.- The Gay Men's "Issues In Religion" Group will be presenting workshops at the American Academy of Religion's 2004 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 20-23.
The American Academy of Religion is an umbrella organization of professors of religion, church historians, theologians and ethicists.
The homosexual group will be presenting a series of three lectures with the theme "Power and Submission, Pain and Pleasure: The Religious Dynamics of Sadomasochism," as well as a workshop on transgenderism, transsexualism and transvestism.
Robert A. J. Gagnon, associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, says "the embrace of homosexual practice logically and experientially demands" acceptance of other atypical sexual behaviors.
Gagnon notes that this year's theme is a complement to the session conducted by the homosexual group at last year's conference, which promoted the concept of multiple sex partners as being blessed by God.
"Why do people think that bringing male homosexual behavior into the mainstream is going to tame male homosexuality rather than destroy basic societal norms?" says Gagnon.
