2013 ~ P R E S E N T |
S T I L L E V O LV I N G
Epiphanies: A Life Journey of Gender,
Sexuality and Theology
Dr Joseph Goh
Oddly enough, my journey with the School of Arts and
Social Sciences (SASS) began in 2009 in Berkeley,
California. While I was very privileged at that time to
be working on my graduate degrees in mainstream
theology, I was also increasingly interested in more
radical forms of theology. Although interested in
postcolonial, black, Asian, feminist and liberation
theologies, I was particularly drawn to queer
theologies. My memories of studying for hours at the
‘catacombs’ of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library at
the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) are as vivid as
the first instance that Robert E. Shore-Goss’ Queering
Christ accidentally caught my eye. It was literally
staring at me as I was poring over sacramentology
classics by Chauvet, Cooke and Osborne. That was
an epiphanic moment, as I was finally able to get my
hands on material that was pertinent to me as a gay
man as well as a Christian.
When I was finally able to fulfil all the requisite
credit hours for my intended course, I signed up for
Bernie Schlager’s Homosexuality in the Christian
Tradition. That decision marked my quest, or more
aptly, my thirst for queer theologies. I also joined
the Emerging Queer Asian Pacific Islander Religion
Scholars or EQARS, a group of GTU graduates who
try to expand on Asian and Latinx forms of queer
theologising. It was then that my friend and colleague
from Hong Kong, Lai-shan Yip, informed me that a
fellow Malaysian, a certain ‘Sharon Bong’ who was a
‘gender studies lecturer’ from ‘Monash University’ in
Malaysia, was also interested in such transgressive
academic ventures.
The practical demands of gainful employment brought
me back to Malaysia, where I spent some time at
the HIV-related community-based organisation PT
Foundation in 2011. Working with numerous LGBTQ
individuals, sex workers, people living with HIV and
drug users continued to fuel my interest in theological
pursuits from an academic level. My foray at PT
Foundation was also epiphanic, as it formed the solid
foundations for what would evolve into my real-world
vision of theology. My main questions were, what
could theology say to support people who were
living on the margins of society, when all it had done
in the past was to condemn them or present them
with conditional acceptance? Why did theology have
an obsession with issues of gender and sexuality,
particularly queer issues? How could theology take on
more inclusive and activist dimensions?
I soon met up with Sharon and began investigations
into a doctoral degree. I finally joined SASS as a
doctoral student in early 2012, and what ensued was
a string of epiphanies. The journey I had begun in
queer theology on a fledgling level in Berkeley soared
at Monash. My thirst to read and write queer theology
was coupled with, and complemented my escalating
interest in other complex gender and sexuality issues.
I grew to appreciate – in fact, treat as indispensable
– the power of lived experiences, and how practice
spoke to theory, rather than the other way around. My
formulations of queer theology increasingly depended
on actual lived realities of gender and sexuality for its
grounding. As my main doctoral supervisor, Sharon
was an invaluable co-journeyer who affirmed and
149
These
experiences
at Monash,
as I continue
to discover,
are enriching
epiphanies
of life that
continue
to unfurl in
surprisingly
delightful
ways, and
allow me to
take my life
journey into
unexpected
horizons.
My first single-authored book
based on my PhD thesis (2018). ▶