Queer “monstrosity” and resilience in faith-based development narratives

This viewpoint explores the intersection of queerness, “monstrosity”, and resilience in faith-based development, focusing on three areas. It examines how queer activists are cast as “monstrous” by dominant religious and cultural discourses, marginalising them from developmental agendas. It also highlights how these activists reclaim the “monster” label, using it as a symbol of defiance and agency, and finally, it interrogates how these subversions challenge essentialist assumptions within faith-based development frameworks. Drawing on Cohen’s Monster Culture (Seven Theses) (1996), the viewpoint argues that queer activists transform development spaces, advocating for more inclusive paradigms while exposing systems of exclusion and control.