A place for LGBTQ spirituality and the arts. Home of the gay Jesus and queer saints. Uniting body, mind and spirit. Open to all. Renamed Q Spirit blog and moved to Qspirit.net in 2017.
I light a memorial candle for Bill Rosendahl, an early supporter of LGBT Christianity and the first openly gay man on the Los Angeles City Council. He died March 30 at age 70.
Bill made a big impression on me personally when he invited me to be a guest on his cable TV talk show “The God Squad” in 1993.
He reached out to me because I was public relations associate for the Metropolitan Community Churches denomination, and he wanted to include the LGBT perspective in his program. On each show a diverse group of clergy discussed news events and social issues from a religious viewpoint.
MCC founder Troy Perry was enthusiastic as soon as he heard about my invitation to appear on “The God Squad.” He explained that Bill was a closeted gay man and a huge supporter of LGBT rights, including our religious rights.
I was a nervous young lesbian clergywoman when I arrived at the Century Cable studio for the show, but Bill immediately put me at ease with his warm welcome and fair-minded approach to controversial topics.
I felt a bit awed by Bill and some of the other panelists, including seasoned publicists for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the Islamic Center. I tried to rise to the occasion as he asked us to comment on topics of international importance such as NAFTA and the break-up of Yugoslavia. I must have done OK because Bill asked me back at least two more times in 1993.
Later Bill came out publicly as a gay man and in 2005 he was elected to the L.A. City Council.
I learned more about why Bill took the risk of including LGBT religious views on “The God Squad” from his obituary in the Los Angeles Times. It said he was the son of German Catholic immigrants who fled Europe during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, adding:
For years, Rosendahl had been quietly visiting gay bars and introducing himself with a fake name. He said he was conflicted about his sexuality because of attitudes toward gays and lesbians in the Catholic Church.
Most other tributes to Bill Rosendahl rightly focus on his later accomplishments as City Councilman, but I will always remember him as the man who used his postion to ensure that queer voices were heard on “The God Squad.”
May Bill Rosendahl join the LGBTQ saints in the great “God Squad” in heaven!
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Image credit: All images are from “The God Squad,” April 29, 1993
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Related links:
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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, prophets, witnesses, heroes, holy people, humanitarians, 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.
Tony O'Connell prepares to kiss St Sebastian in his new film
Prayers to queer saints and a re-enactment of Saint Sebastian’s martyrdom make a strong statement against homophobic violence in a new short film for All Saints Day by queer British artist Tony O’Connell.
He sculpted a life-size statue of Sebastian and filmed his dramatic interactions with the figure, who is widely recognized as the patron saint of homosexuality.
The 12-minute video film of his performance art premieres today for All Saints Day at a private viewing in Liverpool and also on YouTube. The multimedia event includes an art exhibit of the Sebastian statue and related “relics” -- small sculptural assemblages fashioned by O’Connell from props in the film.
O’Connell’s script can serve as a model prayer for people of faith, while sharply criticizing church leaders who incite violence against LGBTQ people. He calls upon Sebastian “not to punish but only to humble those who dedicate themselves to oppression and evil,” listing more than a dozen of them by name.
Then he invites Sebastian to “be glorified with the host of our own queer saints,” who are also named. They include a wide variety of LGBTQ leaders and martyrs throughout history as well as traditional saints who broke gender taboos.
The text is reprinted below in full with O’Connell’s permission.
Sebastian was an early Christian martyr who was shot with arrows and executed in 288 on orders from the Roman emperor. In addition to his longstanding but unofficial status as patron saint of gay men, he is known as a protector against plague and a patron saint of soldiers, archers and athletes.
Hinting at a love-hate relationship and the complexity of the queer spiritual path, O’Connell plays three different roles in the film: A priest who kisses Sebastian on the lips and then spits on the ground. The police executioner who strips Sebastian and shoots arrows into his chest. A queer activist/devotee who honors the martyr with prayers and offerings.
The action occurs in the Bridewell, a former police station that has been converted to art studios in Liverpool. The film is titled “Sancte Sebastian ora pro nobis.” The Latin words mean “Saint Sebastian, pray for us,” a phrase that recurs many times in O’Connell’s voice-over narration.
St Sebastian is martyred by arrows in O'Connell's film
This is O’Connell’s first film, but he has spent years creating art on themes of queer sainthood, democratizing sacredness, and reclaiming the holiness in ordinary life, especially in LGBT experience, His ongoing series include pilgrimages to LGBT historical sites and photos of people with haloes formed by round objects from daily life.
The new film weaves together aspects of O’Connell’s own queer and religious background. He was raised in the Roman Catholic church, but has been a practicing Buddhist since 1995. While playing a priest in the film, he spreads smoky incense with a golden thurible like the one he remembers from his childhood stint as an altar boy. Later in the film he wears the 25-year-old T-shirt that he wore during the early years of the radical British LGBT-rights group Outrage!
“I feel like making this sculpture has not only taken me back to my roots as a sculptor but allowed for genuine spiritual practice,” O’Connell told the Jesus in Love Blog. “I am careful never to work with unwashed hands or not to start touching him before I have made incense offerings to him.”
Filming finished in late October, but the project is far from done. For today’s premiere, O’Connell transformed his Sebastian sculpture by filling him with fragrant oils so he smells like roses, covering his face with gold leaf and building him a halo to indicate that he is now a saint.
Later Sebastian may be reincarnated as a Buddha. “After he has been Saint Sebastian it is possible he will be broken down and reused to build a seated Buddha Shakyamuni for our Liverpool Centre,” O’Connell said. “It would be suitable for me to see becoming a Buddha as a symbol for spiritual evolution -- or even a reward for martyrdom.”
O’Connell worked with many camera people on the film. They include another Liverpool queer artist, Colin Cairns, who is exhibiting his art about pagan deities at the premiere today. Others on the camera crew include Claire Martin, Heather Snow Gum, Kelsang Tenwang, Damian Cruikshank (who also shot O’Connell’s Alan Turing pilgrimage), Dave Elis and Fiona Filby.
Sancte Sebastian ora pro nobis
By Tony O’Connell
Welcoming the saint when others do not
Saint Sebastian, Glorious martyr, I invite you and welcome you to this space. Please bless us with your presence. My father was born in your parish and I knew you from childhood. Now it seems images of your sacrifice are no longer in currency in church shops. Statues, rupas and paintings of you are disappearing. Our Poets and artists have always adored you. Perhaps your association with us has led to removal. If this is true and others turn away from you, know that I do not and we do not, therefore I offer you this litany in celebration and remembrance.
Offerings to the saint and prostrations at his lotus feet
Glorious warrior and martyr of Christ, Pray for us.
Patron and mirror of soldiers, Pray for us.
Despiser of the world, Pray for us.
Conqueror of Satan, Pray for us.
Comfort of the dying, Pray for us.
Consoler of the afflicted, Pray for us.
Announcer of the truth, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, perfect in virtue and wisdom, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, mighty in word and work, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who strengthens the persecuted Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who by example gives courage to the down-trodden Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, empowered to avert pestilence and contagious diseases, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian empowered to protect from plague and AIDS, Pray for us
St. Sebastian, surrounded by celestial light, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, instructed by holy Angels, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, giving speech to those without a voice, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, lover of God and men, Pray for us.
St Sebastian, loved and then abandoned by the Roman Emperor, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, loved and increasingly abandoned by the Roman Church, Pray for us
St. Sebastian, Loved by our people, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who, inflamed with love despised the pains inflicted by the tyrant, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, unafraid of worldly authority or law, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, unbowed by physical violence, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, with the courage to defy your abusers, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who was wounded by arrows, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who was murdered with clubs, Pray for us.
St. Sebastian, who was crowned with eternal glory, Pray for us.
Protection by the saint from enemies
Glorious Martyr and undefeated warrior, we ask that you protect the persecuted from tyrants and enemies. Use your unstoppable energy not to punish but only to humble those who dedicate themselves to oppression and evil.
Please humble all members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church
Please Humble Anne Coulson, speaker of hate and supporter of the WBC
Please humble Grindr using Rev Matthew Makela, who drove Tyler Kish to consider suicide by saying “he was going to hell either way”
Please humble Westcity Bible Baptist Church pastor Logan Robertson who called a gay Christian author a "filthy child molesting fag".
Please humble hypocrite Clerk of Rowan County, Kim Davis
Please humble Steven Anderson, Baptist pastor in Arizona who called for the death of all gays.
Please humble televangelist Pat Robertson who has dedicated his life to poison and hate.
Please humble Pope Benedict and Pope Francis who failed our people beyond measure.
Please humble Hate preacher Scott Lively to stand trial for crimes against humanity
Please humble Pastor James David Manning, who’s homophobic sign oppresses the vulnerable
Please humble Hull vicar Melvin Tinker who compares homosexuality to paedophilia and adultery
Please humble Brian Brown of the National Organisation for Marriage who spread hate as far as Russia
Please humble Vitaly Milonov sponsor of legislation criminalizing "homosexual propaganda.” who dedicates his life to hate.
Please humble Ugandan Dictator, Yoweri Museveni, whose law condemns homosexuals to life imprisonment.
And causing these enemies to fall from public grace, allow them the shame to recognise the harm they have caused and repent it.
Litany of the Queer Saints
Seeing that your image seems increasingly sanitised from church shops but knowing that we have not forgotten your name, we invite you and welcome you to sit and be glorified with the host of our own queer saints. Take your place with the brave, the gentle and the fierce to be honoured for ever and ever in knowing that we have never abandoned you.
Saint Derek Jarman of Dungeness, hero, artist, Disciple of St Sebastian, martyred by deliberate lack of funding into HIV, Pray for us.
Saint Peter Tatchel, fierce protector of the west, unbowed in the face of violence and hate, Pray for us.
Saint Nikolay Alexeyev, fierce protector of the East, resistant to tyranny, Pray for us.
Saint Uncumber, gender defiant bearded lady, patron of purity and refusal, Pray for us.
Saint Joan of Arc, Fearless warrior and gender-queer martyr, Pray for us.
Saint Aderonke Apata, protector of Nigeria, courageous in the face of humiliation and violence, Pray for us.
Saint Mark Ashton LGSM, hero of solidarity with the miners, Pray for us.
Saint David Kato: Ugandan activist and resilient martyr, Pray for us.
Saint Matthew Shepard, crucified by hateful men, young forever, Pray for us.
Saint Mychal Judge, Fire-brigade chaplain and First martyr of 9/11, ordained but un-canonised by the church on account of your queer spirit, Pray for us.
Saint Alan Turing, who ended war, saved millions and changed the world- martyred by the judiciary, Pray for us.
Saint Oscar Wilde, our saint of humour, grace and elegance, whose gentle hands were put to hard labour, Pray for us.
Saint Harvey Milk, courageous and compassionate, mayor and martyr of San Francisco, Pray for us.
Holy Innocents of the Nazi death camps, Pray for us.
Holy Innocents martyred by ISIS, Pray for us.
Holy Innocents driven to death by the church, Pray for us.
Saint Leelah Alcorn, our sister who walked into the oncoming tide for the benefit of others, Pray for us.
Saint Sebastian we prostrate to you and thank you. Empowered by the benison of your protection we go forward with courage and grace to face the arrows of oppressors and tyrants, and to defeat them.
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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. It also highlights great queer artists from history, with an emphasis on their spiritual lives.
They invited me to speak on HuffPost Live because my article Gay Passion of Christ Envisioned and Attacked got 10,000 views and caused a big controversty at HuffPost with more than 2,200 comments.
Host Josh Zepps also asked about whether I would portray the founders of other religions as gay. Earlier in the day he interviewed movie star Alan Alda!
A new video introduces the queer Christ in an accessible, inviting way with LGBT Christian art and short quotes from queer theologians, including Jesus in Love founder Kittredge Cherry.
“In less than five minutes, the video sums up the queer Christ with great clarity and beauty,” said Cherry. “It presents my best ideas and many of the artists that I featured on the Jesus in Love Blog.”
The video was produced for the Slate Project's “ReLENT” series of Lenten reflections. They use the latest technology to explore ancient spiritual truths. Each week their videos, social media, Twitter chats, and in-the-flesh gatherings focus each week on a different side of Christ each week: Black Christ, the Poor Christ, the Queer Christ, the Feminist Christ, the Disabled Christ and the Nonviolent Christ.
The Queer Christ video highlights quotes from Cherry's book “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More” along with texts from gay theologian Patrick Cheng and transgender priest Shannon Kearns.
Their words appear with artwork by a variety of historical and contemporary artists, including Jesus in Love contributors Doug Blanchard, Becki Jayne Harrelson, Robert Lentz, Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin, Christine Bakke, Bill Burch, Carlos Latuff, and Dirk Vanden.
A slide from the Queer Christ video
The soundtrack sets a tone of sacred openness with the chant “Open My Heart” from the album “Inside Chants” by Harc (Ana Hernandez and Ruth Cunningham).
Shisler Goff is one of three co-pastors who founded the Slate Project in 2013. She also serves as assisting priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson, MD.
“The Slate Project is a community, both online and in person, where we ask ourselves, ‘What if we had a blank slate for doing and being church?’ This lets us ask what it is in our Christian traditions that no longer serves us and needs to be ‘wiped away,’ and what is in the slate itself -- the very form and substance of what it means to be the church. Jesus is that substance,” she told the Jesus in Love Blog.
She joined forces with pastors from two other denominations -- Presbyterian Jenn DiFrancesco and Lutheran Jason Chesnut -- to build a post-denominational community whose playfully irreverent motto is “Christianity without the crap.” About 1,800 people have “liked” their Facebook page and they have more than 500 followers on Twitter.
“For me the queer Christ is about Jesus embodying God’s radically inclusive love for all people,” she explains in a separate video interview about the queer Christ produced for ReLENT.
The Twitter chat about the queer Christ opened with Shisler Goff tweeting the Rainbow Christ Prayer by Cherry and Cheng. A record of the whole chat is online at Storify.com. The following highlights include questions and some of the most “favorited” answers from an hour of tweets.
For you, how does the #QueerChrist set free and heal damage that has been done?
“As a member of the queer community, the #queerchrist welcomes and knows me, despite what the church has told me in the past. -- Christophe Schaefer
How does the #QueerChrist reclaim Christ from those who “use him as a weapon to dominate others?”
“If Christ is Queer, there’s no “other" to even use a weapon against, because there’s no norm.” -- Julie
“We see the #QueerChrist in people like Matthew Shepherd, beaten and left for dead on the outskirts. Not holding a weapon.” -- Jason Chesnut
“The #QueerChrist meets Westboro with a sign of Christ’s own - ‘I love you. Deal with it.’” -- Jason Chesnut
How do you experience the #QueerChrist—theologically, emotionally, spiritually, imaginatively?
“I encounter the #QueerChrist in members of the queer community who have also been martyred, and their legacies which live on.” -- Christopher Schaefer
“I experience the #QueerChrist bringing me from a homophobic guy raised in Texas to a straight ally in a challenging way”. -- Jason Chesnut
What do you think of the role of art as both an expression of faith and an agent of change?
“Trying to get away from "idols" has left us devoid of icons- windows to the divine.” -- Lauren Muratore
Cherry tweeted along too in her first-ever Twitter chat. “It was a thrill to use a new technology to meet new people who seek to know the queer Christ,” she said.
Shisler Goff, who led the discussion and made the video, explained why she has put so much effort into sharing the Queer Christ in a statement for the Jesus in Love Blog:
“It was important to me that we talk about the Queer Christ for several reasons. I think many people are still not that familiar with the Queer Christ. Scholarship on the Queer Christ is still relatively new. It was not until I began my doctoral studies at Episcopal Divinity School in the last two years that I seriously studied the Queer Christ. For me, Jesus is the embodiment of God's radically inclusive love. This is the language of many queer theologians. The Queer Christ helps us transform unhelpful and limiting binary thinking and opens up a freedom for all people, with many kinds of diversity, to be imaged in Christ. I like to think of the Queer Christ as transforming the boundaries that we like to put up; not destroying them but transforming them. This view of Christ subverts the most popular critiques of the church today- it is homophobic, hypocritical, and irrelevant. This Christ has something to say to the lived experience of LGBTQ people who have historically be oppressed, marginalized and even persecuted by the church. I think the Queer Christ can speak to all people, because to "queer" something is to interpret it in a new and normative, non-traditional way.
Everyone is welcome to join in ReLENT’s “digital discipline” by meditating on selected scriptures and readings and responding online through their Facebook and Twitter accounts. They host a Twitter chat of the week’s topic every Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern, using the hashtag #SlateSpeak.
The ReLENT group has already discussed the theology of James Cone (Black Christ) and Gustavo Gutierrez (Poor Christ) as well as Cherry’s writing about the queer Christ. Upcoming weeks will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Nonviolent Christ), Nancy Eiesland (Disabled Christ) and various writers who discuss the Feminist Christ.
“The church is in the process of reimagining and re-creating itself for the twenty-first century,” Shisler Goff said. “I believe the Spirit is inviting us to join in the queering of the church.”
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This post is part of the Queer Christ 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.
“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
I made the video as part of the It Gets Better Project, a new website where LGBT adults can share stories of hope with LGBT youth. Straight allies -- including President Obama -- also make messages of support there.
The project was founded in September by gay author Dan Savage in response to the recent suicides by gay teenagers who were harassed for their sexual orientation. It grew quickly, reaching 1,000 videos, 100,000 supporters and 10 million video views.
In my video I recall how mean boys yelled “lezzie” at me in school when I was growing up in Iowa. But even worse than the bullying was the loneliness. But life got better. I grew up and I’m still together with the wonderful woman who was my college sweetheart. We came out as lesbians to our families and on the job, and the world didn’t end. In fact, it got better! For me it also got better because I realized that there is a God, and God loves me just as I am. I became an openly lesbian minister and author.
Many GLBT youths can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly queer adults. The “It Gets Better” videos allow them to see with their own eyes that they can have a future with love and happiness.
I also signed the “It Gets Better” pledge: “Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I'll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I'll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that ‘It Gets Better.’”
Coming out the closet as a lesbian played a huge role in my life, so I celebrate National Coming Out Day today with a video, links, prayer and book except. Ever since National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988, LGBT people have been encouraged to come out and be honest about themselves on Oct. 11. This year the scope has been broadened. “Whether you’re lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or not, be proud of who you are and your support for LGBT equality this Coming Out Day!” says the Human Rights Campaign, which manages the event. I wrote about the process in depth in my book Hide and Speak: A Coming Out Guide, which is also available in a Polish translation. I reflect on my own coming out process in the short video above. It’s still my most popular video, with 2,679 views. I made it for the Human Rights Campaign’s 2007 video contest. My book Hide and Speak tells positive ways to come out to yourself, create a circle of supporters and deal with family, job and school. Each chapter includes real-life examples and tested, highly effective exercises that I used in coming-out workshops nationwide. Readers will learn how to live proud, free and balanced. Here is an excerpt from Hide and Speak:
“Many people, myself included, assumed that LGBT visibility would make books like this obsolete. That day is still well in the future. The difficulties of coming out in the twenty-first century hit home for me recently when a younger relative finally told me he was gay. His big sister, a lesbian activist, had come out to the family twenty years before, but her example didn’t seem to make it any easier for her brother. “It was something I had to figure out and deal with on my own terms,” he explained to me. The newly visible LGBT community is no more appealing to him than the old stereotypes had been to me and my peers.”
“Leader: Have you been forced to play a dishonest role in order to survive? Participant: I have. My family seemed often to require it, at least to desire it. At school it was necessary, and whenever I dropped my mask I was punished. The same was true of my life at work where I sought acceptance and advancement. What I had to confront made me feel confused, emotionally fatigued, and often worthless. Any kind of a relationship posed a threat and a danger. I wondered how much rejection I could stand. When I reached out for understanding or help, I usually received yet another rebuke. However, I just could not be who I'm not. It nearly killed me when I tried so hard and found it hopeless. Community: We offer you validation for yourself as you have been created and celebration of your gayness as a gift of God.”
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 made a video of my new gay and lesbian nativity scenes. One has two Marys at the manger with the baby Jesus, and the other has two Josephs with the Christ child.
I put Mary with Mary and Joseph with Joseph -- like putting two brides or two grooms on top of a wedding cake!
Coming out the closet as a lesbian played a huge role in my life, so I celebrate National Coming Out Day today with a video, links, prayer and book except.
I wrote about the process in depth in my book Hide and Speak: A Coming Out Guide, which was recently translated into Polish.
I reflect on my own coming out process in the short video above. It’s my most popular video, with 2,383 views and counting. I made it for the Human Rights Campaign Fund’s video contest. This year I also submitted it to the coming-out campaign of the Equality March being held this weekend in Washington, DC.
My book Hide and Speak tells positive ways to come out to yourself, create a circle of supporters and deal with family, job and school. Each chapter includes real-life examples and tested, highly effective exercises that I used in coming-out workshops nationwide. Readers will learn how to live proud, free and balanced.
Here is an excerpt from Hide and Speak:
“Many people, myself included, assumed that LGBT visibility would make books like this obsolete. That day is still well in the future. The difficulties of coming out in the twenty-first century hit home for me recently when a younger relative finally told me he was gay. His big sister, a lesbian activist, had come out to the family twenty years before, but her example didn’t seem to make it any easier for her brother. “It was something I had to figure out and deal with on my own terms,” he explained to me. The newly visible LGBT community is no more appealing to him than the old stereotypes had been to me and my peers.”
“Leader: Have you been forced to play a dishonest role in order to survive?
Participant: I have. My family seemed often to require it, at least to desire it. At school it was necessary, and whenever I dropped my mask I was punished. The same was true of my life at work where I sought acceptance and advancement. What I had to confront made me feel confused, emotionally fatigued, and often worthless. Any kind of a relationship posed a threat and a danger. I wondered how much rejection I could stand. When I reached out for understanding or help, I usually received yet another rebuke. However, I just could not be who I'm not. It nearly killed me when I tried so hard and found it hopeless.
Community: We offer you validation for yourself as you have been created and celebration of your gayness as a gift of God.”
I made a new video for the National Equality March supporting full equality for all LGBT Americans.
The video is part of the “I Believe in Equality” campaign to prepare for the march on Oct. 10-11 in Washington, DC. Every Equality March video features somebody making a short statement for justice:
“My name is ____ (your name), I am ____ (your sexual orientation or gender identity), I am from the __th Congressional District of ____ (your congressional district number and your state), and I believe in full equality for all straight and LGBT Americans.”
I expected the videos to be similar because we all follow the same script. But the videos are surprisingly varied! In fact, I am one of the few who says, “I am a lesbian.” There are many variations beyond the “classic” categories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Some participants identify themselves as “genderqueer” or “pansexual transman” -- and I was also pleasantly surprised to see many straight allies in the videos.
Click here to see a diverse group of “I Believe in Equality” videos.
For the video, I fulfilled my long-time dream of creating a T-shirt with the JesusInLove.org logo. I’m wearing my new T-shirt in the video -- and you can get one, too. Click here for info on how to order a JesusInLove.org T-shirt. The shirt can be customized into a variety of sizes, styles and fabrics.
The logo includes a pink triangle as the “V” in the word “love.” Gay prisoners wore pink triangles in Nazi concentration camps. Following Christ’s example, JesusInLove.org joins queer people in transforming suffering into power.
Are you going to attend the National Equality March? If so, please contact me so we can post your reports, photos and videos here at the Jesus in Love Blog.
A comedian created “Was Jesus Gay?” as a comedy video, but most of it makes good sense to me as a lesbian Christian.
The popular video was made by Pat Condell, an English comedian and outspoken atheist. His online video monologues of what he calls “godless comedy” have gotten more than 15 million hits. “Was Jesus Gay?” has nearly half a million views.
I started watching Condell’s gay Jesus video without knowing that it was intended as comedy. I thought he was a serious church leader, and kept wondering, “Why haven’t I heard of this theologian before?!”
The video begins with some well-deserved barbs against the Church for mistreating gays. Then Condell states, “I’ve heard it suggested from some people that Christians are so irrationally obsessed with this subject because deep down they’re terrified that Jesus himself might have been gay.”
He talks about how Jesus spent the night with a naked youth in the Secret Gospel of Mark. He speculates about what John meant when he called himself “the one who Jesus especially loved.” He also discusses Jesus’ heterosexual marriage in some of the other Gnostic gospels. All these theories about Jesus’ relationships are common topics of serious study by queer scholars.
My favorite part of the video is when Condell asks, “If somebody could prove historically beyond all doubt that Jesus was in fact homosexual, would Christians then reject Jesus or would they reject the evidence -- as usual?”
Good question.
Happy Easter! Be sure to watch the new Easter video of me speaking from a wilderness trail in the flowering hills of Los Angeles.
I’m surrounded by wild mustard plants at the height of their blossoming. I admire the tall plants with their beautiful yellow flowers, and I remember what Jesus said:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.” (Matthrew 13:31-32)
Jesus liked to talk about mustard seeds. On another occasion he said,
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
Now every time I walk among the mustard flowers, I remember the power of faith. On Easter and every day, may we all stay in touch with our potential to grow, blossom and move mountains.
To see the video, click here or on the image above.
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
A touching video supports same-sex marriage -- at a time when group divorce is threatened for 18,000 same-sex marriages in California. I was moved by seeing images of real gay and lesbian couples set to the song “Fidelity” by Regina Spektor.
Courage Campaign made the music video to inspire people to sign a petition to the California Supreme Court to protect same-sex marriage. Petition deadline: Valentine’s Day!
News broke Tuesday (Feb. 3) that the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 5, then decide within 90 days about the validity of Prop 8 and the 18,000 marriages.
Ken Starr -- yes, the prosecutor who led the campaign to impeach President Bill Clinton -- filed a legal brief for the "Yes on 8" campaign. It would forcibly divorce the 18,000 same-sex couples married in California last year before the passage of Prop 8.
When Starr's legal brief went public in December, the Courage Campaign immediately launched the "Don't Divorce..." campaign, asking members to send pictures with a simple message.
See those beautiful, powerful photos on the music video, and consider signing the petition at CourageCampaign.org.
I got excited when I first heard that a gay and lesbian Nativity scene was planned for the 2008 “Pink Christmas” festival in Amsterdam. Live actors were supposed to play a pair of Marys and a pair of Josephs.
I let my imagination run free envisioning new variations on the familiar manger scene. Love makes a family -- including the Holy Family. Everyone should be able to see themselves in the Christmas story, including gay and lesbian people.
I postponed writing about the gay and lesbian Nativity until it was staged. Now I’m glad that I waited because the reality fell far short of what I expected.
My heart sank when I saw the photos and video of the gay Nativity with two men (NOT two Josephs). They were a stereotypical drag queen and leather daddy. A male entertainer named “Miss Wendy” Mills posed as Mary in a blonde wig and black, high-heeled boots. I have nothing against transvestites and leather folk, but these guys seemed like a parody of themselves, with no loving “family” connection to each other whatsoever. Apparently there was no lesbian version at all.
Naturally I found out about the gay manger scene from news reports on Christian conservatives trying to stop it. Queer Christians almost never make the news unless somebody is opposing us. Conservative Christians complained that the gay manger scene mocked Christianity, but I feel that it makes a mockery of GLBT life.
Oh, well.
Frank van Dalen, head of the ProGay group that organized the festival, said that the queer Nativity was meant to encourage people to think about homosexuality and religion. It did have that effect on me. I had my own lesbian Christian spiritual awakening while I was waiting for the event.
While waiting for the event, I imagined that the Amsterdam GLBT community would enact Nativity scenes that showed loving lesbian and gay families like those that I have known. Scenes of a lesbian Madonna and her female partner with the baby Jesus have been created by artists such as Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin of Sweden and Becki Jayne Harrelson of Atlanta. But this was the first time that I’ve seen a gay Joseph and his male partner with the Christ child.
Why not? According to the Bible story, Joseph was an adoptive father anyway. The Virgin Mary had Jesus without having sex with a man -- much like lesbian mothers who use artificial insemination.
I had a personal breakthrough as I realized that my mind was still trapped in heterosexual assumptions about the cast of characters at Jesus’ birth. I remembered going to a huge exhibit of Nativity scenes when I was a young lesbian in seminary. They had statues of Mary and Joseph with the Christ child portrayed as every conceivable racial and ethnic identity. Not once did I consider that my own community was missing -- there was no lesbian version with Mary and another woman. Nor was there a gay version with Joseph and another man. Only now, some 20 years later, did it occur to me that LGBT families should be represented in the mix.
Inspired by the Amsterdam example, I suddenly realized how easy it would be to make my own lesbian or gay Nativity scene. All I would have to do was buy two standard Nativity scenes, and switch the figures around. It would be easy to put Mary with Mary and Joseph with Joseph -- like putting two brides or two grooms on top of a wedding cake! My partner and I toyed with the idea of getting two sets of Nativity lawn decorations and turning our yard into a queer Christmas display.
However, rearranging the Holy Family is not as easy as it might seem. In many cases Mary, Joseph and Jesus are wedded together in one inseparable, three-headed blob. What does that say about our attachment to idealized, sanctified heterosexuality?
During the recent after-Christmas sales, I ordered two Nativity sets with freestanding figures. Yes, I’m going to do it. You’ll see my reconfigured lesbian and gay Nativity scenes on this blog next Christmas.
Meanwhile, you may watch Amsterdam’s gay Nativity scene captured live on video.
Update Dec. 22, 2010: Gay and lesbian Nativity scenes are available now as Christmas cards at the Jesus in Love Store.
“After the Rainbow Ceremony” by Peter Grahame illustrated the year's top story
Debate about the need for a unique gay spirituality is the top story for 2008, JesusInLove.org announced today.
“Gay spirituality vs. everybody spirituality: A new closet?” generated the year’s largest number of comments at the Jesus in Love Blog on queer spirituality and the arts.
JesusInLove.org, an online resource center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) spirituality and the arts, has announced its picks for 2008’s top five stories.
Here’s a round-up of the year’s top five queer spiritual art news stories.
1. “Gay spirituality vs. everybody spirituality: A new closet?” was the most popular story of 2008 with 40 comments. A big spirituality weekend finds that many, especially young people, don’t recognize the “unique spiritual gifts” that go with being GLBT.
2. “No on Prop 8 protest for gay marriage” was the most popular video of 2008 with more than 2,000 views. The video shows more than 500 people protesting the ban on same-sex marriage at the “Stop the H8” rally against Proposition 8, in Pasadena, California, on Nov. 15.
3. “Gay Mohammad art censored” generated the longest debate, with passionate comments continuing on both sides for 10 months. Gay Mohammad images by Iranian-born artist Sooreh Hera were censored from a Dutch art exhibit. The artist says that her art is an expose of Islamic hypocrisy on homosexuality.
4. “Lammy Awards: GLBT authors laugh, cry and get awards” received the most links from other websites. The Lambda Literary Awards ceremony is “more than a dream come true” as it carries on the sacred literary tradition of gay and lesbian writers.
5. “New novel shows Passion of a Queer Christ” received the most heartfelt response through emails and comments. “WOW! I'm speechless!” was among the respsonses to a queer Christ’s journey in “Jesus in Love: At the Cross” by Kittredge Cherry.
“2008 was an outstanding year for queer spirituality and the arts,” says Kittredge Cherry, lesbian Christian author and founder of JesusInLove.org. “People cared passionately about gay spirituality, same-sex marriage, GLBT literature and making gay-friendly images of the divine -- including gay Jesus and gay Mohammad.”
Founded three years ago, JesusInLove.org presents a positive vision of GLBT spirituality and tracks censorship of queer religious art. It has grown from a single website into an online network that includes a blog, videos, e-newsletter and an image archive. It has reached thousands of people all over the world, won many honors -- and gotten a lot of hate mail from conservative Christians
“The ongoing religious bigotry proves that Jesus in Love is needed now as much as ever,” Cherry says. “Christian rhetoric is being misused to justify hate and discrimination against GLBT people, but Jesus taught love for all.”
My video “No on Prop 8 protest for gay marriage” was ranked of the most-viewed videos at YouTube in the “non-profits and activism” category on Nov. 17. It was about the 70th most popular video in that category overall and in Germany and Hong Kong.
It’s also one of the most popular videos that JesusInLove.org has ever made, with 1,863 views and counting, plus many 5-star rankings.
The video shows more than 500 people protesting the ban on same-sex marriage at the “Stop the H8” rally against Proposition 8, in front of City Hall in Pasadena, California, on Nov. 15.
The Jesus in Love video channel produced four short videos of the protest, and this one is by far the most popular. I think that viewers like it because I walked all around the edge of the crowd while filming it, so it really captures the size and diversity of the group protesting for GLBTQ rights.
Join the Impact has lots more info on the protests nationwide and the movement to promote love and equality.
I am so sick of election propaganda that I almost didn’t watch this video, “Love Poem (No on 8)” even though I oppose Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage. A friend sent me the video link, so I took a chance on it.
I was amazed and uplifted by the video. It shows a wide variety of people reading one of the world’s great poems about love, I Corinthians 13 in the Bible. The video adds a lovely visual surprise ending after the Bible reading. It’s the famous chapter that includes these lines:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal… Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away… So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
It’s enlightening to consider the scripture in the context of the election tomorrow. For example, today’s politicians may speak with the tongues of angels, but do they have love? Or are they just noisy gongs?
Coming out the closet as a lesbian played a huge role in my life, so I celebrate National Coming Out Day today with a video, links and book except.
I wrote about the process in depth in my book Hide and Speak: A Coming Out Guide, which was recently translated into Polish.
I reflect on my own coming out process in the short video above. It’s my most popular video, with 2,383 views and counting. I made it for the Human Rights Campaign Fund’s video contest in 2007.
This year HRC changed the rules. Only people aged 18 to 25 are allowed to submit videos, the theme is “come out and vote,” and the contest runs all the way to Oct. 20. I do look forward to seeing what the young people say now about coming out.
My book Hide and Speak tells positive ways to come out to yourself, create a circle of supporters and deal with family, job and school. Each chapter includes real-life examples and tested, highly effective exercises that I used in coming-out workshops nationwide. Readers will learn how to live proud, free and balanced.
I’ll close with an excerpt from Hide and Speak:
“Many people, myself included, assumed that LGBT visibility would make books like this obsolete. That day is still well in the future. The difficulties of coming out in the twenty-first century hit home for me recently when a younger relative finally told me he was gay. His big sister, a lesbian activist, had come out to the family twenty years before, but her example didn’t seem to make it any easier for her brother. “It was something I had to figure out and deal with on my own terms,” he explained to me. The newly visible LGBT community is no more appealing to him than the old stereotypes had been to me and my peers.”
I met a fabulous drag-queen author at the reading for Lambda Literary Awards finalists recently at A Different Light Bookstore in West Hollywood.
James St. James read from Freak Show, his novel for teenagers about a teen drag queen who explodes into a conservative high school. I read from Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.
The theme of James’ teenage outcast has spiritual resonance. I enjoyed his entertaining, exuberant writing style and his delivery was phenomenal, so I did a quick video interview with James after the reading. We also made a video of James reading.
Hailed by Newsweek Magazine as a celebutante, James makes numerous appearances on TV shows such as America’s Next Top Model and Tyra. He also produces a daily show called the WOW report. Click here for his recent interview with Christopher Rice, who moderated the Lammy finalists’ reading.
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Kittredge Cherry blogs at the Jesus in Love Blog and edits the Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts. She offers GLBT and progressive spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org.
,” a drama about a closeted gay seminarian’s search for love, was released on DVD this week.
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, his novel for teenagers about a teen drag queen who explodes into a conservative high school. I read from