Africa Archives - Page 2 of 2

Perpetua and Felicity: Patron saints of same-sex couples, early Christian martyrs and friends to the end

by Kittredge Cherry | | March 1-15, Saints

Perpetua and Felicity are 3rd-century North African paired saints who were executed together for their Christian faith. Some consider them lesbian saints or patrons of same-sex couples. Transgender people also draw inspiration from Perpetua because she had a queer...

David Kato: Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist and martyr

by Kittredge Cherry | | Jan 16-31, Saints

David Kato, Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist, is considered a father of Uganda’s gay rights movement. He was beaten to death on Jan. 26, 2011 in a case that some blame on anti-gay religious rhetoric. The anniversary of his death has become an annual event called Kuchu...

Desmond Tutu: Anti-apartheid Archbishop who stood for LGBTQ equality

by Kittredge Cherry | | Oct 1-15, Saints

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize-winning South African activist for racial and LGBTQ equality. He was born Oct. 7, 1931 in Klerksdorp, in the South African state of Transvaal. Tutu famously fought apartheid, but he also worked passionately to support...

Queer Kwanzaa: Celebrating African American LGBTQ creativity, saints, theology and books

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, Dec. 16-31

Rare artworks of a queer Black Jesus and a Black gay church family are presented here along with saints, books and other Black LGBTQ resources in honor of Kwanzaa. The week-long celebration of African American culture starts Dec. 26. Kwanzaa is rooted in African...

Charles de Foucauld: Saint of the Sahara had gay connections | Canonized May 15, 2022 by Pope

by Kittredge Cherry | | Dec 1-15, Saints

Charles de Foucauld was a French priest and desert hermit in early 20th-century Algeria who had gay connections. He is one of 10 new saints canonized by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022. His feast day is Dec. 1. Sometimes called the saint of the Sahara, he created the...

Walatta Petros: African nun and saint with a female partner in 17th-century

by Kittredge Cherry | | Nov 16-30, Saints

Walatta Petros is a 17th-century Ethiopian nun and saint who had an intense lifelong friendship with another nun and led a successful movement to drive out foreign missionaries. Her feast day is Nov. 23. Her biography, written by her disciples just 30 years after her...

Remembering Sally Gross, incandescent intersex trailblazer: “You certainly could not ignore her”

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints

Vivid personal memories of intersex priest Sally Gross are shared by a queer clergy colleague who recalls her as “incandescent” and “a legend.” Gross was defrocked as a Catholic priest in the 1990s when she revealed that she identified as female. Here she is...

Chriton Atuhwera / Trinidad Jerry: LGBTQ Ugandan activist killed by homophobic attack

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints

LGBTQ activist and Ugandan refugee Chriton Atuhwera, known online as “Trinidad Jerry,” died on April 12 from burn wounds sustained in a homophobic firebomb attack in a Kenyan refugee camp. He was 22. The attack occurred on Block 13, where approximately 300 LGBTQ...