Church Girl is a Gay

by Ginger Hendrix

Ginger Hendrix’s finely crafted memoir, Church Girl is a Gay , recounts her life in unflinching detail. In a state centered in the Bible Belt, in the center of a proudly Christian city, Hendrix tells her story with white-hot honesty as she writes, “. . . off every road I’d ever traveled was littered with the footprints of youth group leaders leading games out of my garage. And it wasn’t until my heart broke so badly that I couldn’t stand up under the pain that my feet went looking for the soft, sandy ground of places where people weren’t sure of most anything. I was married with three kids, a leader in an evangelical non-profit. I was 48, and I knew my insides felt built to love a woman. But I still didn’t know I was gay—because I’d never asked the question. There was no question available to ask.”

Genres: Memoir

200 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a form reminiscent of Glennon Doyle’s Untamed, Ginger Hendrix’s memoir tackles the fears, excitements, and dilemmas of coming out as queer while entrenched in near picture-perfect heteronormativity. As a religiously traumatized gay myself, I was immediately drawn to this book’s title (still upset my edition’s cute ass cover isn’t on GR).

Hendrix structures Church Girl is a Gay in three acts: the end of her old life, the muddy middle of forging a new one, and a series of hopeful beginnings showing herself that she can. Some of this book borders on corny, but I’d be lying if I were to say I hope the journey of my growing up doesn’t have the authentically corny struggle of finding a way back to myself (time and time again) and taking root in all the love offered to me along the way.

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“I will narrate my heart less and use it more… It's time to discipline my nervous, tender heart to believe that the person near me wants to be near me and stop checking the exits for an escape plan all of the time. I seem to live like some traumatized victim of a house bombing when I'm near the soul of warm, beautiful person. Like I might make the spark that explodes them, and I'll be sitting unexpectedly in their blast zone, stupid and hurt and to blame for the wreckage.”

“I keep telling the people who ask me how I am that I breathe into a high space in my chest now, a place that hasn't had any real air in it for along time, not since I used to sit in blanket forts in the backyard of the house we lived in for a while when I was eleven.”

[Sienna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have newly came out and when reading this I definitely feel the same way with how it feels wanting to be with a woman. But feeling like I am too old (26) to find that sort of thing. Or finding a woman that is okay with me having a boyfriend and will always have him and the love I feel for him.

On page 100, Hendrix says how old friends now have a version of her....That I was a gambler, setting out for a possible love that might not ever cross my path, might not in fact even exist.

I still feel that now like it might not happen.

I also really liked how THE END was the beginning and THE BEGINNING was the end of the book.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF. I think this author has an interesting perspective and probably an interesting story to tell. But I couldn’t handle the writing 🥲 not everyone with a cool story is also a good writer unfortunately 😬

[M. Jandreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It’s raw and emotional, powerful and sweet. It’s an amazing story about an amazing woman finally realizing that her happiness and completeness should take precedence over everything else in life.

It’s a quick read, too. Only took me a couple of hours. I wish it were longer because I enjoyed it so much!