July 1-15 Archives

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Saints

Sally Miller Gearhart was a lesbian educator, theologian, activist and author of books including the 1974 classic “Loving Women / Loving Men: Gay Liberation and the Church.” She died on July 14, 2021 in Ukiah, California, at age 90 after a long illness. Gearhart’s...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Saints

I celebrate the life of my friend and colleague Steve Pieters, influential gay clergyman, LGBTQ activist and one of the longest-surviving AIDS patients. It was considered a miracle that he survived. His ground-breaking 1985 interview with televangelist Tammy Faye...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Saints

One of the greatest love poems of all time, the Bible Song of Songs, may have been written as same-sex love poetry. Paul R. Johnson translated it as “a gay love poem” and Angela Yarber sees it as erotic poetry between a woman and her female lover. Others are...

Artemisia Gentileschi paints strong Biblical women

by Kittredge Cherry | | Artists, July 1-15, Saints

Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi inspires many with her paintings of strong Biblical women — created despite the discrimination and sexual violence that she faced as a woman in 17th-century Italy. She was born on July 8, 1593. Although Gentileschi was...

Clergyman picketed for LGBTQ equality in Fourth of July 1965-69 protests

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, July 1-15

Early LGBTQ rights protests happened every Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969 in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Among the protesters was Robert W. Wood, the first member of the clergy to picket for LGBTQ rights. [2026 update: “The Story of Bob: The Life and...

Publick Universal Friend: Queer preacher reborn in 1776

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Saints

A queer American preacher woke from a near-death experience in 1776 with the sense of being neither male nor female. Adopting the name Publick Universal Friend instead of Jemima Wilkinson, this fascinating nonbinary American fought for gender equality and founded an...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Nov 16-30, Saints, Top saints

Human rights champion and queer African American saint Pauli Murray is a civil rights pioneer, women’s rights advocate, author, Episcopal priest and lawyer whose legal arguments were used in landmark Supreme Court decisions outlawing discrimination. The gender...