ABSTRACT
For most conservative (i.e., fundamentalist and evangelical) Christians, God's will is expressed in a heterosexual family in which male and female are complementary and the primary purpose of sex is procreation (Ellingson, Tebbe, Van Haitsma, and Laumann 2001; Wolkomir 2006). According to a twentieth-century literal interpretation, God created man as protector/leader and woman as nurturer/helper (Ammerman 1987; Bartkowski 2001; Foster 199 5). Biblical interpretation of homosexual sex as a sin further consolidates the belief in heterosexual marriage as the only proper context for sexual activity (Roof and McKinney 1987; Thumma 1991). Although evangelicals may redefine malt> ht>adship in everyday life (Gallagher and Smith 1999; Denton 2004), the gendered, heterosexual family remains at the heart of conservative Christianity (Williams 1974; Wolkomir 2006).
