Feminism and Religion Blog features Kittredge Cherry on Mary's lesbian goddess roots

Logo for Feminism and Religion Blog

My reflection on Mary’s lesbian-goddess roots is the top story at the Feminism and Religion Blog today.

I’m honored be a guest blogger with the renowned theologians and scholars at the Feminism and Religion Blog, including Starhawk, Carol Christ, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Mary Hunt, and Zsuzsanna Budapest. They also feature lots of up-and-coming theologians.  Look for more of my work there in the future as part of a new arrangement to cross-post some of my writing from here at the Jesus in Love Blog.

The Feminism and Religion Blog describes its mission as “exploring the ‘F-word’ in religion and the intersection between scholarship, activism, and community.”

(The "F-word" they meant is feminism -- because many people who like feminist ideas avoid the label "feminist." It's become like a dirty word and many would rather be called "progressive" instead of "feminist.")

Check out their blog at:

http://feminismandreligion.com/

It was launched earlier this year because “important work in women’s studies in religion continues as more attention is paid to the intersection between gender, race, culture, and sexual identity, within feminism and religion.”

They also ran my piece “Artemisia Gentileschi: Baroque artist and rape survivor painted strong Biblical women” recently. Here’s how they described me: “The following is a guest post written by Rev. Kittredge Cherry, lesbian Christian author and art historian who blogs about LGBT spirituality and the arts at the Jesus in Love Blog. Her books include Equal Rites and Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.”

My post today is titled Mary’s Feast Rooted in Lesbian Goddesses Diana and Artemis.

Special thanks to Xochitl Alvizo for introducing me to the Feminism and Religion blog! Xochitl is a feminist theologian who is completing her doctorate at Boston University School of Theology.

ML King memorial and the gay hero of the March on Washington: Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin at news briefing on the March on Washington, Aug. 27, 1963 (Wikipedia)

When a new memorial is dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, let us also remember Bayard Rustin, the black gay man who organized the march.

MLK Jr Memorial
(Wikimedia Commons)

The memorial, with a 30-foot statue of King, is scheduled for dedication on Washington’s National Mall on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. (Update: The dedication was postponed to an undetermined date in September or October due to Hurricane Irene.)

A close advisor to King, Rustin was the chief organizer of the March on Washington, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Rustin has been called “an invisible LGBT hero.” His name is almost unknown, even though he was a major leader in the movements for civil rights and non-violence. He was openly gay, so stayed behind the scenes. He died 24 years ago today at age 75.

Rustin (Mar.17, 1912 - Aug. 24, 1987) rarely served as a public spokesperson for civil rights because he was openly gay in an era when homosexuality was criminalized and stigmatized. His sexuality was criticized by both segregationists and some fellow pacifists and civil-rights workers. In the 1970s he began to advocate publicly for lesbian and gay causes.

From 1955-68 Rustin was a leading strategist for the African American civil rights movement. He is credited with introducing Gandhi-style non-violence to the civil rights movement. His decades of achievements include helping launch the first Freedom Rides in 1947, when civil disobedience was used against racial segregation on buses. He helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and much more.

Rustin’s sexual orientation became publicly known in 1953, when he was arrested for homosexual activity in Pasadena, California. He pleaded guilty and served 60 days in jail. A member of the Quaker faith with its pacifist tradition, he had been jailed before for refusing to participate in World War II.

He clearly saw the connections between the movements for racial justice, women’s equality and LGBT rights. He made it vividly clear in a controversial speech to the Philadelphia chapter of Black and White Men Together on March 1, 1986. The speech, titled “The New ‘Niggers’ are Gays,” is one of several pieces about LGBT rights in his book “Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writing of Bayard Rustin.” Rustin states:

“Today, blacks are no longer the litmus paper or the barometer of social change. Blacks are in every segment of society and there are laws that help to protect them from racial discrimination. The new “niggers” are gays. … It is in this sense that gay people are the new barometer for social change. … The question of social change should be framed with the most vulnerable group in mind: gay people.”

The full synthesis of Rustin’s black and gay identities -- the “two crosses” of his book title -- was the culmination of a life well lived. He died less than a year later of a ruptured pancreas on Aug. 24, 1987 -- 24 years ago today. Late August was also significant in Rustin’s life because the March on Washington was held on Aug. 28, 1963.

The new King memorial includes 24 niches honoring others who gave their lives in various ways to the civil rights movement. I wasn’t able to find out if Rustin will be officially honored there. Some niches have been left open and incomplete, so that more individuals can be added in the future.

Rustin deserves a place in the King memorial… and in the LGBT saints series here at the Jesus in Love Blog.

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For more info, see:
Rustin’s biography at Wikipedia

Martin Luther King memorial at Wikipedia

Rustin.org (includes reflection by Rustin’s lover, Walter Naegle)

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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes, holy people, deities and religious figures of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

What if Christ and Krishna made love?

Above: “Krishna and Christ,” artist unknown

Below right: “Jesus and Lord Rama” by Alex Donis, frumkingallery.com

What if Christ met Krishna? They are two of the greatest teachers of love that the world has ever known. Would they speak of love, even make love? We celebrate this delightful possibility today in honor of Krishna’s birthday or Janmashtami (Aug. 22 this year).

"Jesus and Lord Rama" by Alex Donis

Many have noticed the similarities between Christ and the Hindu deity Krishna, but now the two god-men are portrayed as gay lovers in the work of artistic visionaries like artist Alex Donis, whose work appears at right, and poet Brian Day. His poem “The Love Between Krishna and Jesus” is reprinted in full below.

Those who value love, sexuality and interfaith dialogue may find enlightenment by imagining an erotic encounter between Jesus and Krishna.

Like Christ, Krishna is a savior who taught love. Both are believed to be divinely conceived by God and a human woman, making them human AND divine. Each had a carpenter as his adoptive father. Jesus called himself a shepherd and Krishna herded cattle, but both healed the sick, worked miracles and forgave enemies.

One difference between the two is that Jesus is considered celibate in Christian tradition, while Krishna is a fantastic lover who is “all-attractive” to men as well as women. Legends glorify Krishna’s many amorous encounters with all kinds of admirers: female and male, milkmaids and cowboys, human and divine.

Would sparks fly if these two great teachers of love met? Toronto poet Brian Day writes about their ineffable intimacy a poem that begins, “They approach one another with cool flowers of language…” Many thanks to Brian for permission to reprint the whole poem below. It also appears in “Azure,” a book of Day’s poetry published by Guernica Editions.

In a related work, California artist Alex Donis painted a sublime interfaith kiss in “Jesus and Lord Rama.” (Krishna and Rama are both blue-skinned incarnations of Vishnu.) It is part of his “My Cathedral” series of kisses between unlikely same-sex pairs.

The Donis exhibit electrified viewers when it opened in San Francisco in 1997. Heated arguments erupted in the gallery, followed by threatening phone calls and letters, and then physical violence. Vandals threw rocks and traffic barriers through the gallery windows—not once, but twice in three weeks. They smashed two of the artworks: first Jesus and Rama, and then Che Guevara kissing Cesar Chavez. The Christ-Rama image and its harrowing story appear in my book “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.” Many thanks to Alex for permission to post the controversial painting here.

The idea of a queer Jesus shocks and offends some traditional Christians, but he can be liberating for LGBT people and our allies. The bisexual Krishna may serve the same purpose among Hindus. People throughout history have pictured Jesus looking like one of them: black Jesus in Africa, white Jesus in the West, and Jesus who looks Asian or Latin American in those parts of the world. It’s OK to add queer Christ to the mix because he taught love for all and embodied God’s wildly inclusive love for everyone, including sexual minorities. Gay Jesus images are needed now because conservatives are using religious rhetoric to justify discrimination against queer people.

If Jesus and Krishna met, would there be conflict or kisses? Brian Day’s poem offers a beautiful glimpse into how they might love each other.

The Love Between
Krishna and Jesus

By Brian Day

They approach one another with cool flowers of language,
move their mouths in the gorgeous recitation of beauty;

speak with the unpenned poetry of scripture,
the memory behind words of the blue walks of heaven.

After rage at armies and amassers of money,
each shows the other his friendly form,

withdraws from the gaping ground of his battles
to the secluded pool of nakedness and bathing;

eases to a heart as capacious as his own,
awakes the faint world with fresh adoration.

Hands trace over skin as sure sacred text,
ponder as patiently, savour as deep.

These princes of devotion, co-creators of love,
make themselves love on the plane of their skin,

blurring their words to a once-fused language,
their forms to one sinuous glistening of delight.

They meld themselves to this moist skin and strength,
retuning their limbs to the bright keys of heaven:

agape that these bodies bred from stars
could harbour such awe at the pouring of pleasure:

at skin newly lit and expansive as sky,
at the quick touch of wonder in a night of such eyes.

Krishna has blossomed as the season of flowers
and Jesus the fig tree now heavy with bloom.

They meet as the alpha and snake tail of time,
the clasp that unites bright intimate worlds.

Reprinted with permission from the book “Azure,” published by Guernica Editions.)
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Krishna-like figures are shown in more sexually explicit homoerotic scenes by artist Attila Richard Lukacs. They can be viewed in his “Varieties of Love” series at the following link:

Diane Farris Gallery

For more info on Krishna and other Hindu deities who transcend sexual and gender norms, visit the Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association at:
http://www.galva108.org
The GALVA website is packed with fascinating material on Hindu saints and deities who embody the full spectrum of gender and sexual diversity, including but not limited to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and “third sex.”

Mary, Diana and Artemis: Feast of Assumption has lesbian goddess roots

Mary, left, took over the Aug. 15 holiday from the goddess Diana, right

August 15 was once the festival of the lesbian goddess Diana (Artemis), but it has been adapted into a feast day for the Virgin Mary.

Midsummer feasts have celebrated the divine feminine on this date since before the time of Christ. Now devoted to Mary, August 15 carries the torch of lesbian spiritual power to a new generation.

Saint Mary, mother of Jesus, is honored by churches today in a major feast day marking her death and entrance into heaven. Catholic and Orthodox churches call it the Feast of the Assumption or Dormition, when Mary was assumed into heaven, body and soul.

The Virgin Mary’s holiday was adapted -- some would say appropriated -- from an ancient Roman festival for Diana, the virgin goddess of the moon and the hunt. Diana, or Artemis in Greek, is sometimes called a lesbian goddess because of her love for woman and her vow never to marry a man. The ancient Roman Festival of Torches (Nemoralia) was held from Aug. 13-15 as Diana’s chief festival.

According to mythology, Diana preferred the company of women and surrounded herself with female companions. They took an oath of virginity and lived as a group in the woods, where they hunted and danced together. Homoerotic art and speculations often focus on Diana’s relationship with the princess Callisto. The god Jupiter (Zeus) lusted after Callisto, so he disguised himself as Diana and seduced Callisto in a woman-to-woman embrace. (For the full story, see glbtq.com. The lesbian love scene is painted by artists such as Francois Boucher in “Jupiter and Callisto” (below).

“Jupiter and Callisto” by Francois Boucher (Wikimedia Commons)

There are many more stories about Diana and the women, nymphs and goddesses whom she loved. The goddess Britomaris was another favorite of Diana. When the lustful king Minos pursued Britomaris, she escaped by leaping into the sea. Diana rescued her and, some say, fell in love with her. Diana also showed love for various princesses.  She gave the princess Cyrene a pair of magical dogs and granted the princess Daphne the gift of shooting straight. The princess Atalanta almost died of exposure as a baby girl after her father abandoned her because he wanted a son. Diana saved her and, with the help of a she-bear, Atalanta grew up to become one of Diana’s beloved companions. And this is just the beginning.

Diana’s main holiday was the Festival of Torches or Nemoralia. Hundreds of women and girls carried torches and candles in a night-time procession through the woods. They wore wreaths of flowers -- and even put flowers on the hunting dogs who walked with them. The group hiked a few miles from Rome to a sacred site, the circle-shaped Lake Nemi. The dark waters reflected the moon and the torchlight of the pilgrims. There they left offerings of apples, garlic, statues and prayers handwritten on ribbons. Click here for a vivid description of the festival. Ovid, the Roman poet who lived before Christ, described the magic of the festival:

Often does a woman whose prayers Diana answered,
With a wreath of flowers crowning her head,
Walk from Rome carrying a burning torch...

Artemis of Ephesus

Aspects of Diana and Artemis were taken over by the church more than 1,300 years ago. The Festival of Torches became the Feast of the Assumption. The Temple to Artemis at Ephesus in Turkey was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, with an awe-inspiring statue of the “many-breasted” Artemis. The temple was destroyed and replaced by the Church of Mary. The Virgin Mary even assumed some titles once given to Artemis, including Queen of Heaven.

Feminists praise Diana/Artemis as an archetype of female power, a triple goddess who represents all phases of womanhood. She is the maiden, wild and free, with no need for a man. She is the “many-breasted” mother who nurtures all life. She is the crone, the hunter who provides swift death with her arrows in harmony with the cycles of nature.

The connections between Diana and Mary raise many questions. The concept of virginity has been used to control women, but sometimes it is a code word for lesbian. What shade of meaning is implied by the “virginity” of these two heavenly queens? Did the church patriarchs substitute wild lesbian Artemis with mild straight Mary -- or is Mary more versatile and dynamic than many thought?

LGBT people and our friends may be inspired by the queer origins of this midsummer holiday. May the Queen of Heaven, by whatever name, continue to bless those who remember her.

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Update on Sept. 7, 2011: This article was cross-posted at the Feminism and Religion Blog, where many comments raised other relevant issues, including the Jewish sources for the story of Mary’s miraculous birth, the historical Mary, and first-hand reports from women who visited Ephesus and Greece. You can see it all at: feminismandreligion.com
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Recommended links:
Tribute to Artemis

Are there any lesbian goddesseses?
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Image credits:

“Diana of Versailles,” Roman artwork, Imperial Era (1st-2nd centuries CE). Found in Italy. (Wikimedia Commons)

“Assumption of Mary” by Guido Remi, 1642 (Wikimedia Commons)

“Artemis of Ephesus,” 1st century CE Roman copy of the “many breasted” Artemis stattue of the Temple of Ephesus (Wikimedia Commons)

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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes, holy people, deities and religious figures of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Cardinal Newman: Did the Pope beatify a gay saint?

“Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman: Lead Kindly Light”
By William Hart McNichols ©

Cardinal John Henry Newman was beatified last year while the news media buzzed with questions such as “Will the Pope canonize a gay saint?” His feast day is today (Aug. 11) in the Anglican tradition, and Oct. 9 for Catholics.

The Catholic Church tried to downplay Newman’s loving relationship with priest Ambrose St. John, but went ahead and beatified him despite questions about his homosexuality. Controversy focused on the church’s decision to disturb the grave that the two men shared in an unsuccessful effort to separate them.

Newman is Britain’s most famous 19th-century convert to Catholicism. He began as an Anglican priest and had to give up his post as an Oxford professor due to his conversion. Eventually he rose to the rank of Cardinal. Because Newman was an excellent scholar, Catholic centers on U.S. college campuses are named after him. Newman tells his own story in his acclaimed spiritual autobiography, “Apologia Pro Vita Sua.”

John Henry Newman, left, and Ambrose St. John

He spent most of his life with his closest friend, Ambrose St. John. After St. John died in 1875, Newman wrote, “I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband’s or a wife’s, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or anyone’s sorrow greater, than mine.”

Here is a short bio of Newman written by Terence Weldon. It appeared first at his ever-informative blog “Queer Saints and Martyrs (and Others).”

As a man, he had a well known lifelong deep commitment to his friend, Ambrose St. John. This relationship was so intense that he particularly desired to be buried alongside his friend. This became controversial among gay activists when, as part of the beatification process, the Vatican insisted on removing the remains of Newman, but not those of his friend, to the Birmingham Oratory. In the event, the activists lost the battle, but gained smug satisfaction when the grave was found to contain no human remains. (Some advanced this a further ‘miracle’ in support of his cause).
“An excavation of the Cardinal’s grave at the Oratory House in Rednal near Birmingham, last year revealed no human remains. It is believed his body, which was buried in a wooden coffin, had completely decomposed.

“John Henry Newman”
by Brother Robert Lentz, OFM. ©
www.trinitystores.com

Newman was buried alongside his close friend – who some presume to have been his gay lover – Ambrose St John. But the Vatican wanted his remains to be moved to the Birmingham Oratory, in preparation for his beatification.” [The Independent]

Many people object to the description of Newman as ‘gay’ on the grounds that there is no evidence that the deep friendship with St John took sexual expression. This is irrelevant: all priests are under a vow of celibacy. Many, whether gay or straight, keep their vow, some do not. The adherence or otherwise to the vow does not affect or determine their underlying orientation. (We do not claim that celibate priests are thereby not heterosexual).

As a theologian, Cardinal Newman played an important role in developing the modern formulation of the primacy of conscience, which is of fundamental importance to LGBT Catholics who reject in good conscience the standard teaching on sexuality – or the high proportion of heterosexual couples who reject “Humanae Vitae”.

The venerable, soon to be Blessed, John Henry has a strong claim to be regarded as a patron saint of English gay Catholics.

Thank you, Terry, for sharing your thoughts on John Henry Newman here. And thanks to Michael at the Hell’s Teeth Blog for alerting me to the article, “Vatican orders Cardinal Newman to be parted from priest friend in shared grave” in telegraph.co.uk.

Newmanis honored by Catholics on Oct. 9, the anniversary of his 1845 conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism. Naturally Anglicans chose a different date for Newman’s feast day -- the anniversary of his death on Aug. 11.

This post is illustrated with icons of Newman by Robert Lentz and William McNichols.  Both artists faced controversy for their alternative and LGBT-affirming images.

Finally, here are more of Newman’s own words, as quoted in that article: “I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St. John’s grave - and I give this as my last, my imperative will,” he wrote, later adding: “This I confirm and insist on.”

With beatification, Newman is now only one step away from official sainthood. He is already a saint in the hearts of many, including the LGBT people who are inspired by his life and love.
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Recommended links
Was Cardinal John Henry Newman Gay? (NPR)

Reflections on the Life and Legacy of John Henry Newman (Wild Reed)

Blessed John Henry and Ambrose: Newman’s Last Sermon (Queering the Church)

“Out of the Shadows, Into the Light”:Blessed John Henry Newman (Queering the Church)




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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Artist Wes Hempel paints gay spiritual struggles

“A New Beginning” by Wes Hempel

Is that a gay angel weeping? Gay spiritual struggles are suggested in the paintings of Wes Hempel, whose art helps LGBT people find our missing place in history.

The Colorado artist creates a sense of mystery by combining contemporary figures with historical elements, using the polished, realistic style of the past. His projects include “a re-visioning of what art history might have looked like had homosexuality not been vilified.”

Some of Hempel’s paintings address the clash between contemporary gay identity and religious tradition. Others imply gay experiences of sublime awe through nature, sexuality and, by extension, the One who created it all. The beauty of his style and subject matter reflects the holiness of human nature.

An excellent example is “A New Beginning” (above), which shows a young man kneeling in prayer while a nude angel weeps and a handsome man watches from heavenly clouds above. Hempel’s own statement on the painting raises more questions that it answers:

“It’s not clear what prayer is being offered by the kneeling youth, though in conjunction with the title, we might assume he desires a fresh start of some kind, a break with the past (represented by the recently excavated antiquities), forgiveness, perhaps, renewal. Other elements in the painting may hint that realizing such a change will not be easy. Is the angel standing beside the youth weeping? If so, are these tears of joy or dismay? The figure perched in the clouds -- ostensibly a representative of heaven -- looks down not at the praying youth, but rather off to the side. Is his expression one of concern? Compassion? Sadness? The tornado, literally a collision of opposing air masses, churns ominously in the background.”

Another mysterious gay encounter occurs in “Supplication” (below). Two idealized men interact, or purposely fail to interact, among the clouds in a setting that suggests heaven or antiquity. Supplication is a form of prayer, but is the supplicant begging a favor from another man -- or from a Christ figure? Is he asking to have his homoerotic desires fulfilled or removed? Are they lover and beloved, human and God, or two faces of the exact same man?

“Supplication” by Wes Hempel

Like a painter from the 19th century, Hempel sometimes uses nature as a metaphor for the divine. Two shirtless men cling together as they stagger through scenery of almost overwhelming majesty in “Rescue from the Sublime” (below).

“Rescue from the Sublime” by Wes Hempel

Hempel made the spiritual connection clear in a discussion of “Rescue from the Sublime” at the gay Mormon blog Invictus Pilgrim.

“I was thinking how the beauty of the world can be overpowering at times, and how we need help from each other in enduring it. I remember reading about people in the nineteenth century who were "soul struck" by scenic beauty, peaceful rivers, majestic mountains, etc. and would literally swoon. Imagine!

“And, of course, there's the larger metaphor that comes into play about the face of God and peering into the divine. Sometimes we need to be rescued from God. It’s a paradox, because we can’t not approach. We have to look and ask the questions, but we need each other's support in doing so. We have to rest in each other's arms ...”

Hempel puts a queer eye on art history in some of his earlier work. He replaces female sex objects with men in his queer versions of famous paintings. For example, Jean-Leon Gerome’s 1884 painting “Slave Auction” shows men bidding to buy a nude white woman. Hempel’s version, titled “Auction,” has a rope-bound male angel, genitals exposed, as the enslaved object of desire. This painting and many more can be seen at the artist’s website, weshempel.com. (Warning: nudity.)

Sometimes Hempel works on joint art projects with his longtime partner Jack Balas. A detailed interview about their collaboration in life and art is posted at Philip F. Clark’s blog Artpoint.
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Special thanks to Toby Johnson for alerting me to the art of Wes Hempel in connection with the forthcoming novel “King of Angels” by Perry Brass.

Conservatives attack our lesbian and gay Nativity scenes today!

Nasty accusations of blasphemy poured in today after some conservative bloggers discovered the gay and lesbian Nativity scenes that I created.

“Love..is NOT the criteria for making a ‘Family’. A REAL Family is a MAN & a WOMAN producing a child or children,” commented one of the naysayers. Others accused me of “vile blasphemy” that is “replusive to true Christians.”

All because I put Mary with Mary and Joseph with Joseph -- like putting two brides or two grooms on top of a wedding cake! I made a video of my alternative manger scenes, asking the question, “What if the child of God was born to a lesbian couple… or a gay couple? Because, after all, LOVE makes a family. Including the Holy Family.”

I created the video way back in 2009, but today it’s hot news on some conservative blogs. They use religious language to justify hate and discrimination against LGBT people, even though Jesus taught love for all.

Here are some highlights -- or low points:

From Apprising Ministries blog:

“Я U READY FOR THE LESBIAN NATIVITY SCENE?

What would lesbians have to do with the manger scene? Sadly, the more you make a study of the godless pro-gay lobby now well within the visible church you quickly find that nothing’s sacred to such as these. … So the time has now arrived to take up your Sword of the Spirit and go out to meet them full on.”

From WorldNetDaily:

“GOD HAS 2 MOMMIES
Jesus, Mary and ... Josephine? It's lesbian Nativity at church
'A slap in the face to the Holy Family and Christians around the world'

“That event inspired Kittredge Cherry, who calls herself a lesbian Christian author and minister from Los Angeles, to pick up the mantle and create in December 2009 her own non-living "gay" Nativities she continues to promote on YouTube.”

Most of the hateful comments were posted at YouTube. Click here to go to the YouTube page where they are posted. Instead of deleting them, I’m leaving them there as evidence.

I’m trying to see it as a badge of honor to be attacked by religious authorities. After all, Jesus was also accused of blasphemy for teaching about God’s love for all.

For more about the lesbian and gay Nativity scenes, see our previous posts:

Gay and lesbian nativity scenes show love makes a family

Video: Gay and lesbian manger scenes show love makes a family

Gay and lesbian Nativity cards

Update: Click here for our Queer Nativity series, Dec. 2011

Lesbian Nativity Scene with Dog (Love Makes a Holy Family series) by Kittredge Cherry ©2009