Inner Self: Faith & Gay Identity

Saturday, April 20, 3:00 p.m. | USC’s Ronald Tutor Campus Center | Directions | Parking Map

As we’re waiting for the Supreme Court to hand down rulings about gay marriage and DOMA, this panel seems to hit some very timely issues. I’m really eager to chat with Chris and Jeff about this intersection of sexual orientation and faith, which—at times in my own experience and the culture at large—have seemed to be on a collision course.

Each of us on the panel has a book out this year dealing with sexuality and spirituality. Mitchell Landsberg, who writes for the L.A. Times, will be moderating. Hope you can join us!

NOTE: To attend this panel you must reserve a $1.00 ticket in advance, or pick up a free before the event on 4/20 at Booth #464. Click here for details on the options available for reserving a ticket. (L.A. Times Festival of Books Conversation 1064.)

About the Panelists

Jeff Chu—Does Jesus Really Love Me?

Jeff Chu, an editor and writer at Fast Company, leads the magazine’s coverage of China, philanthropy, and urban affairs. Before coming to Fast Company, he spent a very long nine months at the now-defunct Conde Nast Portfolio and seven years at Time magazine, where he was a London-based staff writer (his first cover story was on Britney Spears and her Swedish songwriter, Max Martin) and then a New York-based writer and editor. The grandson of a Baptist preacher, he has written and reported extensively on religion, both at Time and at Fast Company.

Chris Stedman—Faitheist

Chris Stedman is the Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and the Values 
in Action Coordinator for the Humanist Community at Harvard (where he was previously
 the inaugural Interfaith and Community Service Fellow). In addition, he works as The Emeritus
 Managing Director of State of Formation at the Journal
 of Inter-Religious Dialogue, and founded the first blog
 dedicated to exploring atheist-interfaith engagement,
 NonProphet Status. Chris is the author of Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, which a starred review in Booklist hailed as “a call to arms for those seeking to bridge the gap between the religious and the secular.”

Aaron Hartzler—Rapture Practice

A writer and actor, Aaron’s autobiographical performances have been seen in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York where he received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Off-Off Broadway Performance. His essays have appeared at Fresh Yarn, Huffington Post, and Salon. His first book, Rapture Practice, is a young adult memoir about his teen age experiences growing up in a fundamentalist home while questioning his faith and sexuality. Kirkus gave the book a starred review, calling it “a hilarious first-of-its-kind story that will surely inspire more.”