“God Would Punish Them...”: Gay Masculinity, Religiosity, and Violence in Genevieve Hudson’s Boys of Alabama: A Novel

Abstract

This article examines how heteropatriarchal hegemonic masculinity and religious prejudice
intersect, forming a violent tool that marginalizes queer individuals in Genevieve Hudson’s
debut novel Boys of Alabama: A Novel (2020), a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Set in
Alabama, the novel follows Max, a German immigrant boy negotiating the complexities of
masculinity in a Christian society, his queer romance with Pan, and his ultimate subordination to
societal power, symbolized by the character of Judge. Using a queer theoretical framework and
critical close reading, this qualitative study highlights how the forces of heterosexual masculinity
and religious bigotry perpetuate moral policing, effectively erasing queer existence from a
heteronormative world.