Aug 1-15 Archives

La Paula Turner: Black lesbian clergy pioneer opened doors

La Paula Turner was a pioneering Black lesbian clergy and mother of six who supported LGBTQ people since the 1970s. She passed away on Aug. 4, 2025, at age 88. She was one of the first African Americans ordained by the LGBTQ-affirming Metropolitan Community Churches...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

A mid-August holiday was once the festival of the lesbian goddess Diana (Artemis), but it has been adapted into a feast day for the Virgin Mary. Midsummer feasts have celebrated the divine feminine on Aug. 15 since before the time of Christ. Now devoted to Mary, the...

Joseph and the queer Biblical princess dress

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

Joseph, a popular figure in the Bible’s Book of Genesis, can be seen as a gender-nonconformist who inspires LGBTQ people today. Queer Bible scholars focus on how Joseph wore a robe that is usually known in English as a “coat of many colors,” but could be translated as...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

A queer Christ figure is the main character in the classic lesbian novel, “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall. She was born on Aug. 12, 1880 in Bournemouth, England. The book was banned for obscenity in England in 1928, not just because it portrayed lesbian...

Blessed John of La Verna: Kissed by Jesus

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

Blessed John of La Verna is a medieval Italian friar known for his visions of kissing and being kissed by Jesus. His feast day is Aug. 9. John also had an intense relationship with fellow friar and poet Jacopone da Todi. Traditional writers have done “gender...

Delores Berry: Black lesbian evangelist blessed many with music

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

Delores P. Berry is a black lesbian clergywoman and evangelist whose music and ministry blessed many. She died on Aug. 8, 2017, at age 66 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania after a brief illness. Berry was born Feb. 15, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. She answered a call to...

Jacob and the angel: Wrestling to reconcile body and spirit

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

When Jacob wrestled with the angel in the Bible, they embodied the struggle between sexuality and spirituality. Queer Bible scholars and religious leaders have grappled with the story and artists have created many homoerotic images of the scene over the centuries. It...

Kuan Yin: A queer Buddhist Christ figure?

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

Kuan Yin, the genderfluid spirit of compassion in Buddhism, is sometimes thought of as a queer Christ figure or LGBTQ role model. Buddhists celebrate the enlightenment of Kuan Yin every year in July or August. This year the date is Aug. 1, 2026. Transcending gender...