“Defiantly Joyful” Now Available!

June, 2026… We’re thrilled to announce the newest title from Skinner House: Defiantly Joyful: Unitarian Universalist LGBTQIA+ Histories, edited by Diana K. McLean and published by Skinner House Books.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, the Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association (UURMaPA) launched what would become the UU Rainbow History Project, convening in 2019 two in-person conferences and creating a new digital archive to preserve LGBTQIA+ Unitarian Universalist history. This landmark collection grows out of that important effort to honor and reckon with that history.

Edited by Diana K. McLean, Defiantly Joyful brings together personal stories from LGBTQIA+ Unitarian Universalists, both laypeople and religious professionals, across a wide spectrum of identities and experiences. Rich with insight and anchored by a timeline of Unitarian Universalist LGBTQIA+ history more thorough than any previously available, Defiantly Joyful honors the trailblazers who came before, while challenging and inspiring readers to consider the work still ahead and continue the fight.