Rev. Dr. Brandon T. Crowley (STH ’12, ’19) Inspiring the Development of Affirming Congregations
The following is an excerpt from The Heights article by Laney McAden and Riley Del Sesto, “He Felt God Call Him to Come Out. Now, He Helps Black Churches Become Safe Spaces for Others To Do the Same,” published on February 17, 2025. Click here to read the full article.
“Crowley’s first book, Queering the Black 
Church: Dismantling Heteronormativity in the African American Church, was published in 2024 by Oxford University Press. In the book, he seeks to aid other Black churches across the country through the process of becoming welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.
‘I wrote the book because there are Black churches out there who want to figure out how to affirm gay people,’ Crowley said. ‘They just don’t know how to do it.’
In his book, Crowley addresses the history of Black Christian methodology in regard to homosexuality. He writes, in part, with the goal of ‘queering’ these beliefs in Black Churches across the country, just as the Civil Rights Movement dismantled the flaws of American equality.
‘And so queering, for me, is about subversion,’ Crowley said. ‘It is about making the least, the most important. It is about turning the center on its head where there is no center and all are equitably treated.’