenues of understanding and reflection.