21st century Archives - Page 3 of 6

Nancy Ledins: First transgender Roman Catholic priest made headlines in 1979

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 16-31, Saints

Nancy Ledins made national news as “America’s first female Roman Catholic priest” and first transgender Roman Catholic priest after gender confirmation surgery in 1979. She died on July 18, 2017, at age 82 in North Carolina. Newspapers nationwide covered her...

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...

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...

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...

Gloria Anzaldúa: Queer feminist Chicana scholar of spiritual activism

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 1-15, Saints

Gloria Anzaldúa is an influential queer Latina feminist scholar whose spirituality often gets overlooked. She died on May 15, 2004 at age 61. One of the first openly lesbian Chicana writers, she grew up in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. In school she was punished...

Yook Woo-Dang: Gay Catholic South Korean poet who died to protest anti-LGBTQ discrimination

by Kittredge Cherry | | April 16-30, Saints

Yook Woo-Dang was a gay South Korean poet, activist and devout Catholic who took his own life to protest discrimination against LGBTQ people by church and society. He died April 26, 2003, at age 18. “If they send me to hell, Jesus will rescue me,” he wrote in his...

Bangladesh LGBTQ martyrs: Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar

by Kittredge Cherry | | April 16-30, Saints

LGBTQ activists Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar were hacked to death for being “pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality in Bangladesh” on April 25, 2016 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The militant Islamist militant group Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility...

Transgender Day of Visibility celebrated with Christian art, books and resources

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, March 16-31

Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31) is celebrated at Q Spirit with transgender Christian books, art and other resources. They include trans Christ figures in art and books such as “Trans Biblical,” “Transfaith,” “Transforming” and “Transfigured.” International...

Adrienne Rich: lesbian poet with spiritual impulses

by Kittredge Cherry | | March 16-31, Saints

Adrienne Rich was a lesbian feminist with spiritual impulses and one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. She died on March 27, 2012 at age 82. Her writing was a guiding light to me and countless others, both people of faith and secular readers. The...