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Reading Secrets: A Queer Inheritance of Life & Scripture

by Malcolm Himschoot

A trans pastor's fascination with scriptures inherited from his closeted, fundamentalist father.

Reading Secrets

A Queer Inheritance of Life & Scripture

With these poetic and evocative meditations, Malcolm travels alongside the ghost of his father, exploring their inherited homophobia and the forces of American culture that shaped them both.

One means to the goal is family stories
shared. Secrets aired.
Anxiety becomes curiosity.
Curiosity becomes love.
What is at stake is not innocence.
We are not innocent.
The work must not start from self-deception.
God can do more with truth.
We must lose something precious, to find
our souls instead.
So it starts with those who listen.

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A Spiritual Journey Written in Verse: Promotional video by Catalyst Press

Advance Praise for Reading Secrets

What Early Readers Are Saying

Reading Secrets: A Queer Inheritance of Life & Scripture is already resonating with early readers and reviewers. With its blend of raw honesty and deep compassion, Malcolm Himschoot has crafted a book that challenges, heals, and inspires. Here’s what the early buzz is all about:

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"Charged with insights..."

"Charged with insights and a powerfully compact way of expressing the soul’s work” "

— Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Author of Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion

"A luminous memoir..."

"A luminous memoir that confronts the hardest truths with grace and compassion. A powerful exploration of what it means to hold love and accountability in the same hand. It’s a rare gift of a book."

— David Prestidge, Early reader of advance copy

About the Author

A Story of Dedication and Community

Malcolm wrote portions of his own story into creative nonfiction to resist authoritarianism in family, faith, and culture. Malcolm is currently a minister and educator with the United Church of Christ, and has been public as a trans man since 2004.

Reading Secrets

Journey with Malcolm Himschoot as he reclaims the Scripture that exiled him, transforming its secrets into a story of truth, love, and belonging

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What's going on and how can I get involved?

Book Release Date:June 24, 2025

Events are planned around the country at bookstores, college campuses, and progressive churches.

If you know a group that wants to host Malcolm for an event connecting literature, social change, and spirituality over generations, please be in touch.

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