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A poster with a lesbian Virgin Mary was withdrawn in Croatia yesterday after religious and political pressure.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Lesbian Virgin Mary posters withdrawn (Croatian Times)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

The Seminarian: Gay theology student looks for love in new DVD

“The Seminarian,” a drama about a closeted gay seminarian’s search for love, was released on DVD this week.

Ryan, the title character, is completing a thesis on “The Divine Gift of Love” at an evangelical seminary while struggling in a relationship with a man who won’t commit. Questions of love, loneliness, faith and suffering are illuminated by Ryan’s interactions with his distant gay lover, two gay classmates, and the devout mother who doesn’t know about his sexual orientation.

Surprisingly, these evangelical seminarians apparently feel no conflict over being gay and Christian. The Bible passages used to condemn homosexuality are barely even mentioned. They don’t worry much about whether to stay in the closet either. Coming out issues do arise, but in true 21st-century style, these young gays show no paranoia about hiding their sexual orientation, even in a hostile seminary setting. They’re not even worried about using their degrees to get a job after graduation. Ryan focuses on a more universal question: How can love be a gift from God when it causes so much suffering?

This is a sweet, slow-paced film with no gratuitous sex. It would probably qualify for an R rating based on brief male frontal nudity and some low-key sex scenes. The film grows out of first-hand experiences at a conservative seminary. Writer-director Joshua Lim recently attended Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where the movie was shot. Lim was born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore.

Viewers with seminary degrees will get a kick out of the film’s valiant efforts to show the drama within such intellectual labors as library research and writing a master’s thesis in theology. Many may find understated inspiration here.
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Related link:
Trailer for The Seminarian

Gay Jesus kiss: "Corpus Christi" play behind the scenes

Jesus kisses a man behind the scenes at “Corpus Christi,” a play about a gay Jesus by Terrence McNally, in a new photo.

A traditional Christ seems to reach across 2,000 years of history to share a kiss with a 21st-century man in a tie-dyed shirt. Jesus is still carrying his cross, but that can’t stop him from expressing man-to-man love with a gay kiss.

The photo was taken in August 2011 at Burning Man in the Nevada desert. It shows Jesus kissing Benjamin Rexroad, who directed a production of “Corpus Christi.”

The play and surrounding controversy are examined in the new documentary film “Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption.” It will be released in April after five years of filming and two years of edits. The sneak-preview national tour starts in San Francisco with the first official screening on April 28. Watch the new trailer below or at this link.

“Corpus Christi” retells the gospel with Jesus as a gay man in 1950s Corpus Christi, Texas. Bomb threats from religious conservatives almost prevented its Off-Broadway opening in 1998. The acclaimed play has continued to face censorship, protests, bomb threats, blasphemy charges and religious condemnation since an international revival tour by 108 Productions began in 2006.

In the new documentary, anti-gay religious groups meet “the gay Jesus play.” The film follows the troupe, playwright and audiences across the U.S. and around the world on a five-year journey where voices of protest and support collide on one of the central issues facing the LGBT community: religion-based bias.

Related links:
Official website: www.corpuschristi-themovie.com

Doc About “Gay Jesus” Play Corpus Christi Attacked By Christian Groups (Queerty, April 14, 2012)

(Photo courtesy of Benjamin Rexroad)
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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.

Short List of NEW LGBT spirituality films and books

Here is a brief listing of new LGBT spirituality films and books. This is a new feature being tested here at the Jesus in Love Blog. Please leave a comment to say whether you like it -- or not. Note: This is a list of new releases, not a comprehensive list of all the best.

“Black Battle, White Knight: The Authorized Biography of Malcolm Boyd” by Michael Battle. Profile of Malcolm Boyd, 88, gay Episcopal priest, author and civil rights activist, with a foreword by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Author is a younger black heterosexual priest. From Seabury Books.

“God vs. Gay?: The Religious Case for Equality” by Jay Michaelson.  Shows that the Hebrew Bible and New Testament do not forbid homosexuality. Author founded Nehirim, national provider of community programming for LGBT Jews and their allies. From Beacon Press. (Thanks to Amos Lassen for the tip.)

“Collective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion and Spirituality,” edited by Kevin Simmonds. Gathers more than 100 LGBTIQ poets from various faiths and spiritual traditions. From Sibling Rivalry Press. (Thanks to Philip F. Clark for the tip.)

“Raw: A Poetic Journey: Finding a Way from Conflict to Revelation,” edited by Aimee Maude Sims. Raw emotions and raw faith collide in poetry by LGBT believers and friends. Foreword by Grammy nominee Jennifer Knapp. From NuWine Press.

“The Seminarian,” directed by Joshua Lim. A closeted gay seminarian’s troubled relationship leads him to question God. The director was born in Malaysia and has a master’s degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. (Thanks to Amos Lassen for the tip.)
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Was this Short List useful? Let me know by leaving a comment. Your input will help decide whether to post more lists like this in the future.

Image credit: Books Sketch by Ardent Photography

Gay priest McNeill film premieres Sept. 24

John McNeill, seated, in Rome for his film’s world premiere in June 2011 with director Brendan Fay and lesbian pastor Hilde Raastad

Tickets are selling fast for the U.S. premiere of “Taking a Chance on God,” a documentary on gay priest John McNeill. It will be shown at 3:15 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Woodstock Film Festival in New York.

The new film follows the extraordinary life of 85-year-old McNeill, a former POW, co-founder of the LGBT Catholic group Dignity and author of “The Church and the Homosexual.” He refused to be silenced even though he was expelled from the Jesuits.

McNeill will attend the premiere with director Brendan Fay and Charles Chiarelli, McNeill’s life partner of 45 years. Ticket info is available at woodstockfilmfestival.com. Watch for the movie at other film festivals this fall. They have received festival invitations from Poland, Germany and Italy, with interest from Spain and Romania too. A **new** trailer for the film is posted below.

Related links:
Gay priest McNeill shakes up Rome with new moves and new movie

Taking a Chance on God Facebook page

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


Photo by Bill Wilson © 2011, SanFranciscoSentinel.com


Taking a Chance on God from Brendan Fay on Vimeo.

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.”

New film: Lesbians infiltrate anti-gay church

Two lesbian ministers pose as husband and wife to infiltrate a conservative Texas mega-church in a new documentary premiering today (Feb. 16).

“Faith of the Abomination” opens today at The Loft Cinema in Tucson, AZ.

Ceil Melton and Han Nguyen got the idea for the film after that particular church rejected them because of their sexual orientation. Lonely and frustrated, the women decided to go undercover and try to win acceptance as a straight couple in the same church.

Their hidden cameras tell the story of how they successfully duped the homophobic pastor and infiltrated the church, becoming members of the church’s inner circle.

“Prior to embarking on this project, we assumed that the hate rhetoric coming from America’s pulpits was a manifestation of self-righteous religion,” Nguyen says on her blog. “The truth points to something much deeper... unrelenting GREED!”

Their film investigation unravels a hornet’s nest of greed, religious persecution, indoctrination of children, and partisan politics from the pulpit. The church has strayed far from the teaching of Jesus.

I’ve been following the “Faith of the Abomination” film project since 2007. I can hardly wait to seeing the completed film.

For more info, visit faithoftheabomination.com.

Here is a sneak-peek clip from the documentary, showing part of Melton’s transformation from female to male appearance. “Will I still be an abomination in the mainstream church’s eyes to God?” she asks as she cuts off her hair. “Am I really that abomination? Let’s change the outside package and see if my spirit will connect with theirs. That’s what I’m after.”