Saints Archives - Page 8 of 16

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 16-30, Saints

Donald Boisvert was a gay theologian, religion professor, author and priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. He died on June 19, 2019 at age 67 after a long illness. His books include “Out on Holy Ground: Meditations on Gay Men’s Spirituality” (2000), “Sanctity and...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 16-30, Saints

Marinos or Marina the Monk has been called a patron saint of transgender parenting or a cross-dressing saint. Assigned female at birth, Marina adopted the name Marinos and entered a monastery as a man in fifth-century Lebanon. Marinos embraced a male identity from...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 1-15, Saints

James S. Tinney was a black gay professor who founded an African American LGBTQ church in Washington DC in 1982. He died at age 46 on June 12, 1988, from complications due to AIDS. Born in Kansas City, he was ordained as a Pentecostal minister when he was 18 and...

Orlando martyrs: Pulse gay nightclub massacre recalled in art and prayer

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, June 1-15, Saints

LGBTQ people and allies use art and prayer to remember the 49 martyrs killed in the massacre at the Pulse gay bar on June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. A mass shooter killed 49 people and left 53 wounded at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The hate crime...

Saints of Stonewall inspire LGBTQ justice — and artists, authors and film makers

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, June 16-30, Saints

LGBTQ Pride celebrations are rooted in sacred resistance — when queer people fought back against harassment at New York City’s Stonewall Inn, they launched the modern LGBTQ liberation movement on June 28, 1969. Their bold rebellion against government...

Codebreaker Alan Turing honored in queer spiritual art

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 1-15, Saints

Alan Turing is a gay icon, pioneering computer scientist and British codebreaker. He is sometimes called a gay saint because his wartime codebreaking saved millions of lives, and a gay martyr because he was driven to suicide by court-ordered “chemical castration”...

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

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 1-15, Saints

Biblical arguments for LGBTQ rights and a queer Jesus may seem like new ideas, but they were pioneered about 200 years ago by an influential British philosopher — in writings that were never published until the 21st century. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748...

New illustrated book “Heavenly LGBTQ+” reveals queer icons from religion and history

by Kittredge Cherry | | Artists, Books, Saints

Discover the inspiring stories of LGBTQ people who bravely faced conflicts with church and society in the new illustrated book “Heavenly LGBTQ+: Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion and History” by Jan Haen, a Dutch artist and Roman Catholic priest. Click here to...

Saint Francis rejoiced when all-female Trinity called him “Lady Poverty”

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 15-31, Saints

Francis of Assisi, one of the world’s best loved saints, rejoiced when an all-female Trinity greeted him as “Lady Poverty” in a queer experience that has been buried. The subversive vision has been ignored, sanitized and perhaps suppressed for centuries, even though...

Uganda Martyrs raise questions on religion and LGBTQ rights

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 1-15, Saints

Tough questions about homosexuality, religion and LGBTQ rights are raised by the 45 Uganda Martyrs whose feast day is June 3. In 2024 their feast day falls two months after Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the...