Lesbian Virgin Mary poster protested in Croatia

Poster for “Fine Dead Girls” from Gavella Theatre

A poster with a lesbian Virgin Mary was withdrawn in Croatia yesterday after religious and political pressure. It advertised the play “Fine Dead Girls” at the municipal Gavella Theatre in Zagreb.

According to Croatian news reports, the mayor of Zagreb ordered theater director Darko Stazic to remove the poster from all public areas after an unprecedented campaign against it by Catholic and other religious groups. They denounced the poster as blasphemy.

Now the theater director is being criticized for cowardice by some LGBT Croatians advocating freedom of expression.

The controversial poster shows a traditional statue of Mary being embraced from behind by another woman. “Fine Dead Girls” (Fine Mrtve Djevojke) by Dalibor Matanic is about a young lesbian couple who move into a seemingly quiet apartment building in Zagreb. Soon they face hostility from neighbors and family, including a religious fundamentalist father. The theatrical version is based on the award-winning 2002 film of the same title.

As a lesbian Christian, I am upset by the censorship of the lesbian Virgin Mary. The conservatives got rid of the lesbian Virgin Mary posters by demanding their religious rights, but what about my right to see images that affirm me as a lesbian Christian?! I welcome images that show lesbian love as sacred, but they are hard to find.

The Croatian controversy is the most recent of many conflicts over LGBT religious images as freedom of religion clashes with freedom of speech. It is important to support LGBT Christian images because conservatives use religious rhetoric to justify discrimination against queer people.

Similar controversies are covered in my book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More. I report about the more recent controversies on this blog, including a gay Nativity in Columbia, a queer baby Jesus poster in New Zealand, a gay Jesus exhibit in Spain, “Our Lady” by Latina lesbian artist Alma Lopez, and a crucifix symbolizing the pain of gay men with AIDS by David Wojnarowicz at the Smithsonian.
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Related links:

Lesbian Virgin Mary posters withdrawn (Croatian Times)

Fine Dead Girls film (Amazon.com)

David Wojnarowicz : Smithsonian censors gay artist when conservatives attack (Jesus in Love)

Alma Lopez: Our Lady and Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy (Jesus in Love)

Fernando Bayona Gonzalez: Protests end gay Jesus exhibit in Spain (Jesus in Love)

Conservatives attack our lesbian and gay Nativity scenes today! (Jesus in Love)

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

Blasphemy charges filed for Greek gay Jesus play "Corpus Christi"

“Corpus Christi” photo by EJ Camp, courtesy of 108 Productions

Blasphemy charges were filed against the actors, producer and director of the gay Jesus play “Corpus Christi” in Greece this month after violent protests forced cancellation of the show.

Greek Orthodox priests and members of the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn party protested outside the Hytirio theater in downtown Athens almost daily for weeks, according to news reports by Reuters and others. Protestors blocked the theater entrance and clashed with police, forcing the premiere of “Corpus Christi” to be cancelled twice before the whole production was shut down.

Blasphemy laws are rarely enforced in Greece, but director Laertis Vasilio and the cast could face several months in jail if convicted of “malicious blasphemy” and “insulting religion.”

Corpus Christi has been causing controversy since 1998, when bomb threats from religious conservatives almost prevented its Off-Broadway opening. Written by American playwright Terrence McNally, the updated Passion play retells the gospel with Jesus as a gay man in 1950s Corpus Christi, Texas.

“Corpus Christi” continues to be produced around the world, including an international revival tour by 108 Productions that has continued to sell-out audience since 2006.

“We are not involved with the Greek production but have stayed acutely aware of its progress and certainly keep them all in our prayers and thoughts,” said James Brandon, producer, director and actor at 108 Productions, which is based in America. “Although we may get thousands of protest emails daily we are blessed and lucky not to be able to be charged!”

Controversy over the play is explored on film in “Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption,” a new documentary from 108 Productions (trailer below). The film follows the troupe, playwright and audiences across the United States and around the world on a five-year journey as protestors and supporters clash over a central issue facing the LGBT community: religion-based bias.




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Related links:

Blasphemy charges filed over gay Jesus play in Greece (Reuters)

Greece Prosecutes Corpus Christi for Blasphemy (Greek Reporter)

Rehearsal photos from the Greek production of “Corpus Christi” (Facebook)

Gay Jesus kiss: "Corpus Christi" play behind the scenes (Jesus in Love)

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This post is part of the Queer Christ series series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series gathers together visions of the queer Christ as presented by artists, writers, theologians and others.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com/
Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts

LGBT Christians to Pope: Stop homophobia! (plus photos of EuroPride & John McNeill)

LGBT Christians, including gay priest John McNeill, presented a letter to the Pope asking him to end homophobia, then marched with thousands through Rome the next day in the big EuroPride parade.

“We ask Your Holiness to condemn violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals and to ensure that criminal punishment for sexual relations between people of the same sex are lifted around the world,” the letter begins. Silence from the Vatican, the letter says, “could be interpreted as approval of the violence.” Click here for the whole letter.

The letter to Pope Benedict XVI is signed by co-presidents of the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups on behalf of the 44 member groups from 23 countries in Europe. It was presented on June 10.

I honor these brave people for taking their call for justice to the very top the church hierarchy. Let’s celebrate with them by enjoying these photos of EuroPride.

Photos are © 2011 by Bill Wilson of SanFranciscoSentinel.com, unless noted otherwise. Visit his website, billwilsonphotos.com, for lots more photos of EuroPride. The Jesus in Love Blog warmly thanks Bill for generously agreeing to be our eyes in Rome!
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For more info, see our previous posts:

Gay priest McNeill shakes up Rome with new moves and new movie

Update: Gay priest McNeill’s premiere succeeds despite rain in Rome at EuroPride

These heroes presented the letter asking the Pope to end homophobia! John McNeill is seated in the front. Photo by European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups.

The gate to Rome was lit with a rainbow for EuroPride.

John McNeill, seated, shares a EuroPride smile with film director Brendan Fay and clergywoman in rainbow stole: Rev. Hilde Raastad, Norway's first openly lesbian pastor, from Norwegian Lutheran Church in Oslo, Norway.

LGBT EuroPride crowd marches past the Coliseum in Rome. In 2000 the World Pride March was not allowed to circle the Coliseum, but this time they were! Photographer Bill Wilson reports, “It was a meaningful sight to walk down the Via Dei Fori Imperiali past the ancient Roman ruins.”

Italian lesbians! I mean Lesbiche! (Trasversali was not in my Italian-English dictionary. Maybe it means transgender?)

This EuroPride man puts the “glad” in gladiator, as in “Glad to see you,” notes photographer Bill Wilson.

John McNeill at EuroPride Rome with the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups.

Any excuse to wear a top hat!

EuroPride guys, we honor the love between men!

EuroPride brides, we celebrate the love between women!

Update: Gay priest McNeill’s premiere moves crowds despite rain in Rome at EuroPride

John McNeill and his partner Charles Chiarelli meet Paola Concia, member of the Italian Parliament, at the June 6 premiere. Andrea Rubera translates.  Photo By Bill Wilson © 2011, photojournalist for SanFranciscoSentinel.com

Rain couldn’t dampen the spirit of the crowd that joined pioneering gay priest John McNeill at the world premiere of a film on his life at EuroPride in Rome June 6.

(Update: Click here for info on the U.S. premiere Sept. 24 in Woodstock, NY.)

Rain forced organizers to move the premiere of “Taking a Chance on God” from an outdoor location to a tented site in Europride Park at Rome’s Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, according to a news report in the San Francisco Sentinel.

Andrea Rubera, president of Nuova Proposta: Christian Homosexual Women and Men, and Paolo Patane, president of Arcigay, introduced and welcomed McNeill. They praised his courage in coming out and promoting LGBT rights in the church and society since the 1970s. McNeill’s work inspired queer people all over the world, but he was silenced by the Roman Catholic Church and expelled from the Jesuit order for expressing God’s love for LGBT people.

McNeill himself spoke before the screening of the documentary, which was directed by Brendan Fay. Diane Xuereb of Malta posted a moving first-person account on her blog “I am Gay and I am BLESSED.” Here are a few highlights:

I thought that I would get there to find that it was all over, however in true Italian fashion (practically always late ;)) it had only just started. It was 10.45pm. I arrived just in time to hear Fr. John introduce himself as well as the documentary.

The tent was packed, all the chairs were taken, there was barely a place to stand and everyone was listening attentively. Listening to this charismatic 85 year old legendary, gay Jesuit priest, hanging on to his every word….

I couldnt help but cry whilst watching the documentary and when I went to meet him I could see that he too was very emotional. I am grateful for having been able to meet this humble and whole man and for having been able to thank him personally for paving the way for the LGBT world and for making our life more possible.

While in Rome, McNeill will also advocate for LGBT justice at the Vatican -- leading to a possible showdown with his longtime opponent, who now serves as Pope. The order to silence McNeill for his LGBT activism was issued in Rome in 1977 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope Benedict XVI.  McNeill’s landmark 1976 book,  “The Church and the Homosexual,” had just been published.

Now McNeill plans to deliver a letter to the Vatican urging the Church to speak out against violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the world.

Simply delivering the pro-LGBT letter to the Vatican may prove to be a challenge, but as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built (or unbuilt!) in a day.

(Update on June 15: Click here for photos and a report on McNeill and LGBT groups presenting the letter to the Pope asking him to end homophobia.)

Paolo Patane, president of Arcigay, welcomes John McNeill at the premiere

Photo By Bill Wilson © 201l

Crowd watches the world premiere of “Taking a Chance on God” at EuroPride in Rome on June 6

Photo By Bill Wilson © 201l

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Special thanks to Bill Wilson for permission to post his photos of the premiere. See lots more photos at:
billwilsonphotos.com

For more info, go to:
UPDATE on Oct. 16:
John McNeill has posted his own personal thoughts on the U.S. film debut at this link:
Reflections on the playing of Taking a Chance on God at the Woodstock Film Festival

UPDATE:
Gay priest McNeill film has U.S. premiere Sept. 24 in Woodstock, NY

NEW on June 15: LGBT Christians to Pope: Stop homophobia! (plus photos of EuroPride &  John McNeill) at the Jesus in Love Blog

Gay priest McNeill shakes up Rome with new moves and new movie at the Jesus in Love Blog

Taking a Chance on God at Europride Premiere - On Scene with Bill Wilson at SanFranciscoSentinel.com

Gay priest McNeill shakes up Rome with new moves and new movie

Pioneering gay priest John McNeill is still shaking up the Vatican at age 85. He is going to Rome for the world premiere of a new documentary about his life on June 6 at EuroPride 2011 -- and to ask the Vatican for LGBT justice.

When in Rome, McNeill will not do as the Romans do, but instead will advocate change in the Roman Catholic church.

The new film, “Taking A Chance on God,” tells the life story of McNeill, author of the groundbreaking 1976 book “The Church and the Homosexual.” McNeill’s work inspired the founding of Dignity, the LGBT Catholic group, but he was silenced by the Church and expelled from the Jesuit order for coming out and promoting LBGT rights in church and society.

John McNeill, right,
with director Brendan Fay

Rome is the perfect city for the premiere because the order to silence McNeill for his LGBT activism was issued in Rome in 1977 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- the current Pope. For refusing to obey this order of silence, McNeill was eventually expelled from the Jesuit order in April 1987.

During his Roman holiday, he will deliver a letter to Catholic leaders at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The letter will ask for dialogue, and urge Church leadership to speak out against the violence, injustice, and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the world. (Update on June 15: Click here for photos and a report on McNeill and LGBT groups presenting the letter to the Pope asking him to end homophobia.)

McNeill and his life-partner Charlie are traveling to Rome from their home in Florida for the premiere. McNeill will be welcomed as pioneer of the international LGBT religious movement by thousands of LGBT persons who will gather in Rome for EuroPride 2011. This is the first time ever that EuroPride will include a section on faith and homosexuality.

The documentary is directed by filmmaker and activist Brendan Fay. He co-produced “Saint of 9/11” about Father Mychal Judge, the gay chaplain who died in the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11, 2001.

“For a few days Rome will be a sea of rainbow flags as thousands of LGBT activists mingle with Catholic pilgrims in Rome for the observance of Pentecost,” Fay commented. “In the midst of Pride celebrations, our community needs John McNeil’s reassuring voice of hope. McNeill’s message that gay love can be holy love is as relevant today as when he first began to proclaim it in the early 1970s.”

I first met McNeill in 1987, soon after he ended his silence. He came to preach at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, where I served on the clergy staff. I was impressed by his powerful-yet-gentle presence and the intellectual force behind his liberating theology.

McNeill went on to write more books on LGBT spirituality, including “Taking A Chance on God,” “Sex as God Intended,” “Freedom, Glorious Freedom” and “Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair.”

“Taking A Chance on God” will be screened at EuroPride Park on Monday, June 6, and at other festivals this summer and fall. For more info on the film, visit www.takingachanceongod.com. For info on EuroPride events on Faith and Homosexuality, click here.

UPDATE on Oct. 16:
John McNeill has posted his own personal thoughts on the U.S. film debut at this link:
Reflections on the playing of Taking a Chance on God at the Woodstock Film Festival

UPDATE:
Gay priest McNeill film has U.S. premiere Sept. 24 in Woodstock, NY

NEW on June 15: For news and photos of presenting the letter to the Pope and the EuroPride March, see our post  LGBT Christians to Pope: Stop homophobia! (plus photos of EuroPride &  John McNeill)

NEW on June 8: For news reports on the premiere, see our post Update: Gay priest McNeill’s premiere succeeds despite rain in Rome at EuroPride.

If you can’t make it to Rome, watch the trailer above or on YouTube for highlights of “Taking a Chance on God.”

Cool workshop: Queer Christ and the Queen

Her Majesty looks down on a nude black Jesus as Axel Schwaigert teaches

Queen Elizabeth seemed to look down in disapproval when images of Jesus as black, gay or female were shown at a European church conference recently.

The alternative Christ figures were shown by Axel Schwaigert in his workshop “Art That Dares: Images of the Holy” at the European Conference of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) held in Manchester, England in November.

Schwaigert, pastor of MCC Stuttgart, Germany, says he was so busy presenting the Europakonferenz workshop that he didn’t notice the odd contrast between Her Majesty and the controversial art.

An especially funny photo (above) shows a prim and proper queen looking down her nose at a triumphant black Jesus in all his naked glory. The painting is “Triumph of the Light” by Becki Jayne Harrelson.

Much of the art in the workshop has offended conservative Christians, but Schwaigert said that it inspired the people at his workshop, adding “Somebody immediately drew a transgendered female to male christ!”

Schwaigert went on to report, “I already suspected that people would not be shocked. We Europeans deal differently with nudity than the average American. But it was so interesting to see how people started to think... I showed one of the female christs, very beautiful and naked on the cross and somebody asked: and where am I? where is the middle aged women, slightly out of shape, with hanging [breasts]...? And that is exactly the kind of thinking we need: Where am I in all of that...”

Schwaigert hopes to lead the workshop again for more conservative audiences. His workshop included many images from my book “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.”

Axel Schwaigert discusses the female “Christ Sophia” icon by Robert Lentz