Author and LGBT Rights Activist
Timothy Kurek
Speaking Fee: Varies.
Travels From: Available Upon Request
Timothy Kurek At A Glance:
Timothy Kurek, a Portland, Oregon based author and speaker is tackling some of the front burner issues of our day. His unrestrained style of immersion lends a uniquely empathetic perspective, engaging his audiences with empathy, humor, and refreshing candor.
Timothy Kurek, a Portland, Oregon based author and speaker is tackling some of the front burner issues of our day. His unrestrained style of immersion lends a uniquely empathetic perspective, engaging his audiences with empathy, humor, and refreshing candor.
Timothy Kurek, raised within the confines of a strict, conservative Christian denomination in the Bible Belt, Nashville, Tennessee, was taught the gospel of separation from a young age. But it wasn’t long before Timothy’s path and the outside world converged when a friend came out as a lesbian, and revealed she had been excommunicated by her family.
Distraught and overcome with questions and doubts about his religious upbringing, Timothy decided the only way to empathize and understand her pain was to walk in the shoes of very people he had been taught to shun. He decided to come out as a gay man to everyone in his life, and to see for himself how the label of gay would impact his life. In the tradition of Black Like Me, The Cross in the Closet is a story about people, a story about faith, and about one man’s “abominable”quest to find Jesus in the margins. The Cross in the Closet, was released October, 2012 and became a critical success, not just nationally, but internationally as well (it is currently available in Hungarian and Chinese). Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu placed his seal of endorsement on the book, saying, “The Cross in the Closet is a gift to us all.”
Timothy is an internationally sought-after speaker lecturing at colleges, conferences and churches in Australia, Italy, Canada and all over the continental United States. He has been featured on ABC’s The View, Fox News Alan Colmes, CNN, The BBC, Canal+, MSNBC, CTV, HLN, Sirius/XM and dozens of other national and international radio/television/print media outlets.
If you’d like to bring in Timothy Kurek as your next keynote speaker, please fill out the “Request More Information” form on the right.
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The Cross in the Closet
A moderated conversation -
The Practice of Intentional Empathy
Walking in the shoes of the other
