The LGBTQ Religious Archives Network (LGBTQ-RAN) assists LGBTQ religious leaders and groups in preserving their records and papers in appropriate repositories, and provides an electronic information clearinghouse for historians, researchers and other interested persons.
LGBTQ-RAN is a virtual archive that makes historical information easily available through its website. It was started in 2001 as a project of the Chicago Theological Seminary and became an independent charitable organization as of July 1, 2020.
Understanding that history is written by the record keepers, LGBTQ-RAN’s overarching mission is to ensure the preservation and accessibility of the voices and experiences of a great diversity of LGBTQ+ religious leaders and groups.
The Garden Initiative for Black Women’s Religious Activism is a three-year project to create a historical and contemporary repository of black women’s religious leadership in America.
Despite their integral role in religious activism in society, there is no archive or clearinghouse that holistically chronicles and analyzes black women religious leaders and their contributions to religious communities.
Led by Dr. Monique Moultrie, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, GSU; and Dr. Rosetta Ross, Professor of Religion, Spelman College, The Garden aims to broaden our historical knowledge and equip contemporary religious institutions, the academy, and social justice activists with resources to sustain social change.
The dominant cultural narrative in the US is that religion (and particularly Christianity) is opposed to abortion. However, many women who have abortions identify as women of faith, and most religious people in the US support the legality of abortion.
Various studies have focused on documenting the reasons that women have abortions as well as their experience of stigma. But very little research has explored how religious women understand their abortion decisions within the context of their beliefs. There has been no study of how a woman’s religious identity shapes her decision to terminate a pregnancy or how religiously-identified women understand the meaning and value of their reproductive decisions to end a pregnancy.
This project will conduct interviews with women terminating their pregnancies who self-identify as religious. The project will include 25 participants of each tradition per region for the total of 500 participants. The research team, which includes Dr. Moultrie, is committed to creating public-facing materials (op-eds, popular articles, blog posts, webinars, and lessons, etc.) to help address the skewed public view that religion is anti-choice.
Greetings Fellow Childfree Women,
My name is Dr. Monique Moultrie, and I am an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University. I am asking for female volunteers for my research study “Making Myself:” Investigating Voluntarily Childless Black Women’s Notions of Family.” The purpose of this study is to explore how religious messages empower of hinder black women from making decisions about children. I would like to have an online conversation with childless black women to discuss their concepts of family, legacy, nurturing and mothering. I would like to organize a Zoom online group if you are willing to discuss your religious beliefs and ideas about being childfree with me.
If you decide to participate, you will first be asked to complete a Qualtrics survey so that I can organize Zoom focus groups. You will then be sent a password protected Zoom log-in to join a Zoom focus group that will last an hour and a half. You will make up a name to use for our conversation. You will be asked questions about your sexual decision-making, your decision to be childfree, and your religious messages during the group interview. I realize this is a sensitive topic, and it is understandable if you are uncomfortable, so please know that you can skip any questions or leave the conversation at any time. Please know that you also might feel supported or find that the group allows you to discuss your joys and frustrations. Your responses will remain private. Participants will be asked not to discuss the focus groups; however, I cannot guarantee that participants will not discuss what they hear.
If you want more information or are interested in participating, please email me at mmoultrie@gsu.edu. Thank you for your time.
Dr. Monique Moultrie
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