Queer Creation in art: Who says God didn’t create Adam and Steve?

October 1, 2013, 12:02 am

≫ Next: Funds needed now for annual newsletter fee

≪ Previous: Rumi: Poet and Sufi mystic inspired by same-sex love

"Adam and Steve in Hawaii" by Tony de Carlo, 2013

(This post was written for the Queer Theology Synchroblog 2013.)

Who says God didn’t create Adam and Steve? Artist Tony De Carlo affirms the goodness of same-sex love by painting the original gay couple.

He reimagines the Biblical creation story from a queer viewpoint. It’s visual theology in response to those who oppose LGBT rights with the foolish argument that “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”

De Carlo has done more than 20 paintings of Adam and Steve as the original gay couple. I am posting some of them today for the annual Queer Theology Synchroblog. The theme this year is “Queer Creation.” A synchroblog is when a group of people all write about the same topic on the same day and post it to their personal blogs. We are creating our own queer versions of the creation myth.

De Carlo is a native of Los Angeles, now living in Savannah, Georgia. Raised Catholic, he started painting religious subjects to counteract the church’s demonization of LGBT people. His paintings confront the hypocrisy of the church, which has a long history of homoerotic images but condemns homosexuality. His work is exhibited regularly in museums and galleries throughout the United States.

Watch the relationship between Adam and Steve unfold -- usually with the snake and forbidden fruit from the creation story in Genesis.

“Adam Y Steve” by Tony De Carlo

“Adam And Steve In Eden” by Tony De Carlo

"Adam and Yves" by Tony de Carlo

“Adam and Steve, Ants and Bees” by Tony de Carlo, 2013

"Domestic Life of Adam and Steve" by Tony de Carlo

"Adam and Steve and Child" by Tony de Carlo, 2013

"Adam and Steve on the Farm" by Tony de Carlo

“Adam and Steve and the Banana Tree” by Tony De Carlo

“Adam and Steve in 14 Countries” by Tony De Carlo shows them on an island made of flags from the countries that recognized marriage equality when he painted it earlier this year.

For more on Tony De Carlo and his art, see my previous post:
Gay saints, Adam & Steve, and marriage equality art affirms LGBT love: Tony De Carlo Interview.

____
Check out the other entries
in the Queer Theology Synchroblog

Queering Our Reading of the Bible by Chris Henrichsen

Queer Creation in art: Who says God didn’t create Adam and Steve? by Kittrdge Cherry

Of The Creation of Identity (Also the Creation of Religion) by Colin & Terri

God, the Garden, & Gays: Homosexuality in Genesis by Brian G. Murphy, for Queer Theology

Created Queerly–Living My Truth by Casey O’Leary

Creating Theology by Fr. Shannon Kearns

Initiation by Blessed Harlot

B’reishit: The Divine Act of Self-Creation by Emily Aviva Kapor

Queer Creation: Queering the Image of God by Alan Hooker

Queer Creation by Ric Stott

Eunuch-Inclusive Esther–Queer Theology 101 by Peterson Toscano

Valley of Dry Bones by Jane Brazelle

Queer Creation: Queer Angel by Tony Street

The Great Welcoming by Anna Spencer

Queer Creation by Billy Flood

The Mystery of an Outlandishly Queer Creation by Susan Cottrell

We’ve Been Here All Along by Brian Gerald Murphy

God Hirself: A Theology by T. Thorn Coyle

___
Related links:
TonyDeCarlo.com

Tony De Carlo on Facebook

___
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

↧

Funds needed now for annual newsletter fee

October 2, 2013, 9:33 am

≫ Next: Brother Elias: Soulmate to Saint Francis of Assisi?

≪ Previous: Queer Creation in art: Who says God didn’t create Adam and Steve?

I need $363 by Oct. 19 to pay the annual fee for the Jesus in Love Newsletter on LGBT spirituality and the arts.

Gifts of any size are welcome. Your gift of $30 pays for everybody to get the newsletter for one month.

Please give now by clicking the “GoFundMe” button below or visiting my GoFundMe page.

The Jesus in Love Newsletter now has 885 subscribers -- an increase of 85 compared to a year ago. The newsletter is successfully bringing the good news of LGBT spirituality and art to more people.

And Jesus in Love makes a big impact on each person. Listen to one of my readers: “Jesus in Love is the most radically progressive and life affirming Christian LGBT site on the Internet that I have ever seen. I find its message both inspiring and empowering,” says Ernesto Borges Torres.

See for yourself. Use the following list to view five years of past newsletters online. The annual fee includes maintenance of this newsletter archive.

Thank you for helping me support LGBT spirituality and the arts! I am a lesbian Christian author and Jesus in Love is my gift to the world. Jesus in Love is my individual project, so your gifts to Kittredge Cherry for Jesus in Love are not tax deductible.

JL News Sept 2013 (9/12/2013)
Gay artist Richard Stott paints "Intimacy with Christ," Saints Bernard of Clairvaux and Malachy, Proud Jesus blesses LGBT Pride parades, gay saint of 9/11 Mychal Judge, John Henry Newman and Ambrose St. John, lesbian goddess roots of Mary's Feast of the Assumption, civil rights champion Bayard Rustin, Christ and Krishna
JL News August 2013 (8/4/2013)
Black Madonna and lesbian defender Erzulie Dantor, gay Russian saints Boris and George, Wojnarowicz art and religion, LGBT resurrection by Mary Button, new translator at Santos Queer, bearded woman saint Wilgefortis
JL News July 2013 (7/6/2013)
Queer religious art list resource list: (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Paganism), UpStairs Lounge fire 40 years later, Pauli Murray (queer saint and first black woman ordained as an Episcopal priest), Saint Symeon and John (holy fool and hermit who loved each other), Jemima Wilkinson (queer preacher reborn in 1776 as “Publick Universal Friend”)
JL News June 2013 (6/5/2013)
Will Roscoe on Jesus and the shamanic tradition of same-sex love, cross-dressing painter Rosa Bonheur honors "androgyne Christ," Hidden Perspectives interviews Kittredge Cherry on LGBT religion, Adam and Steve welcome marriage equality, Joan of Arc, Rainbow Christ Prayer, Julian of Norwich
JL News May 2013 (5/2/2013)
Photos of LGBT saints today by Tony O'Connell, LGBT vs Christian cartoon by Carlos Latuff for Day Against Homophobia, LGBT Litany, Christina Rossetti, Sor Juana de la Cruz, new books
JL News Easter / April 2013 (3/31/2013)
Happy Easter, gay Passion of Christ series ends when Jesus rises and appears to Mary, marriage equality vigil, queer Buddhist Christ figure Kuan Yin, lesbian poet Adrienne Rich
JL News: Palm Sunday 2013 (3/24/2013)
Gay Passion of Christ paintings by Douglas Blanchard with text by Kittredge Cherry, LGBT Stations of the Cross by Mary Button, right-wing rants against queer Christ
JL News Mar 2013 (3/2/2013)
Artist Ria Brodell paints history's butch heroes, queer martyrs rise on Ash Wednesday, Polyeuct and Nearchus, Queen Esther, new books
JL News Feb 2013 (2/9/2013)
Top 10 LGBT spiritual arts stories of 2012, LGBT clergy at Inauguration, Saint Sebastian, Lesbian Virgin Mary poster protested in Croatia, Beloved Disciple, Holocaust Remembrance with pink triangle art, Brigid and Darlughdach, David and Jonathan, Ugandan LGBT maryr David Kato
JL News Xmas 2012 / Jan 2013 (12/24/2012)
Queer baby Jesus, gay Nativity in Columbia, artist Eric Martin paints naked young man from Mark's gospel, John of the Cross, ad shows Pope blessing same-sex marriage, Bridge of Light holiday for New Year
JL News December 2012 (12/4/2012)
Divine lesbian art by Verlena Johnson, Advent, blasphemy charges for Greek gay Jesus play, Top 20 gay Jesus books, gay King Wenceslas, mystical same-sex marriage of Bernardo de Hoyos, queer Christmas gift ideas
JL News November 2012 (11/1/2012)
More LGBTQ saints added for All Saints Day, LGBTQ guide to American Academy of Religion - Society of Biblical Studies meeting, Cardinal John Henry Newman loved Ambrose St. John, Angela Yarber paints portrait of Kittredge Cherry, gay martyrs Sergius & Bacchus, We Wha of Zuni, Jesus in Love's 7th anniversary
JL News October 2012 (10/4/2012)
Queer Saint Francis of Assisi, Henri Nouwen struggles with his homosexuality, Dr. Hildegard of Bingen loved women, Jesus in rainbow shroud, Rumi inspired by same-sex love, Leviticus and religion-based violence
JL News September 2012 (9/3/2012)
Tony De Carlo's art (gay saints, Adam and Steve, marriage equality), gay Christ by Latuff, gay civil-rights saint Bayard Rustin, Mary's lesbian goddess roots

JL News August 2012 (8/2/2012)
Queer grace with art by Felicia Follum, marriage of Jesus and Freddie Mercury by Mr. Fish, Pauli Murray voted into sainthood, blasphemy charge from Americans for Truth, queer saints Wilgefortis, Boris & George, Artemisia Gentileschi
July 2012 (7/1/2012)
Queer saint for Independence Day: Jemima Wilkinson was reborn in 1776 as “Publick Universal Friend,” Rainbow Christ Prayer by Kittredge Cherry and Patrick Cheng, cartoon shows Jesus walking on dangerous waters carrying LGBT kid, my first LGBT Pride march
Kittredge Cherry Update, July 2012 (7/25/2012)
Sample issue of KC Update, a monthly e-newsletter with timely reflections on LGBT spirituality and art. KC Update is available only to paid subscribers for $25 per month or $300 per year.
June 2012 (6/6/2012)
Stonewall paintings by Sandow Birk, Sweden's first LGBT altar by Elisbeth Ohlson Wallin, resurrection images from Gay Passion of Christ with art by Doug Blanchard and text by Kittredge Cherry, 2 new gay Jesus books, Joan of Arc, LGBT Pride prayers
May 2012 (5/3/2012)
Ethiopian eunuch shows early church welcomed queers, gay teen wins right to wear "Jesus is not a homophobe" shirt on Day of Silence, lesbian poet Christina Rossetti, gay Jesus makes news in the Guardian, Sor Juana de la Cruz loved a countess
Easter 2012 (4/8/2012)
Happy Easter with Queer Resurrection by Andrew Craig Wiliams, Gay Passion of Christ series by Douglas Blanchard ends, Queer Christ article in Huffington Post by Kittredge Cherry -- and conservative attacks on it
April 2012 (4/1/2012)
Gay Passion of Christ series with art by Douglas Blanchard and new text by Kittredge Cherry, gay Jesus kiss behind the scenes at "Corpus Christi," Queens Esther and Vashti, gay centurion, new queer Christ book by Patrick Cheng
March 2012 (3/1/2012)
Angela Yarber paints holy lesbian icons and other women, "Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" protested, executions for sodomy, closeted Jesus in "Dark Knowledge," Polyeuct and Nearchus, St. Valentine: marriage-equality role model
February 2012 (2/3/2012)
Top 10 LGBT spiritual arts stories of 2011, police investigate attack on gay / lesbian Nativity scene at California church, Ugandan LGBT rights activist David Kato remembered one year later, St. Brigid and her female soulmate, Kittredge Cherry starts writing for Huffington Post
Christmas 2011 / New Years 2012 (12/24/2011)
Christmas greetings, LGBT Nativity contest, queer saints on Huffington Post, Clinton tells UN that gay rights are human rights, Bridge of Light LGBT New Year ceremony
December 2011 (12/7/2011)
History's gay couples by artist Ryan Grant Long, mystical same-sex marriage of Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos and Jesus, LGBT Nativity contest, LGBTQ guide to American Academy of Religion
November 2011 (11/1/2011)
All Saints Day reflection on why we need LGBT saints, new LGBT spirituality resource pages, All Saints / All Souls memorial, author Hartman on gay Jesus, We'wha of Zuni (two-spirit Native American)
October 2011 (10/7/2011)
Sergius and Bacchus in new art, Rumi inspired by same-sex love, Tyler Clementi and bullying of LGBT youth, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi
September 2011 (9/10/2011)
Gay saint of 9/11 Mychal Judge, civil-rights hero Bayard Rustin, Mary's lesbian-goddess roots with Artemis, Cardinal John Henry Newman, innovative icons.

August 2011 (8/6/2011)
Gay angel weeping and other art by Wes Hempel, conservatives attack our lesbian/gay Nativity scenes, same-sex marriage saints Boris and George, Artemisia Gentileschi paints strong Biblical women, Jacob wrestling, Mary Magdalene
July 2011 (7/6/2011)
Sensuous gay saints by artist Ted Fusby, blasphemy charges against Our Lady by Alma Lopez, John McNeill and LGBTs vs. the Vatican, reimagining God the Father.
June 2011 (6/7/2011)
Lady Gaga's queer spirituality, gay priest John McNeill shakes up Rome, Joan of Arc, Hunky Jesus contest, Pentecost, saints of Stonewall, LGBT pride prayers and hymns
May 2011 (5/8/2011)
Julian of Norwich celebrates Mother Jesus, Holocaust remembrance, Gay Passion of Christ series climax.
Easter 2011 (4/24/2011)
Gay Passion of Christ series (art by Douglas Blanchard, text by Kittredge Cherry), Easter videos
April 2011 (4/8/2011)
Gay Passion of Christ series, female Christa, queer martyrs rise from ashes
March 2011 (3/4/2011)
Erotic Christ interview with Hunter Flournoy, Bible's "Unprotected Texts" on sex, LGBT affirming poetry contest, Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus
February 2011 (2/8/2011)
Top LGBT spiritual arts stories of 2010, Uganda's gay martyr David Kato, Queer Lady of Guadalupe, Smithsonian censorship, acrobats strip for Pope
Christmas 2010 (12/24/2010)
December 2010 (12/2/2010)
Rethinking Sin and Grace for LGBT People: Liberator Christ and Out Christ, LGBT Jerusalem photos, protests end queer Jesus exhibit in Spain, banned photo of gay Christ, gay King Wenceslas, Christmas video message brings hope
November 2010 (11/1/2010)
LGBT-friendly memorial for All Saints All Souls, It Gets Better video for LGBT youth, inclusive art built from anti-gay DVDs, LGBT church history photos, Sally Gearhart on fighting the right with love, Saints Sergius and Bacchus, blog birthday, gay and lesbian Nativity scene cards, holiday gift ideas
October 2010 (10/4/2010)
St. Francis with Islamic sultan and gay Jesus, church fires artist for transforming anti-gay DVD, John Henry Newman's queer path to sainthood, Dirk Vanden's gay Jesus vision, Hildegard of Bingen's love for women, pet portraits, memorial candles
September 2010 (9/2/2010)
Krishna and Christ, Queer disciples in the Bible, Pride photo with gay Jesus sign, women's spirituality art book by Janet McKenzie, gay saint of 9/11 Mychal Judge
August 2010 (8/5/2010)
Ex-gay movement as genocide, To Anne Rice: You can be pro-gay AND Christian, St. Wilgefortis (bearded woman), St. Boris and George, Mary and Martha: sisters or lesbian couple?
July 2010 (7/9/2010)
Queer spiritual art in Tikkun magazine, saints of Stonewall, If Jesus Were Gay poems, LGBT Pride songs and prayers, Hands around the God Box
June 2010 (6/4/2010)
How to unite sexuality and spirituality, Jesus has male lover in Marien Revelation, International Day Against Homophobia, transgressing gender in the Bible, spirit-centered male nudes by Peter Grahame
May, 2010 (5/1/2010)
Black lesbian prayers and art, gay Holocaust, Mexican nun who loved a countess (Sor Juana), Houston Chronicle gay Jesus interview, is this a sexy Jesus?
Easter 2010 (4/4/2010)
Happy Easter, Foreplay to Eternity prayer, Kuan Yin as androgynous spirit of compassion
April 2010 (4/1/2010)
GLBT Holy Week series, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, AIDS crucifixion, Twitter
March 2010 (3/2/2010)
Paintings honor gay martyrs, lesbians infiltrate anti-gay church in documentary, homoerotic Jesus poems, Sts. Polyeuct & Nearchus, great sermon says "We ARE light"
February 2010 (2/1/2010)
Top GLBT spiritual art stories of 2009, St. Brigid & Darlughdach, blasphemy charge aids queer Jesus photo project, Epiphany, David & Jonathan, 2009 fundraising goal met
Christmas 2009 (12/24/2009)
Good (gay?) King Wenceslas, GLBT nativity video, Xmas excerpt from new trans Jesus play, Jesus tells Xmas story to animals, lesbian Madonna art
JL News, Dec 2009 (12/1/2009)
World AIDS Day, Advent, 300 protest transsexual Jesus play, Harvey Milk, Thanksgiving
JL News, Nov 2009 (11/4/2009)
Noah's gay wedding cruise, erotic encounter with the divine, Equality March video, transvestite Jesus, Saints Sergius and Bacchus, animal blessing, gay-friendly Jesus billboards
JL News, Sept 2009 (9/11/2009)
Gay saint of 9/11, National Equality March video, Jesus as lover, Mary's ecstasy, queer poem, cool new T-shirts, $185 needed, new books
JL News, Summer 2009 (7/1/2009)
Comic video jests about gay Jesus, Ruth and Naomi painting, "Jesus Never Married" poster, same-sex marriage not new, Eros & Christ series starts soon
JL News, April 2009 (4/5/2009)
Easter video with wildflowers, Gay Holy Week series, gay Passion photos by Recker, lesbian poet laureate, reflection on love and loss
JL News, Feb 2009 (2/10/2009)
Erotic angel art, video valentine on same-sex marriage, gay bishop prays at inauguration, Prayers for Bobby, Milk & coming out, Ted Haggard, gay Holy Week, new books & DVDs
Special alert: AltXmasArt, Dec 2008 (12/25/2008)
Alternative Christmas Art (all 12 images), top 5 stories of 2008.
JL News, Dec 2008 (12/1/2008)
Protests for same-sex marriage, AltXmasArt (alternative Christmas art), AIDS art, GLBT history, video faves based on Bible, donors honored, holiday gift idea
JL News, Oct 2008 (10/1/2008)
God politics art, GLBT Buddhists, lesbian folksinger, Jesus novels
JL News, Aug 2008 (8/12/2008)
Gay spirituality vs everybody spirituality, nursing Madonna, homoerotic Jesus T-shirt
JL News, July 2008 (7/9/2008)
Gay artist paints inspiring Jesus, Polish coming-out guide, gay pride march, video of 2 queer authors
JL News, June 2008 (6/5/2008)
Lammy Awards, funny gay Jesus music video, gay marriage stamp censored, video of Kitt Cherry on glbt Christian art, new glbt books
JL News, May 2008 (5/3/2008)
Austria censors gay Last Supper, Join Kitt at Lammy finalist reading 5/8, A lesbian Christian visits Israel, Art That Dares up for award, new glbt spirituality titles
JL News, April 2008 (4/8/2008)
Lammy finalists, Black Jesus & Obama, Kitt does reading May 8, Gay Easter bonnets, Holy Week blog, Top 5 glbt arts books
Special Alert: Holy Week readings (3/16/2008)
A queer version of Christ’s Passion covers Palm Sunday, the Last Supper and the 1st Easter.
JL News, March 2008 (3/5/2008)
Gay Mohammad art, Queer Christian art in Tikkun, Video prayer by author, Holy Week blog, At the Cross on sale
JL News, Feb 2008 (2/4/2008)
"At the Cross" is published, Conservatives blast Christmas card, see video of progressive spiritual fest
JL News, Jan 2008 (1/12/2008)
2007's top 5 stories, Happy new year video, Queering the Last Supper, Sex and spirit mix on German book cover
JL News, Dec 2007 (12/7/2007)
Gay Jesus art sparks violence in Sweden, See new videos on glbt rights, Give "Art That Dares" for Christmas, New vision statement

Jesus in Love supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spirituality and the arts. It promotes artistic and religious freedom and teaches love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or religious faith.

Many thanks to all supporters. Together we are promoting artistic and religious freedom for all.

↧

Brother Elias: Soulmate to Saint Francis of Assisi?

October 3, 2013, 9:16 am

≫ Next: New info on Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed

≪ Previous: Funds needed now for annual newsletter fee

Portrait of Brother Elias at the Baptismal font where St. Francis was christened in the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi. (Photo by Kevin Elphick)

[Note: This article provides detailed references on the love between St. Francis of Assisi and Brother Elias of Cortona. For an overview on the queer side of Saint Francis, see "New info on Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed."]

By Kevin Elphick

The earliest companion of Francis, a man whom Francis “loved more than any other because he was the same age” and because of “the great familiarity of their mutual affection…” is quickly written out of all but the earliest biographies and becomes fully lost and cleansed from later biographies. There is reason for suspicion about his removal from the story of Francis as the officially sanctioned image of St. Francis “the Saint” grew more widely circulated in the Medieval Church.

One possible candidate for Francis' first, unnamed companion is Brother Elias. The noted Franciscan historian, John Moorman, puts forward this supposition in his book, A History of the Franciscan Order (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1988. p. 96). In Celano's First Life of Francis, Br. Elias is not overtly named until Chapter 25, with no introduction or description, as if he is a character in the narrative already previously introduced. And yet, in spite of seemingly appearing only by Chapter 25, Elias is one of "three other historical figures [which] find an honored place within the pages" of Celano's work (St. Clare and Pope Gregory are the other two; Francis of Assisi - The Saint: Early Documents, NY: New City Press, 1999; p. 173). If the important figure of Br. Elias has already appeared in Chapter 3, it is more cohesive to the narrative when he reappears in Chapter 25 wherein the text [re]introduces him [again ?] with Francis "on another occasion and brother Elias was with him..."

The intimacy of Francis' relationship with Elias is described as "the one he [Francis] chose for the role of mother to himself." (Second Book, Chapter 4)

After Peter Catanii, Elias is one of the earliest Minister Generals of the Order. Before his death, Francis singles out Elias and intones a unique blessing over him. Upon his deathbed, Francis requests that the chapter from the Gospel of John be read to him (in which the Beloved Disciple is first introduced), and "This was the very gospel his minister [Elias] had planned to read. (Celano, Chapter 8) Celano sets up this scene by reminding readers that Elias was the one whom Francis "loved with great affection." The Latin here, "diligebat," is the same verb for love used in the Latin Vulgate for Jesus' love of the Beloved Disciple (Jn. 13:23)

At his death, Elias writes a letter to the Franciscan community, to share the distressing news of Francis' passing. Yet in this letter Elias describes it as "a loss for all, yet it is a trial singularly my own." He writes: "I sigh... My groans gush forth... what I dreaded has happened to me..." That this death is personalized for Elias is explicit. Elias remembers Francis as one who "carried us in his arms like lambs..."

Elias continues with praise of Francis' body itself. His letter betrays a clear intimacy he knew with Francis' body: "...our brother... bearing in his body... His hands and feet...front and back revealing the scars... His side...often emitted blood...No part of his body was without great suffering...His limbs… marvelously soft and pliable...turned this way and that..." Clearly Elias is writing from a personal and physical intimacy with Francis.

Interestingly, it is St. Bonaventure, the fifth successor to Elias as Minister General of the Order, who writes Elias out of Francis' official biographies. Bonaventure orders all earlier biographies of Francis to be destroyed. He then authors two "official" biographies of Francis and removes all mention of Francis' earliest, first companion. While he includes two episodes of Elias' role in Francis' life, Bonaventure does not name him, whereas other early friars are explicitly named. In describing Francis' blessing which he extended prior to his death, Bonaventure removes Elias as the recipient, and instead describes the blessing as being given generally to the friars "sitting around him." Subsequent biographies eventually adopt a trajectory openly hostile to the depiction of Elias.

However, notably, St. Clare, another intimate companion of Francis and contemporary of Francis, gives an affirmation of Elias in the strongest possible language. She writes to Blessed Agnes: "In all of this, follow the counsel of our venerable Father, our Brother Elias, the Minister General... Prize it beyond the advice of the others and cherish it as dearer to you than any gift."

___
Kevin Elphick is a Franciscan scholar and a supervisor on a suicide prevention hotline in New York. He wrote a thesis on “Gender Liminality in the Franciscan Sources” for a master’s degree in Franciscan studies from St. Bonaventure University in New York.

____
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.

↧

New info on Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed

October 3, 2013, 9:17 am

≫ Next: Saints Sergius and Bacchus: Male couple martyred in ancient Rome

≪ Previous: Brother Elias: Soulmate to Saint Francis of Assisi?

Francis of Assisi and the man he loved in “They Shelter in a Cave” by José Benlliure y Gil, 1926 (Wikimedia Commons)

Historical records reveal a queer side to Saint Francis of Assisi as Pope Francis visits the birthplace of his namesake tomorrow for the saint’s Oct. 4 feast day.

“It will be interesting to hear Pope Francis’ message while he pilgrimages to Assisi. However, the gender-bending St. Francis has already clearly spoken through the ages to the LGBT community,” Franciscan scholar Kevin Elphick says.

Saint Francis is one of the most beloved religious figures of all time, but few know about his love for another man and his gender nonconformity. By taking the name of Francis, the pope was communicating his affinity with the 13th-century friar who is known for joining with the poor, loving animals, hugging lepers, and praying for peace.

Francis is “a uniquely gender-bending historic figure” according Elphick. He continued his research into the queer side of Saint Francis this spring with his own trip to Assisi, where he photographed artwork depicting the man he believes may have been the saint’s beloved soulmate: Brother Elias of Cortona.

Brother Elias (center) at the Baptismal font where St. Francis was christened in the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi, Italy. (Photo by Kevin Elphick)

When Francis (1181-1226) was a young man, he had an unnamed male companion whom he dearly loved -- and who was written out of history after the first biography. Other Franciscan friars referred to Francis as “Mother” during his lifetime. He encouraged his friars to be mothers to each other when in hermitage together, and used other gender-bending metaphors to describe the spiritual life. He experienced a vision of an all-female Trinity, who in turn saluted him as “Lady Poverty,” a title that he welcomed.

The earliest companion of Francis, a man whom Francis “loved more than any other because he was the same age” and because of “the great familiarity of their mutual affection” remains nameless. Elphick's newest research suggests that the unnamed soulmate of Saint Francis was Brother Elias of Cortona. Francis called Elias “Mother” and gave him a special blessing. Elias expressed much concern about Francis’ body and his health. Francis and Elias each describe the other in affectionate terms. However, very quickly after Francis died, Elias is written out of history and discredited. Elphick presents the scholarly evidence about their relationship in the detailed article posted today at the Jesus in Love Blog: “Brother Elias: Soulmate to Saint Francis of Assisi?”


Lady Jacoba also known as Brother Jacoba (See full image below)

Francis allowed a widow to enter the male-only cloister, naming her “Brother Jacoba.” (Details about Jacoba are at the end of this article.) His partner in ministry was a woman, Clare of Assisi, and he cut her hair in a man’s tonsured style when she joined his male-only religious order.

Early evidence of these and ways that Francis crossed gender boundaries are gathered in the ground-breaking unpublished master’s thesis “Gender Liminality in the Franciscan Sources” by Elphick, who is both a Franciscan scholar and a supervisor on a suicide prevention hotline in New York. He wrote the thesis for a master’s degree in Franciscan studies from St. Bonaventure University in New York.

Francis’ love for another man is described in his earliest biography, The First Life of St Francis of Assisi

by Thomas of Celano, a follower of Francis who knew him personally. The biography was completed by 1230, just four years after Francis died. Celano says that when Francis was in his 20s, before embracing a life of poverty, he dearly loved a special male friend:

“Now there was a man in the city of Assisi whom Francis loved more than any other, and since they were of the same age and their constant association and ties of affection emboldened Francis to share his secret with him, he would often take this friend off to secluded spots where they could discuss private matters and tell him that he had chanced upon a great and precious treasure. His friend was delighted and, intrigued by what he had heard, he gladly accompanied Francis wherever he asked. There was a cave near Assisi where the two friends often went to talk about this treasure.”

In his thesis, Elphick points out, “Because homosexuality and ‘gay’ identities are modern constructs, it is impossible and inaccurate to attempt to read these modern categories into the personalities of historical figures.” Instead he uses the word “homoaffectional” to describe the relationship of Francis and his beloved companion.

“The relationship is inescapably homoaffectional, describing a shared intimacy between two Medieval men. That this first companion disappears from the later tradition is cause for suspicion and further inquiry.... The tone in Celano’s earliest account captures the flavor and intimacy of this relationship, perhaps too much so for an increasingly homophobic church and society.”

Francis and his beloved friend are seldom depicted by artists, but they are shown together in the rare and hard-to-find image above: “They shelter in a cave” (Se cobijan en una cueva) by Spanish painter José Benlliure y Gil. It is the 8th in his series of 74 images from the life of Saint Francis. The series was published by Franciscans in Valencia, Spain, in 1926 in a book to mark the 700th anniversary of the saint’s death. A commentary in Spanish about the picture is available online.

Elphick finds many more examples of what he calls “gender liminality” in historical documents on Francis. He defines liminality as “crossing the threshold of gender, either symbolically, or by actions within a person’s life that breach the social boundaries of gender.”

Francis was born to a wealthy Italian family in 1181 or 1182. As a young man he renounced his wealth, even stripping off his clothes, and devoted himself to a life of poverty in the service of Christ. He connected with nature, calling all animals “brother” and “sister” and celebrating them in his famous Canticle of the Sun.

“St. Francis ‘Neath the Bitter Tree”
By William Hart McNichols © fatherbill.org

He saw the face of Christ in lepers, the most reviled outcasts of his time, and nursed them with compassion. William Hart McNichols puts Francis’ ministry into a contemporary context by showing him embracing a gay Jesus with AIDS in “St. Francis ‘Neath the Bitter Tree,” pictured here. Words on the cross proclaim that Christ is an “AIDS leper” as well as a “drug user” and “homosexual,” outcast groups at high risk for getting AIDS. The two men gaze intently at each other with unspeakable love as Francis hugs the wounded Christ. It was commissioned in 1991 by a New Jersey doctor who worked with AIDS patients, and is discussed in the book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More

by Kittredge Cherry.

McNichols created the icon in his own style based on a 1668 painting by Spanish painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo, which was surely inspired by the more passionate 1620 version of fellow Spaniard Francisco Ribalta. In Ribalta’s work (pictured below), Christ responds to St. Francis’ ecstatic kiss by giving the saint his crown of thorns, the symbol of suffering that leads to divine union.

“Saint Francis Embracing Christ” by Francisco Ribalta (Wikimedia Commons)

“St. Francis and the Sultan”
by Brother Robert Lentz, trinitstores.com

A famous peace prayer is attributed to St. Francis. It begins, “God, make me an instrument of your peace.” Late in his life Francis embodied this message through man-to-man Christian-Muslim dialogue in the Mideast, a region where people are still at war.

In 1219 Francis went to Damietta, Egypt, with the European armies during the Fifth Crusade. He hoped to discuss religion peacefully with the Muslims. He tried to prevent Crusaders from attacking Muslims at the Battle of Damietta, but he failed. Francis was captured and taken to the sultan Malek al-Kamil. At first they tried to convert each other, but each man soon recognized that the other already knew and loved God. They remained together, discussing spirituality, for about three weeks between Sept. 1 and Sept. 26. Robert Lentz celebrates their meeting as a model of interfaith dialogue in the icon “St. Francis and the Sultan,” pictured here.

“St Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata”
by Kevin Raye Larson © 1991, krayel.com

In 1224, when Francis was in his 40s, he received the stigmata -- marks like the crucifixion wounds of Christ in his hands, feet and side. California artist Kevin Raye Larson emphasizes the sensuality of the ecstatic moment in “St Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata,” pictured here. The painting has appeared on the cover of the spirituality issue of “Frontiers,” the Los Angeles gay lifestyle magazine.

Along with the stigmata came other health problems. When Francis sensed death approaching, he called for Jacoba de Settesoli, a Roman noblewoman devoted to him and his teachings. Francis stayed in her house when in Rome. Celano’s 13th-century account in the “Treatise on the Miracles of Blessed Francis” reports that Francis greeted the news of her arrival at the male-only cloister with a decidedly queer statement that breaks gender rules::

“Blessed be God, who has guided the Lady Jacoba, our brother, to us. Open the door and bring her in, for our Brother Jacoba does not have to observe the decree against women.”

The widow called “Brother Jacoba” by Francis kneels near the dying Francis of Assisi in “48. Jacoba of Settesoli is associated with the mourning” (Jacoba de Settesoli se asocia al duelo) by José Benlliure y Gil, 1926 (Wikimedia Commons)

Francis died a few days later on Oct. 3, 1226. Two years after Francis’ death, Pope Gregory IX declared him a saint and commissioned Celano’s biography, the one that includes the love between Francis and his male companion.

Elphick adds an intriguing footnote about how the queer side of Francis has manifested outside official Christianity. Francis is venerated in the Yoruba religion of Africa as Orunmila, the orisha of wisdom, patron of animals and a transgendered deity who engages in same-sex eroticism.

At the end of his thesis, Elphick concludes that breaking gender rules is an extraordinary God-given power or “charism” that Franciscans offer to the church and the world.

“What are the lives of figures like Mother Francis, Brother Jacoba and Mother Juana de la Cruz revealing to us in our own day? I think that the Franciscan charism of gender liminality has much to teach our Church and fellow community of humans in our day. In a church divided over issues of ordination of women, inclusive language, and sexual orientation, I believe that the Franciscan tradition has important figures to hold up and from whom to learn. For issues which we have not even yet begun to explore theologically in authentic ways, issues such as hermaphroditism, transsexuality, genderedness and sexual orientation, I believe the Franciscan voice can be prophetic.”

“Saint Francis in Ecstasy” by Caravaggio (Wikimedia Commons)

___
Related links:
"The Message of St. Francis" by Kevin C. A. Elphick (The Empty Closet)

San Francisco de Asís: La evidencia histórica revela su lado gay (Santos Queer)

Animal blessing events are happening all over the world this month for the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals. Click here for my animal blessing prayer.

____
This profile is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, prophets, witnesses, 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.

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

Innovative icons of St. Francis and many others are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at Trinity Stores

↧

Saints Sergius and Bacchus: Male couple martyred in ancient Rome

October 7, 2013, 10:20 am

≫ Next: Vida Dutton Scudder: Lesbian saint, reformer and teacher

≪ Previous: New info on Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Rick Herold (details below)

20th-century icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus from the courtyard of the Monastery of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos in Maaloula, Syria (Wikimedia Commons)

Saints Sergius and Bacchus were third-century Roman soldiers, Christian martyrs and gay men who loved each other. Their story is told here in words and pictures for their feast day today (Oct. 7).

The close bond between Sergius and Bacchus has been emphasized since the earliest accounts, and recent scholarship has revealed their homosexuality. The oldest record of their martyrdom describes them as erastai (Greek for “lovers”). Scholars believe that they may have been united in the rite of adelphopoiesis (brother-making), a kind of early Christian same-sex marriage.

A classic example of paired saints, Sergius and Bacchus were high-ranking young officers. Sergius was primicerius (commander) and Bacchus was secundarius (subaltern officer). They were tortured to death around 303 in present-day Syria after they refused to attend sacrifices to Zeus, thus revealing their secret Christianity.

The men were arrested and paraded through the streets in women’s clothing in an unsuccessful effort to humiliate them. Early accounts say that they responded by chanting that they were dressed as brides of Christ. They told their captors that women’s dress never stopped women from worshiping Christ, so it wouldn’t stop them, either. Then Sergius and Bacchus were separated and beaten so severely that Bacchus died.

According to the early manuscripts, Bacchus appeared to Sergius that night with a face as radiant as an angel’s, dressed once again as a soldier. He urged Sergius not to give up because they would be reunited in heaven as lovers. His statement is unique in the history of martyrs. Usually the promised reward is union with God, not with a lover. Over the next days Sergius was tortured and eventually beheaded.

Sergius’ tomb became a famous shrine, and for nearly 1,000 years the couple was revered as the official patrons of the Byzantine army. Many early churches were named after Sergius, sometimes with Bacchus. They have been recognized as martyrs by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The pair was venerated through the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Latin America and among the Slavs.

Yale history professor John Boswell names Sergius and Bacchus as one of the three primary pairs of same-sex lovers in the early church in his book “Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe

”. (The others are Polyeuct and Nearchus and Felicity and Perpetua.)

The Roman Catholic Church stripped Sergius and Bacchus from its liturgical calendar in 1969 -- the same year that New York’s Stonewall riots launched the modern gay liberation movement. Supposedly they were “de-canonized” due to lack of historical evidence, but some see it as an anti-gay action since they clearly had churches dedicated to them long before medieval times. Sergius and Bacchus continue to be popular saints with Christian Arabs and now among LGBT Christians and their allies.

These “gay saints” have inspired some of the most beautiful art depicting the holiness of same-sex couples, sometimes in a homoerotic way. The painting at the top of this post is by California gay artist Rick Herold. “I over the years as a painter have been interested in the idea of the spirit and the flesh as one -- began by Tantric art influences and then using my Catholic background,” he told the Jesus in Love Blog. He paints with enamel on the reverse side of clear plexiglas.

Herold has a bachelor of arts degree in art and theology from the Benedictine Monastic University of St. John in Minnesota and a master of fine arts degree from Otis Institute of Art in Los Angeles. His religious artwork included a Stations of the Cross commissioned by Bob Hope for a church in Ohio before a conflict over modern art with the Los Angeles cardinal led to disillusionment with the church. Herold came out as gay and turned to painting male nudes and homoerotica, which can be seen at RickHerold.com. (Warning: his home page has male nudity.)

One of the newest images of 3rd-century gay saints Sergius and Bacchus is a stained glass window donated in 2011 to an Illinois church by its LGBT parishioners. The new Sergius and Bacchus window (above) was dedicated in September 2011 at St. Martha’s Church in Morton Grove, Illinois, as a gift from its LGBT members. Rev. Dennis O’Neill, pastor, believes it is the first window dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus in any church in the United States. O’Neill is the author of Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People

. The book includes a chapter retelling the love story of Sergius and Bacchus with historical detail.

“Sts. Sergius and Bacchus” by Plamen Petrov, St. Martha Church, Morton Grove, IL

The Sergius and Bacchus window above is part of a project in which members of St. Martha’s diverse congregation were selecting and paying for a set of 20 windows of saints from their various homelands. LGBT members contributed the “friendship window” depicting Sergius and Bacchus. It is a companion to the “marriage window” which shows St. Elizabeth of Hungary and her husband, Blessed Ludwig of Thuringia.

Artist Plamen Petrov worked with Daprato Rigali Studios to design and create the stained glass windows. He was born in Sevlievo, Bulgaria in 1966 and currently lives in Chicago. He graduated from University St. Cyril and St Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria’s Faculty of Fine Art in 1995, with an M.F.A. in graphic art - printmaking and pedagogy of figurative arts. For the past 12 years he specialized mostly in stained glass, but his creativity takes many forms, since he also works in mosaics, murals, oil, acrylic, photography and graphic design. His artwork may be seen across Chicago and Illinois, and in many countries all over the world.

“St. Bacchus and St. Sergius: Patrons of Same-Sex Couples by Maria Cristina

A banner saying “patrons of same sex couples” hangs above Bacchus and Sergius in a colorful icon by Maria Cristina, an artist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Ray Avito

On the day that California artist Ray Avito first heard the story of Sergius and Bacchus, he sketched the delightfully unpretentious portrait of the pair (pictured above). He said it was based on “the suspicion that they may have been more than just comrades in arms.”

“Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus” by Tony de Carlo

Sergius and Bacchus are among the many saints painted by Georgia artist Tony de Carlo. Raised Catholic, he started painting saints to counteract the church’s demonization of LGBT people. For more info, see my article Tony De Carlo: Artist affirms gay love with saints, Adam and Steve, and marriage equality paintings.

“Saints Sergius and Bacchus” by Ryan Grant Long

Historical men who loved men, including Sergius and Bacchus, are painted by Wisconsin artist Ryan Grant Long in his “Fairy Tales” series. Sergius and Bacchus are usually portrayed as static icons, side by side staring straight at the viewer. But Long catches them gazing into each other’s eyes during a private moment in their prison cell. For more info, see my article Artist paints history’s gay couples: Interview with Ryan Grant Long.

“Bacchus” and “Sergius” from the series “Five Saints” (2008) by Anthony Gayton. © Anthony Gayton / www.anthonygayton.com

Noted British photographer Anthony Gayton does stylized homoerotic photos based on the history of gay culture. He shows Sergius and Bacchus stripped and bound as prisoners in two separate photos. The images are intended to be shown together, but by design they can also be separated.

Appropriate Bible quotes are on banners above them. For Bacchus: “But I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” (Psalm 89:33). For Sergius: “All thy commandments are faithful, they persecute me wrongly; help thou me.” (Psalm 119: 86)

His Sergius and Bacchus photos belong to the series “Five Saints.” In addition to exploring saints, Gayton’s work uses historical themes inspired by such diverse sources as mythology, Renaissance and Baroque painting and early photography. Gayton's work is published in his book Sinners and Saints

Saints Sergius and Bacchus

By Brother Robert Lentz OFM, trinitystores.com

The Living Circle, an interfaith LGBT spirituality center founded by Dennis O’Neill, that commissioned the above icon of the loving same-sex pair. It was painted by Brother Robert Lentz, a Franciscan friar and world-class iconographer known for his innovative icons. “Saints Sergius and Bacchus” is one of 10 Lentz icons that sparked a major controversy in 2005. Critics accused Lentz of glorifying sin and creating propaganda for a progressive sociopolitical agenda. They caused such a stir that in order to keep the peace between his Franciscan province and the Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lentz temporarily gave away the copyright for the 10 controversial images to his distributor, Trinity Stores. Lentz’ own moving spiritual journey and some of his icons are included in the book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More

by Kittredge Cherry.

Saints Sergius and Bacchus. 7th Century icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. Now in an art museum in Kiev, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons)

___
Related links:

Many icons, statues, and churches dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus can be viewed at:
http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/mar/mar01.html

Sergius and Bacchus at Queer Saints and Martyrs (and Others)

Honoring (and Learning from) the Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus -- at The Wild Reed

Santos Sergio y Baco: Una pareja masculina martirizada en la antigua Roma (Santos Queer)
____
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.

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

Icons of Sergius and Bacchus and many other saints are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at Trinity Stores

↧

Vida Dutton Scudder: Lesbian saint, reformer and teacher

October 10, 2013, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Matthew Shepard: Modern gay martyr and hate-crime victim died 15 years ago

≪ Previous: Saints Sergius and Bacchus: Male couple martyred in ancient Rome

Vida Dutton Scudder, c. 1890 (Wikipedia)

Vida Dutton Scudder is an American social reformer, professor, prominent lesbian author -- and an officially recognized saint in the Episcopal Church. Her feast day is today (Oct. 10.)

Her ideas on economic inequality are especially relevant amid the financial crises of our times. Born in India to missionary parents in 1861, Scudder studied at Oxford and became a professor at Wellesley College, where she taught English literature for 41 years. All her primary relationships were with women. For 35 years from 1919 until her death in 1954, Scudder lived with author Florence Converse in a lesbian relationship.

Scudder’s spirituality went hand in hand with her social conscience and love of learning. She was active in the Social Gospel movement, co-founding a Boston settlement house to reduce poverty, promoting Christian socialism and backing trade unions. Scudder wrote 16 books, including her autobiography “On Journey,” plus numerous articles on religious, political, and literary subjects.

Converse (1871-1967), a New Orelans native and Wellesley graduate, served on the editorial staff of the Atlantic Monthly and The Churchman magazine. She wrote many novels with titles such as “The Story of Wellesley” and “The Holy Night.”

The couple'sr lesbian life is documented in the books “Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America” by Lillian Faderman and “Passionate Commitments: The Lives of Anna Rochester and Grace Hutchins” by Julia M. Allen. Their long-term relationship lasted until Scudder died at age 91 on Oct. 9, 1954.

The two women are buried near each other at Newton Cemetery and Crematory in Newton, Massachusetts. The Internet makes it possible to visit to the graves of Scudder and Converse online.

The Episcopal Church added Scudder to its book of saints several years ago. She expressed her belief in the power of prayer when she wrote, “If prayer is the deep secret creative force that Jesus tells us it is, we should be very busy with it.” Here is the official prayer that the Episcopal Church offers in memory of this lesbian saint:

Most gracious God, you sent your beloved Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Raise up in your church witnesses who, after the example of your servant Vida Dutton Scudder, stand firm in proclaiming the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

___
Related links:

Vida Dutton Scudder, American Lesbian Saint for Our Times (Queering the Church)

Vida Dutton Scudder, Educator and Witness for Peace (Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church)

Vida Dutton Scudder (Wikipedia)

____
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.

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

↧

Matthew Shepard: Modern gay martyr and hate-crime victim died 15 years ago

October 12, 2013, 8:40 am

≫ Next: Spirit Day: Stand up to bullying of LGBT youth

≪ Previous: Vida Dutton Scudder: Lesbian saint, reformer and teacher

“Saint Sebastian and Matt Shepard Juxtaposed” by JR Leveroni

Matthew Shepard brought international attention to anti-gay hate crimes when he died 15 years ago today on Oct. 12, 1998. He was a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming at the time.

The new film “Matt Shepard was a Friend of Mine” and the new book “The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard” are being released for the 15th anniversary of his death.

The documentary film is directed by Michele Josue, who was a close friend of Shepard. She takes a personal approach, exploring his life and loss by visiting places that were important to him and interviewing his friends and family. View the trailer below or at this link.

Award-winning gay Journalist Stephen Jimenez does extensive research into the circumstances of the crime in “The Book of Matt.” He finds that Shepard was not killed for being gay, but for reasons far more complicated.

Shepard (1976-1998) was brutally attacked near Laramie, Wyoming, on Oct. 6-7, 1998 by two men who later claimed that they were driven temporarily insane by “gay panic” due to Shepard’s alleged sexual advances. Shepard was beaten and left to die.

Now the Matthew Shepard Foundation seeks to replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance. U.S. President Obama signed "The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act" into law on Oct. 28, 2009. It broadens the federal hate-crimes law to cover violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Shepard’s murder has inspired paintings by a variety of artists. New this year at the Jesus in Love Blog is “Saint Sebastian and Matt Shepard Juxtaposed” by JR Leveroni, pictured at the top of this post. It makes an important connection between a gay Christian martyr from history and the gay victims of hate crimes today. Leveroni is an emerging visual artist living in South Florida. Painting in a Cubist style, he matches Shepard’s death with the killing of another gay martyr, Saint Sebastian. The suffering is expressed in a subdued style with barely a trace of blood. A variety of male nudes and religious paintings can be seen on his website (warning: male nudity).

“The Passion of Matthew Shepard” by William Hart McNichols ©
www.fatherbill.org

The officer who found Shepard said that he was covered with blood -- except for the white streaks left by his tears. Father William Hart McNichols created a striking icon based on his report. McNichols dedicated his icon The Passion of Matthew Shepard to the 1,470 gay and lesbian youth of commit suicide in the U.S. each year, and to the countless others who are injured or murdered.

McNichols is a New Mexico artist and Catholic priest who has been rebuked by church leaders for making icons of saints not approved by the church, including this one of Matthew Shepard. McNichols’ own moving spiritual journey and two of his icons are included in the book Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More

by Kittredge Cherry. His Matthew Shepard icon appears in his book “Christ All Merciful

,” which he co-authored with Megan McKenna.

“The Murder of Matthew Shepard” by Matthew Wettlaufer

The grim scene of Matthew’s death is vividly portrayed in “The Murder of Matthew Shepard,” above, by gay artist-philosopher Matthew Wettlaufer. He lived in El Salvador and South Africa before returning to California. For an interview with Wettlaufer and more of his art, see my previous post “New paintings honor gay martyrs.”

“The Last of Laramie” by Stephen Mead

Above is a lyrical painting dedicated to Matthew Shepard: “The Last of Laramie” by gay artist Stephen Mead.of New York. It appears in his book “Our Book of Common Faith

.” For more about Mead and his art, see my previous post “Gay Artist Links Body and Spirit.”

"The Candlelight Vigil for Matthew Shepard (NYC Oct. 19, 1998)” by Sandow Birk

California artist Sandow Birk painted a candlelight vigil for Shepard. With a drummer and a rainbow flag, it seems to echo “The Spirit of 76,” a famous patriotic painting of Revolutionary War figures by Archibald MacNeal Willard. But it is based on “The Conscripts” by Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, a painting that seems to take a hard look at the toll of war, especially the conscription of young people into the military during the Franco-Prussian War.

“The Conscripts” by Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, 1889 (Wikimedia Commons)

For more about Sandow Birk’s art, see my previous post Stonewall's LGBT history painted: Interview with Sandow Birk.

Matthew’s story has also been dramatized in films such as “The Laramie Project

” and the “The Matthew Shepard Story

” with Sam Waterson and Stockard Channing as the grieving parents.

"Matthew Shepard: Beyond the Fence," a musical tribute celebrating a life that helped change the world, premiered in October 2013 in a production by the South Coast Singers. a LGBTQ performance troupe in Long Beach, California. Written by SCC creative director Steve Davison, it incorporate existing music by gay composers Levi Kreis, Ryan Amador and Randi Driscoll.

___
Related links:

’Beyond the Fence’: Matthew Shepard Lives in Musical Tribute (edgeonthenet.com)

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

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

↧

Spirit Day: Stand up to bullying of LGBT youth

October 17, 2013, 9:03 am

≫ Next: The Bible and Gays: Is it a sin to be gay? Did Jesus condemn homosexuality?

≪ Previous: Matthew Shepard: Modern gay martyr and hate-crime victim died 15 years ago

LGBT youths driven to suicide appear as Jesus is laid in the tomb in Station 14 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button

_________________________________________________

People are speaking out against bullying of LGBT and queer youth today for Spirit Day (Oct. 17, 2013).

Spirit Day was started in 2010 by Brittany McMillan, a 16-year-old Canadian girl, in response to high-profile suicides by young LGBT people such as Tyler Clementi.

The Jesus in Love Blog marks Spirit Day this year by posting Station 14 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button, courtesy of Believe Out Loud. The painting matches Jesus being laid in his tomb with images of LGBT youths who took their own lives. Recognizable faces include Tyler Clementi, Jamey Rodemeyer, Raymond Chase, and Seth Walsh. They represent countless other young LGBT people who committed suicide because they couldn't bear life in a world that despises and discriminates against queer people.

Many people make a statement supporting LGBT young people on Spirit Day by wearing purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. They also “go purple” by making their profile pictures purple at Facebook and other social media websites.

Spirit Day is promoted by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Visit Spirit Day for more info, including an interview with McMillan about why she founded Spirit Day.

“The purpose of the event was so that people who were being bullied at their schools could come to school on Spirit Day and look around at all the people wearing purple, all the people who they could trust, all the people who would support them….I honestly had a bit of a pessimistic view of it. I thought that I would only get a few hundred people wearing purple and then my school. I never thought it would get as big as it did,” she said.

McMillan noted that Spirit Day is also a day to mourn the youths already lost. “A lot of events are always doing things for the present or the future, but they don’t really look back on the past. Spirit Day is a day where you can presently support LGBTQ teens, promise to stand up to homophobic bullying and also remember teens from the past,” she said.

___
Related links:

Trevor Project national help line for LGBTQ teens
Visit thetrevorproject.org or call 866 4U TREVOR

glaad.org/spiritday

“Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America” by Mitchell Gold and Mindy Drucker

“Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens” by Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke

Mary Button: LGBT Stations of the Cross show struggle for equality (Jesus in Love)

Tyler Clementi: Gay martyr driven to suicide by bullies (Jesus in Love Blog)

Wear purple for Spirit Day to support LGBT youth (Jesus in Love - 2011)

____
This post is part of the LGBT Holidays series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

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

↧

The Bible and Gays: Is it a sin to be gay? Did Jesus condemn homosexuality?

October 24, 2013, 10:01 am

≫ Next: All Saints Day 2013: Queer and LGBT saints and martyrs honored

≪ Previous: Spirit Day: Stand up to bullying of LGBT youth

“Bible with Awareness (Beibl gydag ymwybyddiaeth)” by Andrew Craig Williams

When readers send me anti-LGBT hate mail, I often refer them to “The Bible and Gays” by Rev. Durrell Watkins, pastor of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It is one of the all-time best articles on the Bible and homosexuality. Rev. Watkins goes well beyond debunking the anti-gay “clobber” passages to present Christ’s positive message about queer people in a clear, accessible way. I am pleased to share his article here today.

The Bible and Gays

By Rev. Durrell Watkins

There are four questions I am most often asked about spirituality in relation to LBGT people. My ministry is within a church that is rooted both within the Christian tradition and the Gay Rights movement. However, I am a spiritual humanist and a religious pluralist and while I speak from a primarily Christian viewpoint, the message that I try to offer is universal. Here are the questions and my answers.

Is it a sin to be gay?
“Sin” means to miss the mark (an archery metaphor). To “be” anything is a matter of ontology (of “is-ness”). So to discover that one is something and to be honest about it can never be missing the mark. Self-discovery and expressing one’s truth with integrity is hitting the bull’s eye!

Did Jesus condemn homosexuality?
Jesus condemned precious little. One of the few things that he did condemn was the tendency of religious people to participate in condemnation! Jesus seemed to have a great deal of patience with almost everything other than self-righteous people who tried to enforce religious rules in a way to oppress or control others.

Was Jesus ever sympathetic to homosexual persons?
The word “homosexual” would not have been part of Jesus’ vocabulary. However, in the 8th chapter of Matthew’s gospel (and the story is repeated in the 7th chapter of Luke’s gospel) Jesus is said to have healed a centurion’s servant. The original hearers of that story would have assumed that the servant was the centurion’s lover. From what we know of 1st century Roman culture, we know that such relationships were not uncommon. And for a person of such high rank to be so concerned about a servant that he would approach a faith healer of lower status in a desperate attempt to help his servant suggests an intimacy far greater than one would expect between a military officer and his “servant.” How did Jesus respond to the centurion? He praised his faith! His relationship was not condemned or even questioned.

Also, in Matthew 19, Jesus defines “eunuchs” in a much broader sense than we normally hear. He says that, there are those who are castrated, which is the usual definition. But he also says there are 2 other kinds of eunuchs. He says some “choose” to be eunuchs (living a life of celibacy) and that others are “born” eunuchs (people who by nature are sexually different). He also says that not everyone would accept his broad, inclusive, and non-judgmental definition of eunuchs, but he says, “whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Jesus was giving an example of sexual diversity -- some are different because they’ve been surgically altered. Others are different because of personal choices to not marry or to remain celibate (e.g. monks and nuns). And still others are different because they are born different, that is, they are innately different. Jesus did not suggest that anything was wrong with any of the eunuchs, and he certainly did not propose an “ex-eunuch” program. Some of us are “different” from the majority, and Jesus seemed to think that was OK and that everyone who can accept such diversity needs to accept it! His teaching reminds us of Isaiah 56 where the prophet places these words in the mouth of God, “The eunuch need not say, ‘I am a dry (barren) tree’…I will give them in my house a monument and name which will be even better than having children; an eternal, imperishable name…For my house shall be called a house of prayer for ALL peoples.” In any case, Jesus never condemned same-sex love or attraction.

But aren’t there bible verses that do condemn homosexuality?
It depends on how you read the bible. The people who wrote the documents that in time became our bible were products of their time and culture. They had specific agendas and were writing to particular communities, usually in response to definite events. None of them had any idea that 21st century Americans would be reading their work. In fact, none of them knew there was a North American continent or that the world wasn’t flat. And so, we do read statements in the bible that support slavery, that assume women are in some way inferior to men, that seem to suggest God takes sides in bloody military conflicts.

Today, we do NOT accept that women are in any way inferior to men.
Today, we believe slavery to be one of the greatest evils of human history.
Today, many of us believe that war is almost never the will of God.

Do we read the bible with an awareness of its historical, cultural, and linguistic contexts? Or do we cling to isolated verses that seem to support one prejudice or the other? How we choose to read the bible will determine if we believe the bible promotes homophobia. And how we choose to read it actually says more about the reader than the text.

Out of the entire bible written by many people covering a period of more than a thousand years, there are only about half a dozen sentences that are routinely used to shame, condemn, harass, or terrorize gay and lesbian people! Each of those rare, isolated passages, when taken in their cultural, historical, linguistic, and literary contexts can be deconstructed in ways that are actually quite liberating for same-gender loving people! Love and even mutual attraction are never condemned in scripture.

The bible is against rape, exploitation, and harming your neighbor (and rightly so!). It is not a collection of books meant to condemn love, mutuality, or any life-affirming situation.

Now, reflect on these passages from the bible that some of us believe accurately sum up the divine message for the human family: “God is love and WHOEVER lives in love lives in God and God lives in them!” – 1 John 4.16; “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Eternal, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.” – Jeremiah 29.11; “By the grace of God I am what I am.” – 1 Corinthians 15.10; “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5.22-23.

There is no law against love and we are all one. This is the message of the bible. It doesn’t tell us who to hate; it tells us how to love. We can be sure that LBTG people are as capable of living love-filled lives as anyone else
___
Rev. Durrell Watkins has been the senior pastor of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale, Florida since 2007. The church is affiliated with Metropolitan Community Churches and the International New Thought Alliance. Watkins has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This article originally appeared at his blog Kweerspirit. A Spanish translation will be posted soon at the Santos Queer blog.
___
More resources on the Bible and homosexuality:

Metropolitan Community Churches theological resources

“What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality” by Daniel Helminiak

“Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality” by Jack Rogers

Homosexuality and the Bible at ChristianGays.com

Homosexuality and the Bible at GayChurch.org

Gay and Christian (gaysandslaves.com)

“From Sin to Amazing Grace: Discovering the Queer Christ” by Patrick S. Cheng

La Biblia y las personas Gays: ¿Es un pecado ser gay? ¿Condena Jesús? (coming soon at Santos Queer)
___

↧

All Saints Day 2013: Queer and LGBT saints and martyrs honored

November 1, 2013, 9:52 am

≫ Next: Malachy of Armagh: Same-sex soulmate to Bernard of Clairvaux

≪ Previous: The Bible and Gays: Is it a sin to be gay? Did Jesus condemn homosexuality?

Altar Cross of LGBTQ Martyrs from Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco

All Saints Day is celebrated today by adding seven new profiles to the LGBTQ Saints page at JesusInLove.org.

“Saint Sebastian”
by Il Sodoma

The most popular new addition is Saint Sebastian, a third-century martyr who has been called history’s first gay icon and the patron saint of homosexuals.

Other newcomers on the list include traditional saints Bernard of Clairvaux and the Black Madonna of Czestochowa as well as modern figures such as the founders of PFLAG, the martyrs of the 1973 Upstairs Lounge fire and Vida Dutton Scudder, a lesbian teacher and Episcopal saint born in 1871.

Queer and LGBT saints are important because people are searching for alternative ways to lead loving lives. Churches have tried to control people by burying queer history. The LGBTQ saints show us not only their place in history, but also our own place -- because we are all saints who are meant to embody love. We can tap into the energy of our ancestors in faith. For some they become friends, helpers and miracle-workers. I created the LGBT Saints page to give people an easy way to find the spiritual resources that they seek. For more info, see my essay Why we need LGBT saints.

In addition five profiles of saints (or paired saints) received major rewrites, including some long-time favorites at the Jesus in Love Blog: martyrs Sergius and Bacchus and Biblical heroes David and Jonathan. Almost every profile on the page has been updated and expanded in minor ways this year.

Another breakthrough this year is bringing LGBT saints to Spanish readers. Profiles of traditional LGBT saints are translated into Spanish at the new Santos Queer Blog. Some even attracted more readers than the original English versions. Saint Sebastian was the most popular saint at Santos Queer.

LGBT Saints page

With these new saints, the LGBT Saints page has grown to 62 profiles. They include 34 traditional Christian and 28 alternative figures. Along with official saints, there are martyrs, mystics, prophets, witnesses, heroes, holy people, humanitarians, deities and religious figures of special interest to LGBTQ people and our allies.

Here is a list of new saints who are welcomed to the LGBT Saints page today.

Traditional Christian

“Bernard of Clairvaux”
by Rowan Lewgalon

New additions:

Saints Bernard of Clairvaux and Malachy: Honey-tongued abbot and the archbishop he loved

Saint Sebastian: History’s first gay icon

Black Madonna becomes lesbian defender: Erzuli Dantor and Our Lady of Czestochowa

Major rewrites:

David and Jonathan: Love between men in the Bible

Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed by new historical evidence

John the Evangelist: Beloved Disciple of Jesus

Saints Sergius and Bacchus: Male couple martyred in ancient Rome

Saint Wilgefortis: Bearded woman

19th to 21st century

Vida Dutton Scudder

New additions:

Jeanne Manford: PFLAG founder loved her gay son

Vida Dutton Scudder: Lesbian saint, teacher and reformer

Adele Starr and others: Patron saints for straight allies of LGBT people

UpStairs Lounge fire remembered 40 years later: 32 died in deadliest attack on LGBT people
___
This article is illustrated with the Altar Cross of LGBTQ Martyrs. It was constructed by a congregant at Metropolitan Community Church of San Franscico for All Saints Day (All Hallows) worship services there. The cross features newspaper photos of Matthew Shepard and Harvey Milk. In the center of the cross is the fence where Shepard was tortured and murdered on 10/12/88 in Laramie, Wyoming.

Other LGBTQ martyr named on the cross are:
Brian Wilmes – Hate Crimes Slaying 09/08/99 in San Francisco
Lawrence King – Hate Crimes Murder 02/12/08 in Oxnard, Ca.
Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill – Murdered 12-04-95 in Medford, Oregon
Harvey Milk – Assassinated - 11/27/78
Tyra Hunter – Medical Care Denied – 08/07/95 in Washington D.C.
Gwen Araujo – Hate Crimes Murder – 10/03/02 in Newark, Calif.
Thank you to Lynn Jordan for the photo and information about the Altar Cross of LGBTQ Martyrs.

Let us be inspired by the LGBT saints who surround us as a “great cloud of witnesses.” May we commit ourselves to our own queer spiritual journeys.
___
Related links:

Why we need LGBT saints by Kittredge Cherry

An All Hallows' Eve Vigil to Begin Transgender Awareness Month by H. Adam Ackley (Huff Post)

A queer theology of sainthood emerges (99 Brattle blog of Episcopal Divinity School)

Feminism leads to a queer theology of sainthood (Feminism and Religion Blog)

Who are the "Queer Saints and Martyrs"? by Terence Weldon (Queering the Church)

LGBT-friendly memorial for All Saints, All Souls and Day of the Dead

Santos Queer (LGBT Saints by Kittredge Cherry in Spanish / en español)

TrinityStores.com (innovative icons, including some LGBT saints)

Sanctity And Male Desire: A Gay Reading Of Saints

by Donald Boisvert

Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People

by Dennis O’Neill

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

↧

Malachy of Armagh: Same-sex soulmate to Bernard of Clairvaux

November 3, 2013, 9:13 am

≫ Next: Same-sex kisses in church: Exhibit censored and vandalized in Italy

≪ Previous: All Saints Day 2013: Queer and LGBT saints and martyrs honored

“Malachy of Armagh” by Rowan Lewgalon

Malachy of Armagh is an 11th-century Irish saint who died in the arms of his more famous soulmate, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard showered Malachy with kisses during his lifetime and they are buried together, wearing each other’s clothes. Malachy’s feast day is today (Nov. 3).

Malachy is also the attributed author for the “Prophecy of the Popes,” which predicted that there would be 112 more popes before the Last Judgment. Most scholars dismiss the document as an elaborate 16th-century hoax. Still it’s sobering that the 112th and final pope in the prophecy is the current pontiff, Pope Francis. The prophecy remains popular with doomsday fanatics.

Malachy (1094 - Nov. 2, 1148) was born in Armagh in northern Ireland and rose to become archbishop.In Middle Irish his name is Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair. He became Ireland’s first native-born saint to be canonized.

He was primate of all Ireland when he first visited the French monastery at Clairvaux around 1139. The abbott in charge was Bernard (1090-1153), a mystical author, advisor to five Popes and a monastic reformer who built the Cistercian order of monks and nuns. Bernard is considered to be the last of the Church Fathers. They soon became devoted, passionate friends. Malachy even asked the Pope for permission to become a Cistercian, but the Pope refused.

Malachy traveled to see Bernard again in 1142. They were so close that Bernard covered him with kisses in a scene that is described well by Orthodox priest Richard Cleaver in “Know My Name: A Gay Liberation Theology”: “Bernard's account makes deeply romantic reading for a modern gay man. “Oscula rui,” Bernard says of their reunion: “I showered him with kisses.”

Their relationship had lasted almost a decade when Malachy reunited with Bernard for the third and final time. Malachy fell sick when he arrived in Clairvaux in 1148. He died in Bernard’s arms on All Soul’s Day, Nov. 2. Again Cleaver tells the details based on accounts by Geoffrey, Bernard’s secretary and traveling companion:

“Geoffrey of Auxerre tells us what happened later. Bernard put on the habit taken from Malachy's body as it was being prepared for burial at Clairvaux, and we wore it to celebrate the funeral mass. He chose to sing not a requiem mass but the mass of a confessor bishop: a personal canonization and, incidentally, an example of using liturgy to do theology. Bernard himself was later buried next to Malachy, in Malachy’s habit. For Bernard, as for us today, this kind of passionate love for another human being was an indispensable channel for experiencing the God of love.”

After Malachy’s death Bernard lived on for another five years. During this time he wrote “Life of Saint Malachy of Armagh,” which is his idealized tribute to the man he loved.

Bernard forbid sculptures and paintings at the monastery during his lifetime, but by the late 15th century the altarpiece at the Clairvaux Abbey had a painting of Christ’s baptism -- being jointly witnessed by Bernard and Malachy.

The Irish archbishop comes back to life in the striking contemporary portrait of Saint Malachy as a young man at the top of this post. It was created by Rowan Lewgalon, a spiritual artist based in Germany and a cleric in the Old Catholic Apostolic Church.

Malachy and Bernard were men of their time who supported church teachings on celibacy. People today might say that they had a homosexual orientation while abstaining from sexual contact. Medieval mystics created alternative forms of sexuality that defy contemporary categories, but might be encompassed by the term “queer.” They directed their sexuality toward God and experienced God’s love through deep friendship with another human being... such as the relationship between Malachy and Bernard.

A prayer written by Bernard’s secretary Geoffrey shows how the community at Clairvaux understood and celebrated the man-to-man love between Bernard and Malachy. He thanks God for these “two stars of such surpassing brightness” and “twofold treasure.”
___

Related links:
Saints Bernard of Clairvaux and Malachy: Honey-tongued abbot and the archbishop he loved

San Malaquías de Armagh: el alma gemela de Bernardo de Claraval (coming soon at Santos Queer)
____
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.

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

↧

Same-sex kisses in church: Exhibit censored and vandalized in Italy

November 7, 2013, 12:31 pm

≫ Next: Cartoon: How do LGBT people know God loves us?

≪ Previous: Malachy of Armagh: Same-sex soulmate to Bernard of Clairvaux

Two men kiss at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in “Si, Quiero” by Gonzalo Orquín

Two women kiss at San Carlo al Corso basilica in Rome in “Si, Quiero” by Gonzalo Orquín

An exhibit of photos showing same-sex kisses in churches faced censorship and vandalism in Italy recently.

Artist Gonzalo Orquin photographed gay and lesbian couples kissing in front of altars at some of the most important ancient basilicas in Rome.

The photo series is titled “Si, Quiero,” which is the Spanish phrase used by the bride and groom at a wedding -- like “I do” in English. Literally it means, “Yes, I want to.” But the Vatican said no.

The Vicariate, which assists the Pope in carrying out his functions as the Bishop of Rome, threatened legal action to stop an exhibition of the photos at Galleria L’Opera in Rome. Italian law protects people’s religious sentiments and use of church buildings.

For security reasons the gallery complied and covered up the set of 16 photos in the “Si, Quiero” series before the opening on Sept. 25. They were hidden behind black cardboard while black crosses stood beneath it as a silent protest. Orquin also placed a photo on Facebook showing the covered artwork with a statement against the censorship.

“Si, Quiero” by Gonzalo Orquín was concealed behind black cardboard at the gallery during the exhibit

The covered-up photos went on display as planned as part of a three-man “Trialogo” exhibit. But a group of hooded men broke in on Oct. 16 and vandalized three paintings with red spray paint. Apparently they were angry about the images of same-sex kisses in churches, but could not find them under the black cardboard. Instead they sprayed red blotches onto a painting of a woman priest and two other artworks.

Orquin is Spanish, but he has lived in Rome for eight years. “I am a Catholic. I believe in God deeply,” he said in the New York Daily News. “I think if you look closely at my pictures no one can find blasphemy or sacrilege. A kiss is a gesture of love, of tenderness between human beings.”

The artist said that gay, lesbian and straight people offered to pose for the photos. Locations include St. Peter’s Basilica, where the Pope presides over services throughout the year.

His choice of churches as the setting for same-sex kisses grows out of his own spiritual journey. “When I was child I learned that God is love, and I learned it in a church! What kind of love? Who decides what love is OK and why? Pope Francis has said recently that he is not one to judge anyone and he also said that the Roman Church belongs to every one,” he told HuffPost United Kingdom.

Here is a selection of other images from “Si, Quiero” by Gonzalo Orquín

Special thanks to Scott Sella for the news tip, and to Gonzalo Orquin for permission to use his photos.
___
Related links:

Italian thugs vandalize gallery featuring photos of gay couples kissing inside churches (New York Daily News)

Vatican Threatens Gonzalo Orquin's Gay Kisses In Church Exhibition With Legal Action (HuffPost UK)

Photos of Kisses Banned from Rome Gallery Due to Vatican Intervention (New Ways Ministry)

Other censorship and attacks on LGBT Christian art:

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

Smithsonian censors gay artist when conservatives attack (David Wojnarowicz)

Our Lady and Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy (Alma Lopez)

Gay Jesus art sparks violence… and hope (Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin)

Gay Nativity scene in Columbia sparks outrage

Hate crime targets gay and lesbian Nativity scene at Claremont church (California)

"Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More" by Kittredge Cherry profiles contemporary artists whose queer Christian artwork has been censored or destroyed.
___
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

↧

Cartoon: How do LGBT people know God loves us?

November 14, 2013, 7:54 am

≫ Next: Transgender Day of Remembrance: Nov. 20, 2013

≪ Previous: Same-sex kisses in church: Exhibit censored and vandalized in Italy

“Gays and Biblical Inspiration” by David Hayward

A new cartoon shows Jesus asking the question that I as a lesbian Christian would want him to ask: “So, Dad, how are gays in the 21st century going to know we love them?”

David Hayward, a Canadian artist who runs the blog “nakedpastor,” imagines the inner dialogue among the Holy Trinity back when the Bible was first being written in his cartoon “Gays and Biblical Inspiration.”

The Holy Spirit wraps ghostly arms around the Biblical writer, who is apparently Paul in prison. God appears as an old man who replies to his son’s desire to communicate love to future LGBT people by explaining: “When he uses words like ‘all,’ ‘world’ and ‘everything,’ wise and loving people will know.”

It’s a bittersweet answer. Yes, wise and loving people today can understand that LGBT people are included in scriptures such as “Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.” (1 Timothy 4:4).

But sometimes it’s frustrating that the Bible’s anti-gay “clobber passages” seem so much more specific. Maybe the implication here is that God did not inspire those verses. Why not a clear message for the not-so-wise and less-than-loving people? What about the LGBT people who believe the lie that God rejects them?

Hayward uses the traditional image of God as an old man to critique the way that straight white men dominate Christianity. He started a blog called “nakedpastor” in 2006, offering a progressive look at religion through his art, cartoons and writings.

The artist behind “nakedpastor” literally was a church pastor. After growing up in various denominations, he was ordained a Presbyterian and pastured a Vineyard church. He has a master’s degree in theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a diploma in religious studies and ministry from McGill University in Montreal.

In 2010 Hayward quit the professional paid clergy because, as he puts it, “"the church and I were no longer compatible.” His art, cartoons, writings and book have found their way all around the world to entertain and challenge people. He and his wife Lisa live near Saint John, New Brunswick.

Hayward is the author of two books: “nakedpastor101: Cartoons by David Hayward” and “Without a Vision My People Prosper,” which calls the church back to the priority of fellowship over accomplishments.
___
Related links:

The Bible and Gays: Is it a sin to be gay? Did Jesus condemn homosexuality? by Durrell Watkins

nakedpastor on Facebook

Cartoon shows GLBT religious rights on the cross (Latuff)

Jesus and Freddie Mercury: Marriage Made in Heaven cartoon supports equality (Mr. Fish)

Cartoon shows Pope mad at nuns and Jesus for not condemning homosexuality

Cartoon: Jesus saves LGBT kids from jaws of clergy hat) (Mr. Fish)
___
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

↧

Transgender Day of Remembrance: Nov. 20, 2013

November 20, 2013, 8:35 am

≫ Next: My marriage-equality protest photo runs in national magazine Tikkun

≪ Previous: Cartoon: How do LGBT people know God loves us?

Christ's crucifixion is linked to the murder of transgender woman Rita Hester in “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button, courtesy of Believe Out Loud

Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20) commemorates those who were killed due to anti-transgender prejudice. The Jesus in Love Blog also honors transgender visions in art, theater, religion and spirituality today.

Religious violence against transgender people goes back at least as far as Biblical times and continued in the Middle Ages when St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for cross-dressing and St. Wilgefortis was crucified for being a bearded woman. The list of unlawfully killed transgender people is long and continues to grow.

Transgender Day of Remembrance serves the dual purpose of honoring the dead and raising public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people—that is, transsexuals, crossdressers, and other gender-variant people. It was founded in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, an African American transgender woman murdered in Massachusetts on Nov. 28, 1998. The outpouring of grief and anger over her death led to the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a candlelight vigil in San Francisco. Since then it has grown into an international phenomenon observed around the world.

Hester’s murder is boldly identified with Jesus’ death in “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle for LGBT Equality” by Mary Button. The new set of 15 paintings links the crucifixion of Christ with the history of LGBT people.

In the painting a banner carried by people at a Transgender Day of Remembrance march stretches across Jesus on the cross: “How many transgenders have to die before you get involved?” The text on the banner comes from an actual news photo.

Another high-profile murder case was transgender man Brandon Teena, whose 1993 murder is told in the popular movie “Boys Don’t Cry.” The ever-growing list of transgender victims calls to mind the words of Jesus: “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.”

Transgender Day of Remembrance by Mikhaela Reid

http://www.mikhaela.net/

Political cartoonist Mikhaela Reid pictures some of the more prominent victims of anti-transgender violence in the illustration above. Let us remember them by lighting a memorial candle here for them and others like them.

white candle Pictures, Images and Photos

In memory of: Gwen Araujo, Rita Hester, Brandon Teena (subject of the movie “Boys Don’t Cry”), Chanelle Picket, Nakia Ladelle Baker, Debra Forte, Tyra Hunter, Joe Stevens, Logan Smith, Jessica Mercado, Terrianne Summers, Venus Xtravaganza, Chanel Chandler... and all others who died due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

****

Transgender Pride Flag

Other spiritual resources for Transgender Day of Remembrance are available at TransFaith Online, including this prayer by Rabbi Reuben Zellman, who became the first openly transgender person accepted to the Reform Jewish seminary Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 2003:

God full of mercy, bless the souls of all who are in our hearts on this Transgender Day of Remembrance. We call to mind today young and old, of every race, faith, and gender experience, who have died by violence. We remember those who have died because they would not hide, or did not pass, or did pass, or stood too proud. Today we name them: the reluctant activist; the fiery hurler of heels; the warrior for quiet truth; the one whom no one really knew.

As many as we can name, there are thousands more whom we cannot, and for whom no prayers may have been said. We mourn their senseless deaths, and give thanks for their lives, for their teaching, and for the brief glow of each holy flame. We pray for the strength to carry on their legacy of vision, bravery, and love.

And as we remember them, we remember with them the thousands more who have taken their own lives. We pray for resolve to root out the injustice, ignorance, and cruelty that grow despair. And we pray, God, that all those who perpetrate hate and violence will speedily come to understand that Your creation has many faces, many genders, many holy expressions.

Blessed are they, who have allowed their divine image to shine in the world.

Blessed is God, in whom no light is extinguished.

___

Click the headlines below for more about transgender spirituality. Not all of these people self-identified as transgender, but their stories are offered here as an inspiration for transgender people and their allies.

Jemima Wilkinson: Queer preacher reborn in 1776 as “Publick Universal Friend”
Jemima Wilkinson (1752-1819) was a Quaker preacher who woke from a near-death experience in 1776 believing she was neither male nor female. She changed her name to the “Publick Universal Friend,” fought for gender equality and founded an important religious community.

Ethiopian eunuch: A black gay man was the world’s first convert to Christianity

Pauli Murray: Queer saint / activist for civil rights and gender equality
Human rights champion Pauli Murray (1910-1985), a recent addition to the Episcopal books of saints, described herself as a man trapped in a woman’s body and took hormone treatments in her 20s and 30s.

Joan of Arc: Cross-dressing warrior-saint
Joan of Arc was a cross-dressing teenage warrior who led the medieval French army to victory when she was 17.

Image credit: Saint Joan of Arc by Brother Robert Lentz, OFM., www.trinitystores.com

We'wha of Zuni: Two-spirited Native American
We’wha was a two-spirit Native American Zuni who served as a cultural ambassador for her people, including a visit with a U.S. president in 1886.

Image credit: “We’wha” by Jim Ru

Artist paints history’s butch heroes: Ria Brodell interview
"Butch Heroes" of history are painted by genderqueer artist Ria Brodell. She uses the format of traditional Catholic holy cards to present butch lesbians, queer women and female-to-male transgender people from many different times, places, and backgrounds.

Image credit: “James How aka Mary East and Mrs. How” by Ria Brodell

Religious threats to LGBT people exposed in Jerusalem photos
Religion-based oppression of LGBT people is revealed in “Jerusalem,” a photo exhibit by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin. It includes “Tranny,” a portrait of a drag queen from Jerusalem. Biblical words against crossdressing are projected behind her.

Queer Lady of Guadalupe: Artists re-imagine an icon
Queer art based on Our Lady of Guadalupe includes a bearded drag queen version titled “Virginia Guadalupe” by Jim Ru.

St. Wilgefortis: Bearded woman saint
St. Wilgefortis prayed to avoid marriage to a pagan king -- and her prayers were answered when she grew a beard!

300 protest transsexual Jesus play
More than 300 conservative Christian protesters picketed the Scottish opening of “Jesus, Queen of Heaven,” a play about a transsexual Jesus by Jo (formerly John) Clifford.

Transgressing gender in the Bible
“Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible” is an LGBT-positive play by Peterson Toscano.

Transvestite Jesus appears in photo project
A transvestite Jesus appears in a series of alternative Christ photos by Colorado artist Bill Burch

___

More transgender spiritual and religious resources include:

Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) Transgender Day of Remembrance Resource Page:

Dignity USA's Transgender Resource Page:

Trans Faith In Color Conference

Prayers To and For the Transgender Community (thoughtsonblank.com)

An All Hallows' Eve Vigil to Begin Transgender Awareness Month by H. Adam Ackley (Huff Post)

Trans Martyrs (Queering the Church)

Book: Omnigender: A Trans-religious Approach

by Virginia Mollenkott

Book: Trans-Gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith (Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry)

by Justin Tanis

Book: Transgendering Faith: Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality

by Leanne Tigert (editor)

Call Me Malcolm

(video)

Call me Malcolm Video and Training Guide (United Church of Christ)

Voices of Witness: Out of the Box (Episcopal film)
_________
This post is part of the LGBT Holidays series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to LGBT and queer people of faith and our allies.

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

Icons of Joan of Arc, We’wha of Zuni and many others are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at Trinity Stores

____
This post is part of the LGBT Holidays series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, holy days, feast days, festivals, anniversaries, liturgical seasons and other occasions of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of faith and our allies.

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

↧

My marriage-equality protest photo runs in national magazine Tikkun

November 25, 2013, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: Harvey Milk: Gay rights pioneer assassinated Nov. 27, 1978

≪ Previous: Transgender Day of Remembrance: Nov. 20, 2013

Marriage equality protestor (photo by Kittredge Cherry)

My photo of a marriage-equality protestor appears in the current issue of Tikkun, a national magazine on politics, spirituality and culture.

Tikkun’s fall 2013 issue features my photo of an elderly woman in a wheelchair wearing a rainbow scarf and a shirt that proclaims, “Marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege.” She was wheeled to the protest in a wheelchair by her daughter.

My photo illustrates the article “Our Issues Entwine: LGBTQ Aging and Economic Justice” in an issue devoted to “Identity Politics, Class Politics, and Spiritual Politics: How do we build world-transforming coalitions?”

The photo originally appeared in my article “Creative signs stop hate at protests” here on the Jesus in Love Blog. It presents photos from a 2008 “stop the hate” protest in Pasadena, California where people rallied against the state's newly passed Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage.

The photo was taken was almost exactly five years ago in November 2008. A lot has changed for the better since then. In 2013 the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality and eight US states legalized same-sex marriage, bringing the total to 16 states.

___
Related link:
Queer spiritual art appears in national magazine Tikkun

↧

Harvey Milk: Gay rights pioneer assassinated Nov. 27, 1978

November 27, 2013, 12:06 am

≫ Next: Happy Thanksgiving from Jesus in Love Blog!

≪ Previous: My marriage-equality protest photo runs in national magazine Tikkun

Jesus falls for the third time as gay politician Harvey Milk is assassinated in Station 9 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button, courtesy of Believe Out Loud

“Harvey Milk of San Francisco” by Brother Robert Lentz, OFM. (TrinityStores.com)

Pioneering gay rights activist Harvey Milk was assassinated 35 years ago today on Nov. 27, 1978. Milk is the first* and most famous openly gay male elected official in California, and perhaps the world. He became the public face of the LGBT rights movement, and his reputation has continued to grow since his death. He has been called a martyr for LGBT rights -- and for all human rights.

“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country,” Milk once said. Two bullets did enter his brain, and his vision of LGBT people living openly is also coming true.

Milk (1930-1978) served only 11 months on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors before he was killed, but in that short time he fought for the rights of the elderly, small business owners, and the many ethnic communities in his district as well as for the growing LGBT community.

Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 after three unsuccessful election attempts. Haunted by the sense that he would be killed for political reasons, Milk recorded tapes to be played in the event of his assassination. His message, recorded nine days before his death, included this powerful statement:

“I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope. And after all, that's what this is all about. It's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power — it's about giving those young people out there in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias, hope. You gotta give them hope.”

Shots fired by conservative fellow supervisor Dan White cut Milk’s life short. More than 30 years later, the hope and the movement for LGBT rights are more alive than ever.

Milk has received many honors for his visionary courage and commitment to equality. He is the only openly gay person in the United States to have an official state holiday in his name. Harvey Milk Day is celebrated in California on Milk’s birthday, May 22. The bill establishing Harvey Milk Day was signed in to law in fall 2009. State employees still have to work on Harvey Milk Day, but California public schools are encouraged to teach suitable commemorative lessons about the gay rights activist.

In 2009 Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He was included in the Time “100 Heroes and Icons of the 20th Century” for being “a symbol of what gays can accomplish and the dangers they face in doing so.”

He is the subject of two Oscar-winning movies, “Milk

” (2008) and “The Times of Harvey Milk

” (1984), as well as the book “The Mayor of Castro Street

” by Randy Shilts.

Milk’s assassination is juxtaposed with Jesus falling under the weight of his cross in the image at the top of this post: Station 9 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button. Using bold colors and collage, Button puts Jesus' suffering into a queer context by matching scenes from his journey to Golgotha with milestones from the last 100 years of LGBT history. For an overview of all 15 paintings in the series, see my article LGBT Stations of the Cross shows struggle for equality.

The Harvey Milk icon painted by Robert Lentz (also pictured above) was hailed as a “national gay treasure” by gay author/activist Toby Johnson. Milk holds a candle and wears an armband with a pink triangle, the Nazi symbol for gay men, expressing solidarity with all who were tortured or killed because of their sexual orientation. It is one of 40 icons featured in the book “Christ in the Margins

” by Robert Lentz and Edwina Gateley.

It is one of 10 Lentz icons that sparked a major controversy in 2005. Critics accused Lentz of glorifying sin and creating propaganda for a progressive sociopolitical agenda, and he temporarily gave away the copyright for the controversial images to his distributor, Trinity Stores. All 10 are now displayed there as a collection titled “Images That Challenge.”

Such paintings have been criticized for portraying Milk, a secular Jew, in a style rooted in Christian tradition. Milk was critical of how religion was used to oppress LGBT people, stating, “The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!” And yet Milk has become a symbol of all martyrs who died in the struggle for LGBT rights.

[*Note: When Milk was elected, two gay/lesbian politicians were already in office: lesbian Massachusetts State Representative Elaine Noble and Minnesota State Senator Allan Spear, who came out after he won re-election.]

Icons of Harvey Milk and many others are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at TrinityStores.com

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

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

↧

Happy Thanksgiving from Jesus in Love Blog!

November 28, 2013, 7:13 am

≫ Next: Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos: Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus

≪ Previous: Harvey Milk: Gay rights pioneer assassinated Nov. 27, 1978

“Home to Thanksgiving” lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1867 (Wikimedia Commons)

Happy Thanksgiving from Kittredge Cherry
and the Jesus in Love Blog!

I am grateful for the many people who read and support my blog on LGBT spirituality with their time, talent and resources. Thank you!

“Give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
--1 Thessalonians 5:18

↧

Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos: Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus

November 29, 2013, 8:56 am

≫ Next: Saints bring hope on World AIDS Day 25th anniversary

≪ Previous: Happy Thanksgiving from Jesus in Love Blog!

“The Mystical Marriage of Blessed Fr. Bernardo de Hoyos y Sena, SJ”

By William Hart McNichols © www.fatherbill.org

Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos y de Seña is an 18th-century Spanish priest who wrote vividly of his mystical gay marriage to Jesus. He was beatified in 2010 and his feast day is today (Nov. 29).

Bernardo (1711-1735) was 18 when he had a vision of marrying Jesus in a ceremony much like a human wedding. He described it this way:

Always holding my right hand, the Lord had me occupy the empty throne; then He fitted on my finger a gold ring.... “May this ring be an earnest of our love. You are Mine, and I am yours. You may call yourself and sign Bernardo de Jesus, thus, as I said to my spouse, Santa Teresa, you are Bernardo de Jesus and I am Jesus de Bernardo. My honor is yours; your honor is Mine. Consider My glory that of your Spouse; I will consider yours, that of My spouse. All Mine is yours, and all yours is Mine. What I am by nature you share by grace. You and I are one!”
(quoted from “The Visions of Bernard Francis De Hoyos, S.J.” by Henri Bechard, S.J.)

Bernardo’s vision inspired artist-priest William Hart McNichols to paint an icon of Bernardo’s wedding with Jesus.

“I was so taken with this profoundly beautiful account of Jesus’ mystical marriage with Bernardo, including all the symbols of a human wedding,” McNichols wrote.

Bernardo de Hoyos
(Wikimedia Commons)

Official Roman Catholic accounts emphasize how Bernardo went on to become “the first apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain,” but the church downplays the queer vision that inspired him. Bernardo’s marriage with Christ can justifiably be interpreted as a “gay Jesus” story.

Bernardo spent nine years in the Jesuit formation process and was ordained in January 1735. His pastoral ministry was cut short later that same year when he died of typhus on Nov. 29, 1735. Some call him a “boy saint” because he only lived to be 24. His dying words indicate that he felt the presence of his Spouse Jesus at the end. Bernardo’s last words were, “Oh, how good it is to dwell in the Heart of Jesus!”

After his death Bernardo’s reputation for holiness continued to grow, but church politics slowed his path to sainthood until recently. His beatification ceremony was held in April 2010 in the northwestern Spanish province of Valladolid, where Bernardo spent his entire life.

While the Catholic church refuses to bless same-sex marriages, the lives and visions of its own saints tell a far different story -- in which Christ the Bridegroom gladly joins himself in marriage with a man.

___
This article is available in Spanish at:

Beato Bernardo de Hoyos: El matrimonio místico entre personas del mismo sexo con Jesús (Santos Queer)
_________
This post is part of the LGBT 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.

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

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

↧

Saints bring hope on World AIDS Day 25th anniversary

December 1, 2013, 12:42 am

≫ Next: Every day is World AIDS Day

≪ Previous: Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos: Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus

Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic by Lewis Williams, SFO
www.trinitystores.com

World AIDS Day, which marks its 25th anniversary this year on Dec. 1, supports everyone affected by HIV.

The day is dedicated to prevention and treatment, and honors those who died of AIDS -- more than 25 million people worldwide. First held in 1988, it was the first global health day for any disease.

The icon “Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic” by Lewis Williams shows two pairs of medieval male saints who faced disease epidemics together with friendship and faith. Their man-to-man bonds speak to the gay community, where AIDS has a disproportionately large impact. The couples stand on each side of a chestnut tree, a symbol of life after death.

“It is hoped that they offer solace to companions who have survived a loved one’s death, or to friends\family burdened by the death of two companions,” says the text accompanying the icon.

On the left are 13th-century Franciscans who ministered in an Italian leper colony: Blessed Bartolo Buonpedoni and Blessed Vivaldo. Bartolo got leprosy while caring for the sick, so he had to live in segregated housing. His loyal friend Vivaldo moved into the leper house with him, even though he himself had not contracted the disease. They lived together for 20 years until Bartolo’s death. Today there are effective treatments for leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease. AIDS has taken its place as a dreaded and stigmatized disease.

On the right stand 14th-century Carmelite monks St.Avertanus and Blessed Romeo, traveling companions who died together of the plague. Avertanus felt inspired to go to Rome, so he got permission to take Romeo with him. They faced rain and snow as they made an adventurous pilgrimage over the Alps from France to Italy. No Italian city would let them in, for an epidemic of plague was raging. Avertanus died first, followed a week later by Romeo.

The icon was painted by New Mexico artist Lewis Williams of the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO). He studied with master iconographer Robert Lentz and has made social justice a theme of his icons.

Station 10 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality”

by Mary Button, courtesy of Believe Out Loud

AIDS is connected with the suffering of Christ in Station 10 from “Stations of the Cross: The Struggle For LGBT Equality” by Mary Button. Jesus is stripped of his garments beside images of the AIDS virus. The round structure of the human immunodeficiency virus forms a halo around Jesus’ head. Jesus being stripped is a scene of loss… and the LGBT community lost thousands of people due to AIDS. Button matches scenes from Christ’s journey to Calvary with milestones from the last 100 years of LGBT history in her LGBT Stations series. For an overview of all 15 paintings in the series, see my article “LGBT Stations of the Cross shows struggle for equality.”

World AIDS Day holds great personal meaning for me. I lost many friends to AIDS when I was ministering in the LGBT community of San Francisco in the late 1980s. Back then there were no effective treatments and many gay men were dying of AIDS.

For those who want to learn about -- or remember -- what it was like, I recommend the 2012 documentary We Were Here

. With honesty and grace, the film examines the arrival and impact of AIDS on San Francisco, revisiting the devastation of a gay generation lost to AIDS. For me everyone in the movie looked like someone I knew. ALL the faces were familiar! Watching it is both heartbreaking and inspirational.

I wrote about some of my AIDS ministry experiences for Christian Century magazine in an article titled “We Are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS.” The article is reprinted in the book The Church with AIDS: Renewal in the Midst of Crisis

, edited by Letty Russell.

Let us join in the following AIDS prayer by Diann L. Neu, Diann, cofounder and codirector of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER). It was published in Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations

:

____
One Person: Compassionate Holy One, open our hearts and minds and hands so that we may connect ourselves to the global community of others responding to AIDS as we pray:
We remember all the women, men, and children in this country and around the world who are living with AIDS.

All: Justice demands that we remember and respond.

One: We remember all who care for people living and dying with AIDS in their homes, in hospices, and in support centers.

All: Justice demands that we remember and respond.

One: We remember all who are involved in research and hospital care that they may respect the dignity of each person.

All: Justice demands that we remember and respond.

One: We remember all partners who are left mourning for their beloved ones.

All: Justice demands that we remember and respond.

One: We remember all parents who learn the truth of their children’s lives through their process of facing death….
We remain vigilant,
Until a cure for AIDS is found,
Until those dying with AIDS are comforted,
Until truth sets us free,
Until love drives out injustice.
We shall not give up the fight.
____

candle rust animated Pictures, Images and Photos

In memory of: Brian Dose, Rev. Ron Russell-Coons, Scott B, Stephen Clover, Richard O’Dell, Bruce Bunger, Scott Galuteria, Kevin Y, Harold O, Ric Hand, Paul Francis, Rev. Larry Uhrig, Rev. Jim Sandmire, David C, Wayne Mielke, Rev. Dan Mahoney, Bill Knox, Sue H, Tom, Jesse Oden, Jim Veilleux, John from Axios, Robert P, Daven Balcomb, Dave Eckert, Martin Lounsberry, Mark S, David Castagna, Kevin Calegari, Rev. Rick Weatherly, Don K, Michael Mank, David Ward, Rev. Howard Wells, Rev. Howard Warren, Ken Bland, Lanny Dykes, Rob Eichberg, Virgil Hall, Randy Cypherd, Charles Hosley... and all others who lost their lives to HIV and AIDS.

****

More spiritual resources for World AIDS Day are available at:
World AIDS Day Campaign's Faith Advocacy Toolkit

MCC Global HIV and AIDS Ministry

Another beautiful artwork supporting people with AIDS is “Il Martir (The Martyr)” by Armando Lopez (pictured at left). For the story behind the painting, see my previous post, “Art honors AIDS martyrs on World AIDS Day.”

____
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, 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.

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

Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic and many other icons are available on cards, plaques, T-shirts, mugs, candles, mugs, and more at Trinity Stores

↧

Every day is World AIDS Day

December 1, 2013, 10:55 am

≫ Next: Welcome Advent with a queer look at the virgin birth

≪ Previous: Saints bring hope on World AIDS Day 25th anniversary

A brick saying, “We are the body of Christ and we have AIDS” is on my desk every day-- right next to my First Amendment mug. But I decided to take a photo of it to share today for World AIDS Day.

It is a treasured gift from Lynn Jordan in memory of Rev. Ron Russell-Coons, an amazing MCC pastor and guardian angel who preached an unforgettable sermon with this title.

Every day is World AIDS Day for me and those who survived the ravages of the AIDS pandemic.

“We are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS” is the name of the article that I wrote about it in 1988 for Christian Century with Jim Mitulski. It’s still online at:
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=926

A larger version of the brick was installed last year in the sidewalk at the church where we all ministered together during the AIDS crisis in the late 1980s: Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco.

↧