The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach is proud to host an exclusive reading and book signing of Dr. Marie Cartier’s forthcoming publication Baby You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall. Featuring over 100 interviews, many of which were generated by the Women of 40+ group that met at The Center for decades, Dr. Cartier’s groundbreaking research and oral histories argue that American Butch-Femme bar culture of the mid-20th Century should be interpreted as a sacred space f...
The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach is proud to host an exclusive reading and book signing of Dr. Marie Cartier’s forthcoming publication Baby You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall. Featuring over 100 interviews, many of which were generated by the Women of 40+ group that met at The Center for decades, Dr. Cartier’s groundbreaking research and oral histories argue that American Butch-Femme bar culture of the mid-20th Century should be interpreted as a sacred space for its community.
Dr. Cartier’s book explores the Butch-Femme bar community as a site of lived corporeal theology and political space and reveals that religious institutions such as the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) were founded in such bars. Her book examines how these bars became not only religious sites, but also provided the fertile ground for the birth of the struggle of LGBTQ liberation movements before Stonewall.
The community is invited to attend this FREE reading, signing, and reception featuring Dr. Cartier. Books will be available at a discounted price of $50. For more information, contact The Center’s Administrative Director Porter Gilberg at 562.434.4455 ext. 245.
