I first met Sally Gross (1953–2014) after her death in 2015 at the Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action archives (GALA) in my place of birth, Johannesburg, South Africa. At the time I was doing dissertation research on the broader subject of misuses of Christianity as a supposed cure for sexuality. My travel companion, Jennifer Emiko Higa Corey, read Sally's letters aloud to me as I scanned other documents. We were overwhelmed with compassion as we learned more about Sally's traumatic break with the church when she learned of her intersexuality. As religious folks, Emiko and I are all too familiar with painful socialities among persons of faith.
Since then I have traveled to three continents interviewing Sally's friends, family, former brethren, and activist communities in order to write her biography. Additionally, I've collected archival materials in the United Kingdom and South Africa. For six years Sally has stretched me...
