A Century of Queer Quaker Resistance 1924-2024

Five 2-hour sessions: Monday 2/3 – Friday 2/7 (3-5pm Eastern / 12-2pm Pacific) “A Century of Queer Quaker Resistance (1924-2024)” is a five-day workshop exploring LGBTQ and Nonbinary Quaker resistance. Participants will gain appreciation for Queer Quaker predecessors, insights into the evolution of their activism over the past century, and an understanding of how recurring…

Workshop Description

Five 2-hour sessions: Monday 2/3 – Friday 2/7 (3-5pm Eastern / 12-2pm Pacific)

“A Century of Queer Quaker Resistance (1924-2024)” is a five-day workshop exploring LGBTQ and Nonbinary Quaker resistance. Participants will gain appreciation for Queer Quaker predecessors, insights into the evolution of their activism over the past century, and an understanding of how recurring anti-queer panics fueled the growth of resilient queer communities.

Leader Experience

Jim Fussell is a Scholar in Residence at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond Indiana, USA and a visiting lecturer at Friends Theological College in Kaimosi, Kenya. Since 2017, Jim has facilitated or co-facilitated multiple workshops at the Friends General Conference and at Baltimore Yearly Meeting, including a five-day workshop in the Kingian Nonviolence at the 2018 Gathering, on Quaker Testimony in 2020 Gathering. In July 2024 Gathering he led a one session sampler workshop on ‘Continuing Revelation and the Future of Quaker Testimony’. He also presented at three history-focused interest groups on ‘Black Resistance in Quaker Enslaver Households’ on Tuesday, “Queer Quaker Resistance’ on Thursday and ‘Quaker Anti-Lynching’ on Friday. Jim serves on the Faith and Practice Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, which he also represents on the Board of Friends United Meeting. He also serves on the board of the School of the Spirit. NOTE: At the FGC Gathering in 2024 Jim Fussell’s presentation on Queer Quaker Resistance was the best attended of his four presentations, with a vibrant discussion going when the room had to be cleared for the next activity.

Brian T. Blackmore currently serves as the Director of Quaker Engagement at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). In this role, Brian leads AFSC’s efforts to build nurturing, trusting, and engaged relationships with Quaker faith communities, schools, and organizations in the U.S. and around the world. In 2023, Brian completed his Ph.D in Religious Studies at Temple University with a dissertation focused on the role Quakers played in the advancement of gay rights during mid-twentieth century. He has presented on this topic for many Quaker audiences, including the Friends Historical Association, a lecture series co-sponsored by Beacon Hill House and Pendle Hill, and as a guest lecturer for classes at Friends schools and colleges. His research is featured in “The Quaker World” (Routledge 2023), his first monograph “To Hear and To Respond: The Quakers’ Groundbreaking Push for Gay Liberation, 1946-1973” (Brill 2024), and a forthcoming virtual exhibit produced by the OutHistory Project. Brian is a member of Gainesville Monthly Meeting and he lives in Philadelphia, PA.”