Queer Theologies Beyond Binaries: Reimagining Islamic Possibilities
Date: 23-24 March, 2026
Venue: Universität Bonn, Impulse-Center („Ermekeil-Villa," Adenauerallee 131)
Keynote: Prof. Linn Tonstad, Yale University; Prof. Juliane Hammer, UNC Chapel Hill; Prof. Dr. Mira Sievers, Universität Hamburg
Christian queer theologians such as Marcella Althaus-Reid and Linn Marie Tonstad have exposed how sexuality destabilizes inherited theological systems of power, embodiment, and transcendence. Yet these debates have largely remained confined to Christian frameworks such as the Trinity and Incarnation. Catherine Keller’s poststructuralist apophatic theopoetics—on the other hand—offers a more expansive model for thinking beyond confessional boundaries. By focusing on entanglement, fluidity, and the via negativa, her theology parallels Islamic apophatic and mystical ideas, leading us to ask: How might a queer theology based in Islamic perspectives appear, and what disruptions would it cause?
This workshop explores the “queer (im)possibilities” within Islamic theology: spaces where heteronormative structures seem immovable yet may be re-read, resisted, or reimagined. Rather than replicating existing Western paradigms, we invite contributions that address queer lived realities in Islamic contexts in conversation with comparative, feminist, and poststructuralist approaches.