LGBT rights versus Christian faith: International Day Against Homophobia calls for prayers

Cartoon by Carlos Latuff

Christian and LGBT values clash in a new cartoon for the International Day Against Homophobia by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff.

The International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) on May 17 raises awareness of LGBT rights violations around the world and supports a progressive vision of sexual and gender diversity. It includes a “multi-faith global prayer initiative.”

Freedom of religion and LGBT rights are often seen as opposites, as in Latuff’s illustration. LGBT Christians get caught in the middle, embodying both viewpoints.

In Latuff’s image, the lesbian in a rainbow shirt brandishes a transgender symbol while shielding herself with the Constitution (Constituição in Portuguese). The Christian uses the Bible as a shield while he waves a cross. I imagine that the lesbian is in touch with her spiritual power, the power of Christ who broke rules and crossed boundaries: touching lepers, reaching out to women, eating with prostitutes, talking to foreigners, being accused of blasphemy.

For more info about Latuff, see my previous post, Gay Christ wears rainbow flag in art by Latuff.

Latuff created this image specifically to promote Brazil’s National March Against Homophobia (Marcha Nacional Contra Homofobia), which will be held May 15 in Brasília. The twin towers in his cartoon are the government buildings in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer.

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Related link:
International Day Against Homophobia website:
homophobiaday.org

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

Adrienne Rich: lesbian poet with spiritual impulses

Adrienne Rich portrait by Sharon McGill

Adrienne Rich, a lesbian feminist and one of the most influential poets of the 20th century, died on March 27, 2012 at age 82.

For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Adrienne Rich: lesbian poet with spiritual impulses


Her writing was a guiding light to me and countless others, both people of faith and secular readers. The following lines from her poem “Natural Resources” (from The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977) became like a creed for many:

My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed

I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,

with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.

Rich was born on May 16, 1929 to a Jewish father and Episcopalian mother. She wrote about her conflicting religious background in her essay “Split at the Root” (from Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985). That volume also includes the insightful essay whose title alone was enough to dazzle me: "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence."

I had the honor of meeting Rich in person in the 1980s when she spoke at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, where I served on the clergy staff. Informally among ourselves, we called her “the Great One.”

Many years later I was impressed all over again when I listened to my cassette tape of her remarks and reading at MCC-SF on Nov. 7, 1987. I was there in person and I remember it well.  Speaking to the mostly LGBT audience from both Jewish and Christian traditions, she emphasized the importance of bringing together sacred and secular, Christian and Jew, lesbian and gay and straight. The event was co-sponsored by Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, a progressive Reform Jewish congregation in San Francisco.

I transcribed what she said about her connection to spirituality:

The coming together of those of us who are non-congregants with you who are is very important. A couple of years ago in a talk and reading that I gave at UCLA Hillel, I described myself as a secular Jew and later in a discussion Andy Rose (Avi Rose) asked me why, since he felt the poetry I was reading to be spiritual rather than secular in its impulse. I’ve thought a lot about that and about the lines drawn in Judaism between secular and religious, and between various degrees and forms of observance.

Along with all the work being done by observant Jewish feminists, the re-creation of liturgy towards a theology of wholeness, I think there are some of us who are drawing a deep spiritual sustenance from the Jewish secular progressive tradition, who are trying to fuse the material and the spiritual rather than leave them in the old dichotomous opposition, coming from a secular rather than a religious orientation and wanting to keep asking the questions of flesh and blood, of justice, of bread, the questions of this world.

Maybe we don’t know exactly what we are trying to do nor yet have a language for it. Liberation theology is not quite it, though the concrete examples of liberation theology in action, both Jewish and Christian, have revealed certain possibilities. The wealth of blessing that proliferate in Jewish tradition -- the tradition that bids Jews bless all kinds of everyday as well as exceptional events and things: new clothes, a new moon, bread, wine, the washing of hands, our teachers, spices, the sight of lightning, the sound of thunder -- this tradition has implications as well. And for me this has implications for poetry. And since I would never claim that poetry can be purely secular, I will have to leave it for now at that.

She also talked eloquently about LGBT life with words that are still just as true more than 25 years later:

There is no simple way to speak about what’s happening in lesbian and gay communities at the end of the 20th century. We know that in the history of our communities there have been many efforts and many ways of defining ourselves against the hostile and destructive definitions that have been ground out by a heterosexuality badly in trouble and terrified of its own complexity, terrified of its own fragility. Nothing obviously but a deep sense of anxiety of identity could produce the kind of projective thinking and scapegoating which has targeted lesbians and gay men along with any women and men who have refused the straightjackets of gender.

Rich had a big impact on the lives of many people, including artist Sharon McGill whose art graces this post. Her tribute "Wonder Woman: Adrienne Rich" is posted at her McGillustrations blog.

Artist Sharon McGill illustrated a quote from Adrienne Rich: “Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.”

Rich's essay “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying” (from On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978) played a major role in helping me (and many other lesbians) decide to come out of the closet. I read the essay so many times that I  memorized parts of it.  I still refer to these words when I need to make difficult decisions:

An honorable human relationship-- that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love"-- is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

Thank you, Adrienne.  Now your soul is continuing on that hard way.  I count you among the LGBT saints for all the wisdom that you have bestowed upon the world.

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Related links:

Adrienne Rich 1929-2012: A Poet of Unswerving Vision at the Forefront of Feminism (New York Times obituary)

In Remembrance: Adrienne Rich by Victoria Brownworth (Lambda Literary)

Adrienne Rich and transmisogyny (You're Welcome blog)

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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Peter Gomes: Gay black Harvard minister preached "scandalous gospel"

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Peter Gomes: Gay black Harvard minister preached "scandalous gospel"

“The Rev. Peter Gomes, of Plymouth, 1942 – 2011” by Jon Dorn

Peter Gomes was a gay black Baptist minister at Harvard and one of America’s most prominent spiritual voices for tolerance. He used his national celebrity as a “gay minister” to make the religious case for LGBT people, even though he reportedly disliked the label. He died at age 68 on this date (Feb. 28, 2011).

A man of many contradictions, Gomes became a Democrat in 2007 after decades as a conservative Republican. He even gave the benediction at President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 and preached at the National Cathedral for the inauguration of Reagan’s successor, George Bush.

Gomes (May 22, 1942 - Feb. 28, 2011) was born in Boston to a black African immigrant father and a mother from Boston’s African American upper middle class. He grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  He studied at Bates College (where a chapel was named after him in 2012) , earned a divinity degree at Harvard University, and taught Western civilization at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for two years before returning to work at Harvard in 1970. Four years later he became the first black person to serve as chief minister to Harvard. He held the positions of Pusey minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church and Plummer professor of Christian morals for the rest of his life.

He came out publicly as “a Christian who happens as well to be gay” at a student rally in 1991 after a conservative student magazine at Harvard published a condemnation of homosexuality.  “I now have an unambiguous vocation -- a mission -- to address the religious causes and roots of homophobia,” he later told the Washington Post. “I will devote the rest of my life to addressing the 'religious case' against gays.”

In his 1996 best-seller, “The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart,” he showed how the Bible was misused to defend homophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and sexism.

His 2007 book “The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?” went on to show that Jesus was a subversive whose radical gospel always overturns the status quo.

Among Gomes’s many admirers is artist Jon Dorn, who drew the portrait at the top of this post. Dorn is a cartoonist, filmmaker, and Master of Fine Arts student at Emerson College in Boston. He also serves on the Plymouth Cultural Council.



A musical tribute to Gomes is “I Beseech You Therefore, Brethren” by composer Craig Phillips, music director at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. It was originally commissioned by members of Harvard’s Class of 1978 to celebrate Gomes' retirement, but he died before its premiere so it was sung at his memorial. The anthem has become a memorial to Gomes' legacy. It is included on the 2014 album “Spring Bursts Today: A Celebration of Eastertide” by Harvard University Choir. Gomes himself selected the text, which was one of his favorite scriptures:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1–2)

Gomes’ blend of scholarship, wisdom and accessibility is expressed in a few selected quotations:

“Hell is being defined by your circumstances, and believing that definition.” -- Peter Gomes

“The question should not be ‘What would Jesus do?’ but rather, more dangerously, 'What would Jesus have me do?'” -- Peter Gomes in The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?

“To some, the temporal triumph of the Christian community in the world is a sign of God's favor and the essential righteousness of the Christian position. The irony of the matter, though, is that whenever the Christian community gains worldly power, it nearly always loses its capacity to be the critic of the power and influence it so readily brokers.” --Peter J. Gomes in The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?

“The battle for the Bible, of which homosexuality is the last front, is really the battle for the prevailing culture, of which the Bible itself is a mere trophy and icon. Such a cadre of cultural conservatives would rather defend their ideology in the name of the authority of scripture than concede that their self-serving reading of that scripture might just be wrong, and that both the Bible and the God who inspires it may be more gracious, just and inclusive than they can presently afford to be.” -- Peter Gomes in The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart

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Books by Peter Gomes include:

The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart

The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News?

Sermons: Biblical Wisdom For Daily Living

The Good Life: Truths that Last in Times of Need

Strength for the Journey: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living

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Related links:

Peter Gomes at LGBT Religious Archives Network

Rev. Peter Gomes: The Accidental Gay Advocate (Irene Monroe at HuffPost)

Gay, Black, Republican, Baptist Preacher, Rev. Peter Gomes, 1942-2011 (Candace Chellew-Hodge at Religion Dispatches)

Rev. Peter J. Gomes Is Dead at 68; A Leading Voice Against Intolerance (New York Times)

Video: Peter Gomes discusses: Would Jesus Support Gay Marriage? (also posted below)



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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Marcella Althaus-Reid: Queer theology pioneer

For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Marcella Althaus-Reid: Queer theology pioneer

Marcella Althaus-Reid

Marcella Althaus-Reid was a queer theologian whose controversial books include “Indecent Theology” and “The Queer God.” Born in Argentina, she became the first woman appointed to a chair in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2006. She held that post when she died at age 56 on this date (Feb. 20) in 2009.

Althaus-Reid (May 11, 1952- Feb. 20, 2009) was baptized as a Roman Catholic and grew up in Buenos Aires. She earned her first theological degree there from ISEDET (Instituto Superior Evangelico de Estudios Teologicos), Latin America’s renowned center for studying liberation theology, which emphasizes God’s “preferential option for the poor.”

Next she gained recognition for working on social and community projects in the slums of Buenos Aires. As she continued her studies, Althaus-Reid applied the principles of liberation theology to women and sexual minorities, including LGBT people.

Her first book, “Indecent Theology,” was published in 2000 and established her international reputation as a self-proclaimed “indecent, Latina, bisexual theologian.” The book challenges the sexual oppression behind traditional Christian concepts of decency and introduces theology rooted in the context of people whose sexual freedom has been limited. In 2003 she wrote “The Queer God,” in which she aims to liberate God from the closet of sex-negative Christian thought and embrace God’s role in the lives of LGBTQ people.

According to her obituary in the Herald Scotland, Althaus-Reid was a member of Moderator Nancy Wilson’s advisory theological team in Metropolitan Community Churches and felt at home in MCC’s Edinburgh congregation although she was formally a member of the Quakers and the Church of Scotland.

Her writing style is dense and her books continue to be controversial, even among LGBT people of faith. But nobody denies that Althaus-Reid took risks to raise important issues based on queer life and spirituality.

Her originality and flashes of insight are expressed in the following quotation from “The Queer God”:

“Our task and our joy is to find or simply recognise God sitting amongst us, at any time, in any gay bar or in the home of a camp friend who decorates her living room as a chapel and doesn’t leave her rosary at home when going to a salsa bar.”

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Links to books by or about Marcella Althaus-Reid:

Indecent Theology: Theological Perversions in Sex, Gender and Politics

The Queer God

From Feminist Theology to Indecent Theology

Liberation Theology and Sexuality

Dancing theology in fetish boots: Essays in honour of Marcella Althaus Reid

More books by Marcella Althaus-Reid

La teología indecente: Perversiones teológicas en sexo, género y política

Il Dio queer


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Related links:

"Marcella Althaus-Reid: Saint of a sexually embodied spirituality" by Hugo Córdova Quero (Jesus in Love)

Prof Marcella Althaus-Reid obituary and memorial page: Light a candle or add your own tribute

Remembering Marcella Althaus-Reid, “Indecent theologian” (Queer Saints and Martyrs - And Others)

“En La Caminata: Remembering Marcella Althaus-Reid” by Alejandro Escalante (Indecent Theology blog)

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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

David Kato: Ugandan LGBT rights activist and martyr

“David Kato” by Rod Byatt

David Kato, Ugandan LGBT rights activist, is considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement. He was beaten to death on this date (Jan. 26, 2011) in a case that some blame on anti-gay religious rhetoric.

For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
David Kato: Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist and martyr

David Kato

It is especially important to carry on Kato’s legacy now with legal rights diminishing for LGBT people in many places across the Africa. Laws against homosexuality made news n Africa countries such as Uganda, Nigeria and Gambia. (See links at the end of this article.)

Many have heard of the 45 Ugandan Martyrs who were killed for their Christian faith and canonized as saints. Kato can be seen as a new kind of Ugandan martyr, killed for the cause of LGBT equality.

American evangelicals helped stir up the hostility that led to Kato’s death because they promoted a law imposing the death penalty for homosexuality. The influence of the US evangelical movement in promoting the anti-homosexuality law is explored in the award-winning 2013 documentary “God Loves Uganda.” Watch the trailer below or on YouTube.



Shortly before his murder, Kato won a lawsuit against a Ugandan magazine for identifying him as gay and calling for his execution. Kato’s murderer was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but the anti-gay motive for the murder was covered up in the trial.

A documentary about Kato, “Call Me Kuchu,” premiered in 2012 at the Berlin Film Festival. Watch the trailer for the video below.  "Kuchu" is the term used in Uganda for LGBT people.


Call Me Kuchu - Trailer from Call Me Kuchu on Vimeo.

Below is a news video about Kato from “The Rachel Maddow Show.” It includes scenes from Kato’s funeral, where Ugandan clergy speak both for and against LGBT rights, and David’s own voice in an NPR interview about homosexuality in Uganda.

Hope for change is expressed in the 2016 book “In Defense of All God's Children: The Life and Ministry of Bishop Christopher Senyonjo.” It is the life story of Uganda’s bishop who advocated for LGBTQ rights. He is featured in the film “God Loves Uganda.” After his retirement as an Anglican bishop in 1998, Senyonjo started a counseling practice. His compassion and understanding of human sexuality soon attracted LGBTQ clients. His faith compelled him to speak out against Uganda’s proposed death penalty and other harsh policies for LGBTQ people, risking his life for justice. Now at age 83, he has written a highly readable memoir revealing the unlikely and inspiring path that led him to international activism for LGBTQ rights in Uganda, in the Anglican communion, and around the world.

Australian artist Rod Byatt drew the portrait of David Kato above. The stark, unfinished quality of the portrait conveys the sense of a life cut short. Byatt posted it on his blog **gasp!** (Gay Artists’ Sketchbook Project) with a reflection that begins, “We grieve over the loss of David Kato. We know that being gay is anathema to Family, Church and State, and increasingly The Media...” Byatt is part of the Urban Sketching movement that seeks to link personal identity to broader social issues.

On the anniversary of his murder, may those who honor David Kato’s legacy continue to work for justice and equality for all. May he find peace with all the other LGBT martyrs and saints who have gone before.



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Related links:

Portrait of David Kato by Random Salmon

David Kato Kisule at the Legacy Project

Uganda Martyrs raise questions on homosexuality, religion and LGBT rights (Jesus in Love)

They will say we are not here (New York Times, Jan. 25, 2012)

In Uganda, a “Fearless Voice” for Gay Rights is Brutally Silenced (Wild Reed Blog)

David Kato: A new Ugandan martyr (Queer Saints and Martyrs - And Others)

Martyrs of Uganda (Walking with Integrity Blog)

Ugandan Activist David Kato Never to be Forgotten (O-blog-dee-o-blog-da)


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Recent news reports on anti-gay laws in Africa

Report: Anti-LGBT persecution increased under Uganda law (Washington Blade 2016)

Mapping anti-gay laws in Africa (Amnestry International)

Uganda planning new anti-gay law despite opposition (BBC.com)

Another African nation to enact anti-gay law (Gambia) (msnbc.com)

Nigeria Tries to ‘Sanitize’ Itself of Gays (New York Times)

Shock Amongst Gays in Nigeria as President signs Jail-The-Gays law (O-blog-dee-o-blog-da)


This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Seeking the "naked young man" of Mark’s gospel

Detail from “Stripped of Linen, Stripped of Lord” by Eric Martin, 2012

Gay artist Eric Martin spent a lifetime wondering about the “naked young man” who ran away when Jesus was arrested in Mark’s gospel. His search for the nameless nude is presented here in honor of Lazarus of Bethany, whose feast day is today (Dec. 17).

Some Bible scholars believe that Lazarus was the naked man in Mark 14:51-52. The mysterious man has inspired speculations that he was the “beloved disciple” of Jesus -- and maybe even his gay lover.

Eric Martin is a gay poet, artist, and church organist in Burlington NC. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, and a BA in Religion from Campbell University. Here is his story.

My Search for an Artistic Heritage

By Eric Martin

As a child I was intrigued by the painted portrait of John Mark in the book "Our Christian Heritage." That head-to-waist image was of a bare-chested youth furtively standing with his back to a dark wall and looking cautiously over his shoulder. The text explained that "ancient legend maintains that John Mark is referring to himself, when he writes in his Gospel about a young man whose robe was pulled off in the scuffle in Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested."

This year I remembered that erotic picture which had somehow been allowed to be embedded in a children's book. I began searching for the book in my attic, libraries, and thrift shops. An eBay purchase brought a copy of the book to me, but the portrait of John Mark therein was not the one I remembered. It was a 'new' John Mark.

Also this year I read theologian Patrick Cheng's Radical Love: An Introduction to Queer Theology, which cites gay priest Robert Williams' hypothesis "that the mysterious nude young man in Mark 14:51-52 was in fact Jesus' lover." Not just John Mark; not just, as some have said, a symbol of Christ-less vulnerability; but Jesus' lover! This vibrant notion reinforced my fascination.

I recovered a computer-saved picture that spoke to me with the selfsame passion that the 'old' John Mark had spoken. So, I took it upon myself to do a watercolor of this image: a head-to-knees frontally-nude young man peering over his shoulder and seemingly grasping to find handhold in the wall behind him. THIS was MY John Mark. It was done with my memory-picture in mind, and with adjustments made for the puberty of the subject and for my "positive adulteration" [my term for "queering"] of him.

And so, I present "Stripped of Linen; Stripped of Lord." (pictured above)

Detail from
“Betrayal of Christ”
by Giuseppe Cesari, 1597

I found that even in the classical art depicting this young man, he was rarely shown actually naked. One notable exception is Giuseppe Cesari's "The Betrayal of Christ" painting, which shows a nude yet marginally faceless young man being stripped of his linen by the guard pursuing him in anger. (I am struck by the thematic similarity of this detail of Cesari's presentation with my own "Breakthrough" piece - a streaker confounding the security guards - which I had done before I had researched Cesari.)

“Breakthrough” by Eric Martin, 2012

Our Christian Heritage, 1964

But wait! Here is my success of November. While rummaging through my attic for items for a friend's book drive, I finally found my original version of "Our Christian Heritage: A Treasury of Inspiration for the Christian Family" (Good Will Publishers, Inc., Gastonia NC, 1964). The book indeed includes that provocative image of a young John Mark, hiding due to his nakedness, that so intrigued me as a child.

“John Mark, after Sune`”
by Eric Martin, 2012

The portrait is attributed to Alberta Rae ("Sune'") Richards. Ms. Richards (1912-1990) was a nationally known Wisconsin photographer, artist, and minister. (Note that she is not to be confused with artist June Egan who was better known by her Tongan name “Sune.”) Alberta believed that the physical appearances and personal characteristics of the disciples of Jesus could be found in modern people. She spent fourteen years searching for these counterparts, photographing them, and retouching their images with layers of paint. I have since replicated Ms. Richards’ John Mark in my work.

Our Christian Heritage, 1967

Later versions (e.g. 1967) of "Our Christian Heritage" replace Sune's portrait with that rendered by George Malick, a Pennsylvania artist whose work mirrors the style of Norman Rockwell. Malick’s presentation here is a remarkably homoerotic painting of a clothed yet enticing young John Mark with an older man's hand resting on the boy's shoulder.

Cheng's work led me to the Robert Williams book Just As I Am: A Practical Guide to Being Out, Proud, and Christian. Williams' inquiry into the lost Gospel of Mark identifies Lazarus as Jesus' lover; furthermore, Lazarus is described as "wearing a linen cloth over his naked body." Is Lazarus, then, by association, the one whose scriptural nakedness had been attributed to John Mark?

If so, then in honor of Lazarus, I can suggest an alternative title to my work: "Stripped of Linen; Stripped of Love."

Either way, I am encouraged that others are seeking the meaning I still seek almost fifty years after my family's Southern Baptist pastor gave us the simple little book "Our Christian Heritage."

May Lazarus continue to teach us to let go the linen stripped from us by those who think us unworthy, and the linen wrapped around us by those who think us dead.

_______________

Postscript: Eric Martin’s artistic quest was inspired in part by the loss of a friend. The October 2011 death of gay artist Shay Adams, Martin’s best friend of 16 years, rendered the loneliness that opened a gate for Martin seriously to pursue art, and provided, by way of inheritance, Shay’s art supplies to help make the endeavor possible. Shay’s mother, Libby Adams, having seen this December the scores of mixed media works that Martin has produced since February, said to a friend, “It’s as if all this was in Eric, just waiting to come out.” He concludes, “Thus be it, and thus may it continue. I miss you Shaybird.” He wishes to thank photographer Kadie Maness for her assistance.

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2017 update: Eric Martin died on March 22, 2017 at age 56.  He was born Sept, 17, 1960, Alamance County NC.  He was an active member of City Lake Baptist Church, serving as deacon and the church musician for 16 years. May he rest in power, dwelling in eternity with the gospel characters he loved.  Click for full obituary

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More work by Eric Martin on the Jesus in Love Blog:

Gay centurion: Jesus heals a soldier’s boyfriend in the Bible 

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The best-known story of Lazarus is how Jesus raised him from the dead. For more about Lazarus, see these related links:

Lazarus: Jesus’ beloved disciple? (Jesus in Love)

Jesus, John and Lazarus (Pharsea's World)
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This post is part of the Artists series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series profiles artists who use lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spiritual and religious imagery.

Gay Nativity scene in Columbia sparks outrage

Gay Nativity scene in Columbia at the home of Andrés Vásquez Moreno and Felipe Cárdenas Gonzalez

A gay Nativity display in Columbia was condemned by the national Catholic Church as “sacrilege” while thousands of Columbians are criticizing the gay Nativity on social media websites.

A storm of controversy erupted when a gay couple in Columbia displayed a Nativity scene with two Josephs at their home in Cartegena this week.

Andrés Vásquez Moreno, a political analyst, and Felipe Cárdenas Gonzalez, an entrepreneur, set up the gay manger scene in hopes of helping their country move toward marriage equality. The couple was united in a civil union four years ago, and Columbia is considering laws to legalize same-sex marriage.

I have been in touch with them, and Moreno told me, “Thanks for your message and support, in Colombia has been very violent against us.” He gladly gave permission to share their photo of the gay Nativity scene here on the Jesus in Love Blog.

The attacks prove the ongoing need for religious images that affirm LGBT people. I believe that queer Nativity scenes are true to the spirit of the Christmas story in the Bible: God’s child conceived in an extraordinary way and born into disreputable circumstances. Love makes a family -- including the Holy Family. Everyone should be able to see themselves in the Christmas story.
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Special thanks to Colin for alerting me to this news story.

Related links:
Nativity Scene With Two Josephs Enrages Conservative Colombians (Advocate)

Outrage over gay couple’s homosexual Nativity scene with two Josephs and no Mary (Daily Mail)

Hate crime targets gay and lesbian Nativity scene at California church

Vandals knocked over the same-sex couples in a manger scene at a church in Claremont, California in 2011. Police investigated the attack as a hate crime.

Gay and lesbian nativity scenes show love makes a family
What if the child of God was born to a lesbian or gay couple? Because, after all, LOVE makes a family, including the Holy Family.

Conservatives attack my lesbian and gay Nativity scenes

Nasty accusations of blasphemy were hurled when conservative bloggers discovered my gay and lesbian Nativity scenes. “Love..is NOT the criteria for making a ‘Family,’,” said one of the critics.

Can you imagine? A gay Nativity scene

Video and commentary on Amsterdam’s gay Nativity scene with live actors

Queer Nativity project

Seven people from 3 countries sent images for the 2011 Queer Nativity project at the Jesus in Love Blog. They present Christ's birth in an amazing variety of liberating, loving new ways.




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

Pope blessing a gay marriage?! See it now in ad for power company

“Same power, different attitude” ad from Powershop

The Pope blessing a gay marriage?! This startling image is the newest ad for a New Zealand power company. It points to a whole different kind of power: the sacred power of love to overcome religious bigotry.

The two happy grooms make a handsome interracial couple as they exchange rings over an open Bible with a Papal blessing. Everyone is smiling and daisies surround them in a joyful burst of flower power.

I celebrate this bold image of the realm of God that is coming into being: A place where love between couples is honored and blessed by church and society, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation. I believe that same-sex couples already have marriage equality in the eyes of God. This image provides a picture of what it can look like here on earth.

It’s part of Powershop’s ad campaign with the slogan, “Same power, different attitude.” Their main website shows other witty images with a progressive twist, including wartime President Nixon with an afro hairdo wearing a peace sign.

Powershop’s same-sex marriage ad appears on billboards in New Zealand and is being debated now at a micro-site that they set up to receive comments. A company statement there explains that Powershop’s founding principle of individual choice can apply to LGBT weddings as well as to electricity:

“The latest version of Powershop’s long-running campaign is intended to be both thought provoking and satirical. Kiwis have widely debated the issue of marriage equality over the last year, so we’ve used the issue to point out that large institutions can sometimes lose touch with their modern constituents. The power industry is dominated by crusty utilities, many of whom remain resistant to the changes happening in our world.”

Powershop granted me permission to share their ad on the Jesus in Love Blog, but asked me to state that the views I express are my own and not the views of Powershop as an organization. More power to them!

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Related links:
Pope gay marriage ad not targeted at Catholics (New Zealand Herald)

Cartoon shows Pope mad at nuns and Jesus for not condemning homosexuality (Jesus in Love)

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

Divine lesbians show we are all holy: Art by Verlena Johnson

“Inside Out” by Verlena Johnson, 2006. Acrylic, 40" x 30"

Lesbians in church and in touch with their own spiritual power stand out in the paintings of Los Angeles artist Verlena Johnson. Many wear halos to show their divinity.

“I believe part of my purpose is to remind myself and others that we are all divine,” Johnson said. She is an African American (biracial) lesbian artist who paints spiritual portraits, primarily women with halos. They gaze into the viewer’s eyes like the saints in Byzantine icons.

“One could say all of them are lesbians (although there are no visible markers of this, e.g. labrys, two women in an intimate embrace, etc.), as many of them to varying degrees are self portraits or in some way represent me. In fact, many of my portraits are self-portraits and I am an out lesbian,” she explained.

With verve and versatility, Johnson gives visual form to her unique fusion of mysticism, spirituality, feminism, queer theory and popular culture.

She explores the role of LGBT people in the church with “Inside Out,” pictured above. A woman gazes out at the viewer, stone-faced, with the rest of the church far behind her. A rainbow earring symbolizes her lesbian sexual orientation. The minister raises his arm while the choir and congregation are watching her. She appears to be emotionally and physically distant from the congregation. Her halo is almost invisible. The spiritual lesbian is in the church, but not of the church.

A stained-glass window of Mary with white skin dominates the worship space of the black congregation pictured in “Inside Out.” Not only does this church deny LGBT people, but members aren’t fully embracing their own ethnic identity either. The lesbian has dark skin but her eyes are blue and her hair color is light, making her an outsider on race as well as sexual orientation.

Johnson recalled that when she painted “Inside Out,” she was reflecting on the various ways that LGBT people are “out” or “closeted” in churches.

“I was also thinking about how many church communities to varying degrees embrace their LGBT members and how this conditional and limited acceptance emotionally and psychologically affects LGBT people,” she said. “What does it mean to be an outside member of a community? What does it mean to quietly listen to various church leaders and members express their homophobic views, specifically that homosexuality is an abomination? How do LGBT people reconcile these views from their church community and how do they know and experience true love?”

Sinister Wisdom
cover by Verlena Johnson

Born and raised in the Midwest, Johnson earned a master’s degree in Afro-American studies (art history, 1996) from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (sculpture, 2001). Her work has been exhibited at galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities. A wide variety of publications have featured her art, including the Journal of Lesbian Studies and Sinister Wisdom, the oldest surviving lesbian literary journal.

“I Am” by Verlena Johnson, 2006. Acrylic, 36" x 36"

One of Johnson’s most powerful self-portraits is a titled simply “I Am.” An androgynous, brown-skinned figure stares boldly into the eyes of the viewer. Her golden halo glows within a circular mosaic of lavender. The title echoes the name of God in the Hebrew scriptures. When Moses asked the burning bush to reveal God’s name, the answer was: “I am that I am.”

“I believe the ‘I am’ statement is very powerful and acknowledging my own divinity in this way reinforces this knowing,” Johnson said.

“Spiral Woman” by Verlena Johnson, 2001. Acrylic,32" x 20"

Once again a holy lesbian gazes out at the viewer in Johnson's “Spiral Woman,” but this time she is surrounded with spirals. A black bird sits at her side. “This divine being depicted is shown with a faint halo,” Johnson explained. “Spirals for me represent infinity and change and in the case of the dual spiral emanating from her chest, LOVE. “

“Spirit Love” by Verlena Johnson, 2006. Mixed media with acrylic, 24" x 36"

The halo is particularly prominent in Johnson's symmetrical self-portrait titled “Spirit Love.” “I have taken the halo as a symbol found in early European and North and East African paintings and used them to more generally symbolize divinity and our connectedness with the Universe (or Love),” she said.

“Untitled” by Verlena Johsnon, 2012. Mixed media, 17” X 24”

Johnson’s currently evolving series of spiritual portraits include untitled painting above. “The paintings are connected thematically and represent various degrees of sadness and serenity, as well as, emotion generally,” she said. “I am thinking SO much these days about the issue of divinity, perfection, and how to reconcile what we think we know about ourselves and the world around us and what we KNOW (on a Spirit level).”

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Related link:
Artist’s website: www.verlenajohnson.com

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This post is part of the Artists series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series profiles artists who use lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spiritual and religious imagery.

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

In memory of Adrienne Rich, lesbian poet (1929-2012)

Adrienne Rich (right), with writers Audre Lorde (left) and Meridel Le Sueur (middle) in 1980 (Wikimedia Commons)

In memory of
Adrienne Rich
Lesbian feminist poet
May 16, 1929 - March 27, 2012

I light a memorial candle for lesbian feminist poet and essayist Adrienne Rich, who died March 27, 2012 at age 82.


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Adrienne Rich: lesbian poet with spiritual impulses

Rich was one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. Her writing was a guiding light to me and countless others, both people of faith and secular readers. The following lines from her poem “Natural Resources” (from The Dream of a Common Language: Poems 1974-1977) became like a creed for many of us:

My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed

I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,

with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.

Rich, who had a Jewish father and Episcopalian mother, wrote about her conflicting religious background in her essay “Split at the Root” (from Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985). That volume also includes the insightful essay whose title alone was enough to dazzle me: "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence."

I had the honor of meeting Rich in person in the 1980s when she spoke to the mostly LGBT congregation at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, where I served on the clergy staff. Informally among ourselves, we called her “the Great One.”

Her essay “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying” (from On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978) played a major role in helping me (and many other lesbians) decide to come out of the closet. I read the essay so many times that I  memorized parts of it.  I still refer to these words when I need to make difficult decisions:

An honorable human relationship-- that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love"-- is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

Thank you, Adrienne.  Now your soul is continuing on that hard way.  I count you among the LGBT saints for all the wisdom that you have bestowed upon the world.

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Related links:

Adrienne Rich 1929-2012: A Poet of Unswerving Vision at the Forefront of Feminism (New York Times obituary)

In Remembrance: Adrienne Rich by Victoria Brownworth (Lambda Literary)
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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 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.