Last Updated on January 17, 2026 by Kittredge Cherry
Kittredge Cherry,
Q Spirit and the Jesus in Love Blog
wish you a merry Christmas!
_______
An evergreen branch symbolizes Christmas, immortality and queer transformation in this year’s Christmas image. “Yew Branch” was painted by queer San Francisco artist KT Seibert as part of an exhibit that reimagines Catholic and Orthodox visual language through a queer and trans lens.
“Be Not Afraid,” Seibert’s debut exhibit, is on display at the Moth Belly Gallery in San Francisco through Jan. 31, 2026. Seibert, also known as Seibot, painted the show’s artwork during a year of personal upheaval when they returned to their religious roots. Raised Catholic, Seibert was profoundly shaped by the Russian Orthodox icons painted and collected by their great-grandfather. Their exhibit provides new visions of Christian subjects such as the cross, the Sacred Heart and the crown of thorns as well as images from nature.
The first Christmas trees were not fir or pine trees, but the lesser-known yew trees. They are also linked to traditional pagan winter solstice festivities across Europe. Their evergreen quality made them a natural choice as holiday decorations and symbols of eternal life amid winter darkness. The same theme is expressed by the birth of Christ, as summed up in Christmas carols such as these lines from “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”:
“Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that we no more may die.”
Seibert had other ideas in mind when painting the evergreen branch. The yew tree, has a long history of medicinal use from ancient times up to the present. It is the source for the cancer-fighting drug Taxol. Seibert illuminated the painting’s multiple meanings in the following statement for Q Spirit:
“The first home I knew was on Mt. Hebron Dr. in Elliott City, Maryland. There were yew bushes beneath my bedroom window.
Recently a friend told me the yew plant made her think of me because of where it grows and where I live — they are typically planted in cemeteries and are often associated with death. They thrive in difficult conditions. Their berries are poisonous yet their poison is used to derive medicine.
I found this association an incredible compliment, one that I’m not sure I fully deserve, but I do like the idea of grief alchemizing into joy and I do think that is a very common experience of trans and queer folks.”
___
Top image credit:
“Yew Branch” by KT Seibert (Seibot), acrylic painting on wood panel, 2025
_____________________________________________________________________________
Christmas offering for Q Spirit and Kittredge Cherry
Donate to the 2025 Christmas offering to help Kittredge Cherry keep sharing LGBTQ spirituality here at Q Spirit. Thank you!
Give now by clicking the “donate” button below or visiting her GoFundMe page. Thank you!
_____________________________________________________________________________
and the darkness has not overcome it.
_______
___
Q Spirit Christmas links
Queer Nativity scenes show love makes a family
Queer cheer for Christmas: Make the Yuletide gay
___
This post is part of the LGBTQ Calendar series by Kittredge Cherry. The series celebrates religious and spiritual holidays, events in LGBT and queer history, 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.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.
