ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores eight contributions by an international team of scholars, exploring the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality in contemporary societies. It demonstrates the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality has a salient political dimension, and this is manifested on the personal, institutional and cultural levels within national, regional and international contexts. The book focuses the identity process theory a socio-psychological theory explicating identity construction, threat and coping throws light on the lived experiences of British Muslim gay men of Pakistani descent. It discusses the political dimension of the intersection between religion, gender and sexuality is not confined to the personal and community levels, but also the global. Houston analyses the prominent and problematic role of corporate religion in international policy debates about gender and sexuality issues, such as reproductive healthcare and equality for lesbians and gay men.
