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LGBTQ Saints, Queer Saints

Q Spirit presents profiles of traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, theologians, authors, activists, spiritual and religious leaders, mystics, humanitarians, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people of faith and allies.

Profiles come from the LGBTQ Saints Series by Kittredge Cherry at the Q Spirit / Jesus in Love Blog. Visit the calendar page to see them listed by date according to their feast days. This list is a work in progress that will continue to grow and change.

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Sergius and Bacchus window by Plamen Petrov

Sergius and Saint Bacchus window
by Plamen Petrov

books Gawd Queering Jeza

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Best-known traditional Christian saints and Biblical figures

Aelred: Gay saint of friendship

Brigid and Darlughdach: Celtic saint loved her female soulmate

David and Jonathan: Love between men in the Bible

Francis of Assisi: Queer side revealed for saint who loved creation, peace and the poor

Hildegard of Bingen and Richardis: Medieval mystic and the woman she loved

Joan of Arc: Cross-dressing warrior-saint and LGBTQ role model

John the Evangelist: Beloved Disciple of Jesus

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Nun who loved a countess in 17th-century Mexico City

Julian of Norwich: Celebrating Mother Jesus

John Henry Newman and Ambrose St. John: Gay saint and his “earthly light” share romantic friendship

Paul the Apostle: Did his homosexuality shape Christianity?

Perpetua and Felicity: Patron saints of same-sex couples

Saint Sebastian: History’s first gay icon

Sergius and Bacchus: Paired male saints loved each other in ancient Roman army

 

Best-known alternative saints and martyrs

Marsha P. Johnson: African American transwoman at Stonewall Uprising

Mychal Judge: Gay saint of 9/11 and chaplain to New York firefighters

Harvey Milk: LGBTQ rights pioneer stood for equality

Pauli Murray: Queer saint who stood for racial and gender equality

Henri Nouwen: Author-priest who struggled with his homosexuality

Bayard Rustin: Gay saint of civil rights and non-violence

Matthew Shepard: Modern gay martyr and hate-crime victim

Saints of Stonewall inspire LGBTQ justice and art (Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie)

 

Other traditional Christian saints, blesseds, etc

Alcuin of York: Medieval scholar and abbot who wrote homoerotic texts

Apollinaria / Dorotheos: Queer saint crossed gender line to become a monk in 5th-century Egypt

Augustine of Hippo: Saint who rejected his bisexual past, defended intersex people

Avertanus and Romeo: Monks shown as AIDS patrons

Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus: “Two bodies with a single spirit”

Black Madonna of Czestochowa becomes lesbian defender Erzuli Dantor

Bernard of Clairvaux and Malachy: Abbot and the archbishop he loved

Bernardo de Hoyos: Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus

Boris and George: United in love and death

Charles de Foucauld: Saint of the Sahara had gay connections

Euphrosyne/Smaragdus of Alexandria: Queer saint crossed gender divide in 5th-century Egypt

Galla and Benedicta: Bearded woman saint and the nun she loved

Queer Lady of Guadalupe: Artists re-imagine an icon

John of the Cross: Dark Night of a Gay Soul

John of La Verna: Kissed by Jesus

Lazarus: Jesus’ beloved disciple?

Madre Juana de la Cruz: Transgender saint of 16th-century Spain?

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

Marinos / Marina the Monk: Transgender role model and patron saint

Martha and Mary of Bethany: Sisters or lesbian couple?

Rainbow Mary: LGBTQ-affirming rainbow Mary art sparks protests and celebrations

Mary, Diana and Artemis: Feast of Assumption has lesbian goddess roots

Mary Magdalene’s many faces: Undeserved reputation for sexual sins

Matrona / Babylas of Perge founded 4th-century convent of nuns who dressed as men

Maurice and Theofredus: Same-sex paired saints and martyrs of Thebes

Madonna of Montevergine: Patron of LGBTQ people since medieval times

Walatta Petros: Ethiopian nun and saint shared a lifetime bond with a female partner

Polyeuct and Nearchus: Brothers by affection

Symeon and John: Holy fool and hermit who loved each other

Symeon the New Theologian wrote queer spiritual imagery

Trans Saints? Early cross-dressing monks and martyrs

Uganda Martyrs raise questions on religion and LGBTQ rights

Saint Valentine: Marriage equality role model

Vivaldo and Bartolo: Love stronger than death for AIDS patron saints

Wenceslas and Podiven: Good (gay) King Wenceslas loved his page

Saint Wilgefortis: Bearded woman

Xenia / Andrei of St. Petersburg: Widow adopted husband’s identity and became a queer saint

 

More people in the Bible

Daniel and the three young men Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: God rescues Biblical eunuchs, affirming LGBTQ people of faith

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

Esther, Vashti and eunuchs on Purim: Queer models for such a time as this

Ethiopian eunuch: Early church welcomed queers in Bible story

Good Samaritan: LGBTQ views of Bible story on helping strangers

Jacob and the angel: Wrestling to reconcile sexuality and spirituality

Joseph and the gender-nonconforming Biblical princess coat

Prodigal Son: “Prodigal Son and his husband receive a blessing” and other LGBTQ resources

Ruth and Naomi: “Whither thou goest” (Love between women in the Bible)

Queer water carrier led disciples to Upper Room for Last Supper

Shulamite in Song of Songs: Gay, lesbian or queer Biblical love poem?

 

LGBTQ martyrs

Ash Wednesday: Queer martyrs executed for homosexuality rise from the ashes

Anonymous Priest of Sachsenhausen and others:  Holocaust Remembrance

Chriton Atuhwera (Trinidad Jerry): LGBTQ Ugandan activist killed by homophobic attack

Bangladesh LGBTQ martyrs: Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar

Mark Bingham: Gay hero of 9/11 died fighting hijackers

Tyler Clementi: Gay teen driven to suicide by bullies

Club Q martyrs: Five killed in shooting at LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs

FannyAnn Eddy: Lesbian martyr in Africa

Marielle Franco: Brazilian Afro-Latina LGBTQ activist fought for human rights

David Kato: Ugandan LGBT rights activist (1964-2011)

Holocaust Remembrance: We all wear the triangle (Anonymous priest of Sachsenhausen and others)

Pulse Orlando massacre: 49 shot dead at gay nightclub

Allen Schindler: LGBTQ role the military highlighted by murder of gay sailor

Tibira do Maranhão: First indigenous gay martyr of Brazil

Transwomen asylum seekers: Detention led to death for Roxsana Hernandez and Johana Medina

Trinidad Jerry / Chriton Atuhwera: LGBTQ Ugandan activist killed by homophobic attack

Alan Turing: Codebreaker honored in queer spiritual art

UpStairs Lounge fire: 32 killed in deadly attack on LGBTQ people

Yook Woo-Dang: Gay Catholic South Korean poet who died to protest anti-LGBTQ discrimination

 

Theologians, writers, and church leaders

Marcella Althaus-Reid: Queer theology pioneer

Carl Bean: Black LGBTQ church founder who sang “I Was Born This Way”

Jeremy Bentham: Homosexuality of Jesus explored by 18th-century philosopher

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Eberhard Bethge: Anti-Nazi theologians and soulmates

Donald Boisvert: Gay theologian, religion professor, author and Canadian Anglican priest

John Boswell: Historian of gays and lesbians in Christianity

Malcolm Boyd: Pioneering gay Episcopal priest

Louie Clay: LGBTQ church activist, founder of Integrity, Rutgers professor

Mary Daly: Lesbian philosopher who went Beyond God the Father

Ibrahim Farajaje: Queer theologian, AIDS activist, interfaith scholar, spiritual leader

Grant-Michael Fitzgerald: Pioneering black gay Catholic brother advocated LGBTQ rights in 1970s

Pavel Florensky and Sergei Troitsky: Russian theologian of same-sex love and his soulmate

Sally Miller Gearhart: Lesbian educator and activist who challenged the church

Peter Gomes: Gay black Harvard minister preached “scandalous gospel”

Sally Gross: Intersex South African priest led legal reform after being defrocked

Michael B. Kelly: Queer theologian, author and “Erotic Contemplative” teacher

Radclyffe Hall: Queer Christian themes mark banned book “Well of Loneliness”

Theodore “Ted” Jennings: LGBTQ-affirming Biblical theologian

Nancy Ledins (William Griglak) became first transgender Roman Catholic priest in 1979

Anne Lister: Historic lesbian church wedding, new TV series and book

Patrick Leuben Mukajanga (Mleuben Maccarthy): Ugandan pastor and LGBTQ activist

John McNeill: Pioneering gay priest who inspired LGBTQ people of faith

Virginia Mollenkott: Trailblazing queer theologian and Christian feminist scholar

Mary Oliver: Lesbian poet, mystic of nature

Rebecca Cox Jackson and Rebecca Perot: Queer black pair founded Shaker religious community in 1800s

Steve Pieters: Gay minister, longtime AIDS survivor, LGBTQ activist and friend

Adrienne Rich: lesbian poet with spiritual impulses

Christina Rossetti: Queer writer of Christmas carols and lesbian poetry

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

Vida Dutton Scudder: Lesbian saint, teacher and reformer

Richard Sibbes: Queer Puritan theologian for the LGBTQ community?

Freda Smith: LGBTQ activist, first woman ordained by Metropolitan Community Churches

James S. Tinney: Black gay professor who founded LGBTQ church in 1982

Desmond Tutu: Anti-apartheid Archbishop who stood for LGBTQ equality

Oscar Wilde: Gay martyr with complex Christian journey recalled in new art

Jemima Wilkinson: Queer preacher reborn in 1776 as “Publick Universal Friend”

Robert Wood: First clergy to picket for LGBTQ rights, author of first book on Christianity and homosexuality

 

LGBTQ activists

Gloria Anzaldúa: Queer feminist Chicana scholar of spiritual activism

Jeanne Cordova: Lesbian nun who “kicked the habit” to become an activist

Stormé DeLarverie: Butch lesbian at Stonewall Uprising

Jeanne Manford: PFLAG founder loved her gay son

Sylvia Rivera: Latina transwoman at Stonewall Uprising

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

William Dorsey Swann: Ex-slave fought for queer freedom in 1880s as America’s first drag queen

 

Pioneers in LGBTQ history

Dance of the 41 Queers: Police raid on Mexican drag ball remembered

Thomas(ine) Hall: Intersex in colonial America

We’wha of Zuni: Two-spirit Native American bridged genders

 

Artists and others

Rosa Bonheur: Cross-dressing painter honored “androgyne Christ”

Artemisia Gentileschi paints strong Biblical women

Abraham Lincoln: Same-sex marriage of liberators Lincoln and Jesus imagined by artist

Andy Warhol: Pop artist inspired by hidden Catholic faith and queer sexuality

David Wojnarowicz: Controversial artist mixed gay and Christian imagery

 

Deities

Queer Christ and gay Jesus

Krishna: What if Christ and Krishna made love?

Kuan Yin: A queer Buddhist Christ figure?

 

Patrons of Q Spirit and its founder Kittredge Cherry

Barbara Marian: Q Spirit supporter, LGBTQ ally, arts patron, feminist religion teacher, woman of faith

Sandra Robinson: Black lesbian MCC clergywoman educated and inspired

 

Resources

Why we need LGBT saints (A queer theology of sainthood by Kittredge Cherry)

Litany of Queer Saints from Q Spirit

Calendar of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Saints (Paul Halsall)

LGBTQ Saints Facebook group by Q Spirit

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

Santos Queer (Spanish translations of Kittredge Cherry’s articles on LGBTQ saints)

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