Last Updated on October 31, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
LGBTQ saints and martyrs are remembered in the Litany of Queer Saints from Q Spirit. The prayer was created by Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry. She also wrote a major essay on why we need LGBTQ saints.
Both traditional and alternative saints are featured. It is a work in progress, so please add your prayers as comments! This is a living litany that will continue to grow and change.
The litany is partially inspired by prayers posted as comments on social media. Cherry began by editing and expanding prayers that she found online. To make the litany more diverse and complete, she wrote additional text.
The Litany of the Saints is one of the oldest forms of prayer in Christian tradition. It has been in continuous use by the Catholic church since the third century in various forms.
Q Spirit also hosts LGBTQ Saints Facebook group. It was launched on All Saints Day 2019. It grew to more than 1,500 members in its first year.
Litany of Queer Saints
Loving God of the rainbow promise, thank you for the lives of the LGBTQ saints and martyrs. May they shine forever in your rainbow light, inspiring us live with courage and compassion.
Saints of Stonewall, who performed the miracle of transforming self-hatred into pride, pray for us. May the saints of Stonewall continue to inspire all who seek justice and equality!
Saint Joan of Arc, courageous queer warrior who defied gender norms, pray for us.
Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus, Roman soldiers united in love and death, pray for us.
Saints Perpetua and Felicity, who shared a kiss before dying, patron saints of same-sex couples, pray for us.
Saint Mychal Judge, gay chaplain who lost his life while ministering in the 9/11 terrorist attack, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Rainbow, Mother of Diversity, we your LGBTQ children call on you. Comfort, guide, inspire, liberate and protect us. Wrap us in your rainbow mantle as Our Mother of Pride.
All Saints by Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)
Saint Sebastian, faithful even when stripped naked and pierced by arrows, pray for us.
Saint Marsha P. Johnson, Stonewall instigator, revolutionary black trans activist, Andy Warhol model, drag queen, pray for us and come to greet us when our mortal life is over.
Saint Francis of Assisi, gender nonconformist who loved all creation without limits, pray for us.
Saint John, Beloved Disciple, who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper and wrote a gospel full of love and light, pray for us.
Holy Harvey Milk, martyred gay rights pioneer and San Francisco politician, pray for us.
Saint Simeon Bachos the Ethiopian eunuch, who was welcomed by the early church as part of God’s creative diversity, pray for us.
Saint Matthew Shepard, crucified by men who hate, young forever, pray for us.
Our Lady of Montevergine, patron of queer people since medieval times, protect us when we are rejected and keep us safe from harm and hate.
Saint Marinos, who left life as a woman to become a male monk and raise the child you were falsely accused of fathering, pray for us and inspire positive parenting.
Joseph of Genesis, gender-defiant dreamer in a rainbow coat, pray for us
Saint Alan Turing, British computer scientist whose wartime codebreaking saved millions of lives, martyred by anti-gay laws, pray for us.
Saint Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s strong LGBTQ ally who taught that racism and homophobia are connected, pray for us.
Dame Julian of Norwich, who celebrated “Mother Jesus,” pray for gender fluidity.
King David and Jonathan, examples of same-gender love in the Hebrew scriptures, whose love was wonderful, surpassing the love of women in the Hebrew scriptures, pray for us.
Madre Juana de la Cruz, genderfluid Spanish saint who said God changed her from male to female in the womb, pray for us.
Sor Juana de la Cruz, great literary nun who advocated for women and loved a countess in 17th-century Mexico City, pray for us.
Saint Aelred, who found divine love through his friendships with other men, pray for us.
Saint Brigid and saint Darlughdach, women soulmates whose life together was aflame with the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
Saint John Henry Newman, you are an example of true friendship and Love. Pray for us to appreciate and hold our friends closely even in Death.
Like Saint Bayard Rustin, may we stand up and speak out for our LGBTQ dreams…
Saint Pauli Murray, we join you in asking for a song of hope in a weary throat, and a world where we can sing it. Pray for us.
Faithful centurion, whose boyfriend was healed by Jesus at your request, pray for us!
Saint David Kato, Ugandan LGBTQ activist and martyr, pray for us.
Saint Valentine, help everyone to find and keep their true God-appointed love. Guide the church to affirm and bless all those whom God has joined together, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Saints Jeanne Manford and Adele Starr, mothers of gay sons and co-founders of PFLAG, thank you for the healing power of your great love!
Saint Philip, who welcomed the Ethiopian eunuch to the early church, role model for LGBTQ allies, pray for sexual minorities and cast your Welcome into their hearts.
Saint Vida Dutton Scudder, educator and welfare activist, help us to be social reformers.
Two-Spirit people, whose indigenous cultures recognized alternative genders and whose tribal nations continue today despite colonization, inspire us to reclaim gender diversity.
Martyrs of the Club Q shooting in Colorado, who died when gunfire shattered love and dancing, pray for us.
Pulse 49 Martyrs of Orlando, shielding those you loved with your own bodies, pray for us and lend us your courage.
Martyrs of the UpStairs Lounge fire, whose memory burns in our hearts, pray for us.
Martyrs of the pink triangle and the black triangle, sent to concentration camps by the Nazis for homosexuality, pray for us.
All who have lived and died for love, peace and justice, pray for us.
All our holy innocents and martyrs, pray for us. Blessed be all the queer lives lost due to ignorance and hatred.
Jesus, friend and liberator of outcasts, tortured and killed on the cross for loving beyond limits, pray for us.
Prophets in our midst usually get marginalized and thumped down by the powers that be. Thank you, Holy Sophia, for blessing and encouraging them to witness and reveal aspects of your sweet mercy and love!
Thank you, Great Teachers, as we continue to grow in knowledge of those who have gone before us. May you be surrounded by the Divine Light especially as we give thanks for you.
All you LGBTQ saints, named and unnamed, pray for us. Empowered by your spirit and your example, we move forward in solidarity with all creation to embody justice, love, integrity and peace. May your memories be a powerful call to action.
On your shoulders we stand!
Blessed be your memory!
May your rainbow light shine upon us!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
How people use the Litany of Queer Saints
People have used the Litany of Queer Saints for a wide variety of settings. New Ways Ministry, one of the first and largest LGBTQ Catholic advocacy organizations, posted a shorter adapted version in its reflection for the Solemnity of All Saints in 2022.
Matt Nightingale, pastor of The Quest, a progressive church in Novato, California, tweeted the entire Litany of Queer Saints, broken down into 39 short tweets, for All Saints Day on Nov. 1, 2022. He retweeted the litany less than a month later after the shooting at the LGBTQ bar Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A queer spiritual support group called Breathe at the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center of the Greater Lehigh Valley in Allentown, Pennsylvania, planned to use the litany in December 2022.
Resources for Litany of Queer Saints
Shorter adapted version of Q Spirit’s Litany of Queer Saints (New Ways Ministry)
Litany of Queer Saints by artist Tony O’Connell
DignityHouston Litany of LGBTQ+ Saints
The Queer Divine Praises: A Poem-Prayer by Flora X. Tang
Links related to LGBTQ Saints
Why we need LGBTQ saints by Kittredge Cherry
LGBTQ Saints Facebook group from Q Spirit
Calendar of LGBTQ Saints from Q Spirit
All Saints Day: LGBTQIA+ Community Prayer of Thanks, Reflection and Courage from Q Spirit
LGBTQ-friendly memorial for All Saints, All Souls and Day of the Dead
“A Prayer to the Sainted Aunts” by Anna Onni honors LGBTQ elders and mentors
Litany of Queer Saints is translated into other languages
To read the Litany of Queer Saints in Spanish, go to:
Letanía de lxs Santxs Queer (Santos Queer blog)
To read the Litany of Queer Saints in Portuguese, go to:
Ladainha dos Santos Queer (Litany of Queer Saints in Portuguese)
Books related to LGBTQ saints
Passionate Holiness: Marginalized Christian Devotions for Distinctive People by Dennis O’Neill
Heavenly Homos, Etc.: Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion, and History by Jan Haen. (Hannacroix, NY: Apocryphile Press, 2022.)
Heavenly LGBTQ+: Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion and History by Jan Haen. (Hannacroix, NY: Apocryphile Press, 2023.)
“Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography,” edited by Alicia Spencer-Hall and Blake Gutt. (Amsterdam University Press, 2021)
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century by John Boswell. University of Chicago Press, 1981.
The Double: Male Eros, Friendships, and Mentoring–from Gilgamesh to Kerouac by Edward Sellner
Sanctity And Male Desire: A Gay Reading Of Saints by Donald Boisvert
The Essential Gay Mystics by Andrew Harvey. Published by Book Sales, 1998.
Clothes Make the Man: Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe by Valerie R. Hotchkiss
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Top image credit:
Pictured in the collage of queer saints are: top, left to right: Sergius and Bacchus by Alessio Ciani, Matthew Shepard by Andrew Freshour, Marsha P. Johnson by Kelly Latimore, David and Jonathan by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Bottom, left to right, Joan of Arc by Katy (Keats) Miles-Wallace of Queerly Christian, Perpetua and Felicity by Angela Yarber of Tehom Center, Sebastian by Il Sodoma, and Sor Juana de la Cruz by Miguel Cabrera.
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBT and queer martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.
This article was originally published in October 2019, was expanded with new material over time, and was most recently updated on Oct. 31, 2024.
A couple of nominations for the litany: John McNeill, author of groundbreaking works about Catholicism and queen persons, and Robert Nugent, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, a movement that has aimed to bridge the gap between Catholic officials and LGBTQ+ faithful.
Great ideas! I do have a profile of John McNeill, and I am adding Robert Nugent to my to-do list and the Q Spirit calendar page.
i believe you should add ElinorZm Crocker She was a leader in many ways in Dignity USA she held all leadeshop positions in the organization She was the mother of a lesbian and a great ally as straight woman standing up to bishops and politicians alike She was present at the first meeting in the white house where lgbtq people and their allies were invited to the table She passed away this month from a long battle with breast cancer She was 93 but still sought the equality and rights of everyone Zit can easily be said she touched the lived of thousands
Thanks! I will add info about Elinor Crocker to the Q Spirit article on Patron saints for straight allies of LGBTQ people and share on social media.
Re: the idea that Joan of Arc was a “gender-queer” martyr and “warrior”: historians have pointed out that she bluntly and repeatedly identified as a woman by constantly calling herself “the maiden” (“la pucelle”) rather than expressing an ambiguous gender, and her “male clothing” was just the soldiers’ riding outfit that had been given to her for practical reasons and which she said she continued to wear in prison because, according to quotes from her relayed by several eyewitnesses, she said she was using this outfit’s cords that could be laced through eyelets to attach the different parts together so her guards couldn’t pull her clothing off when they tried to rape her on occasion. The bailiff, Jehan Massieu, later said that the pro-English judge (who had served as an advisor for the English occupation government since 1420) ignored this practical reason for her clothing (which was allowed in cases of necessity under the terms of medieval Catholic doctrine ), and manipulated her into a false “relapse” by having the guards take away the dress she had agreed to wear and then they gave her back the soldier’s clothing, forcing her to put it on for lack of anything else. She also denied being a “warrior” since she said at her trial (during the fourth session) that she carried her banner in battle and stayed out of the fighting.
I am an Episcopalian, a Liberal, but not a Gay Person. As a psychologist, I continue to have trouble with the concept of distinguishing between a person’s behavior and their essence as persons. I don’t think that Kittredge Cherry has to modify her comment in any way. Sometimes there may be utility in condemning someone’s behavior and not their person-hood. In Saint Matthew Shepard’s case, their behavior and their person-hood are indistinguishable. To view them otherwise is, as they say, above my pay grade.
“Crucified by Hateful Men”
In reference to the crucifixion of Matthew Shepard, yes, what Aaron McKinney and Russel Henderson did were vile acts. However, we must remember both Aaron and Russel are also humans created in the image and likeness of God. Would you be willing to modify the line about Matthew in this way?
Saint Matthew Shepard who was crucified, and left to die by two young men who attacked him because he was gay, forever young, pray for us.
In this way we are condemning the behavior of Aaron and Russel and not their person-hood.
Thanks, Don, you raise an important point. I interpreted “hateful men” as meaning that they were full of hate at the time they attacked him. I will give this some more thought.
I am going to change it to “hate-filled” to make it clearer. Your suggestion is accurate, but a bit long and awkward for a litany prayer.