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Q Spirit Newsletter
LGBTQ spirituality and the arts

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From Kittredge Cherry / Jesus in Love
September 2019
Augustine of Hippo: Saint who rejected his bisexual past, defended intersex
After a sexually active and probably bisexual youth, Augustine of Hippo became an influential early Christian theologian who was sex-negative but argued that God created intersex people. This contradictory queer saint is one of the most important Christian thinkers. LGBTQ people may identify with Augustine’s passionate friendship with another man and his relatively compassionate recognition of gender diversity. More info
Saint Marinos / Marina the Monk: Transgender role model and patron saint
Saint Marinos or Marina the Monk has been called a transgender icon 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. Scholar Kevin Elphick recommends Marinos as a role model for transgender parenting and patron saint for the trans community in his article on the saint. More info
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Two new LGBTQ Christian books in Sept.
Added this month to Q Spirit's summaries of LGBTQ Christian books published in 2019:

OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation” by Chris Paige

Bayard and Martin: A Historical Novel About Friendship and the Civil Rights Movement” by Fred Williams and others
Cartoon: "Don't worry about it"
“Don’t worry about it! That’s their problem,” says Jesus to colorful LGBTQ sheep when hostile white sheep surround them a new cartoon by David Hayward, also known as nakedpastor. He shows Jesus embracing sheep who have the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ flag and the pink-and-blue hues of the transgender flag. More info
Mary's feast has lesbian goddess roots
Mary's Feast of the Assumption is a major church holiday with lesbian roots. It comes from an ancient Roman festival for woman-loving goddess Diana (Artemis), the virgin goddess of the moon and the hunt.   There are many connections between these two "Queens of Heaven." More info 
Bayard Rustin: Champion of civil rights
Bayard Rustin was a black gay man and chief organizer of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. Pushed into the background because he was openly gay in a homophobic era, Rustin has been called a "lost prophet." A follower of the Quaker faith with its pacifist tradition, he promoted non-violent activism.  More info
Black Madonna becomes lesbian defender
The Black Madonna of Czestochowa, one of the most famous Catholic icons, is the model for a Erzulie Dantor, a Haitian Vodou goddess who protects lesbians. Her sister Erzulie Freda is the patron of gay men. Black Madonnas embody the dark face of the divine feminine. More info
Robert Wood: Pioneering gay-rights clergy
Robert Watson Wood was an ordained Congregational minister who started advocating for LGBTQ rights in the early 1960s. He died one year ago Aug. 19, 2018 at age 95. He wrote America’s first book on homosexuality and Christianity in 1960 and became the first clergy to picket for gay rights in 1965. More info
Bernard of Clairvaux and Malachy:
Honey-tongued abbot loved archbishop
Bernard of Clairvaux was a medieval French abbot who wrote homoerotic poetry about Jesus and had a passionate same-sex friendship with Irish archbishop Malachy of Armagh. Bernard wrote, "Jesus to me is honey in the mouth." More info
What if Christ and Krishna made love?
If Christ met Krishna, would there be conflict or kisses? Did Jesus visit India? They are two of the world's greatest teachers of love. Would they speak of love, even make love? Artists and poets explore the queer possibilities. More info
Radclyffe Hall: Queer Christian themes
mark banned book "Well of Loneliness"
A queer Christ figure is the main character in the world's best known lesbian novel, "The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall. The book was banned for obscenity in England in 1928, not just because it portrayed same-sex love, but also for using religious arguments to support "inverts" -- a 1920s term for LGBTQ people. Hall was a devoutly Catholic British lesbian.  More info 
John of La Verna: A friar kissed by Jesus
Blessed John of La Verna was a medieval Italian friar known for his visions of kissing and being kissed by Jesus. He also had an intense relationship with a fellow friar. Franciscan scholar Kevin Elphick writes about John as a queer saint and gives a vivid personal story of a his trip to John's chapel in Italy.  More info
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Dear Friend

I hope you enjoyed learning about life and work of queer Saint Augustine as much as I did this month. He wrestled with his sexuality while writing insightful lines such as:

"You have made us for yourself, O God, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." 

Blessings,
Kittredge Cherry
Kittredge Cherry
Founder, publisher and editor
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Artist Trudie Barreras will do pet portraits in pastel, or watercolor sketches of your home or favorite scenes, for a $25 gift to Kitt for Jesus in Love / Q Spirit. To see samples of Trudie's work, visit her website, schuylerart.com. Contact us for further details.


Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance ” by Emily Swan and Ken Wilson.

A post-evangelical theology by a queer pastor (fired for being gay) and a straight ally pastor (fired for not firing her.) 


“Prodigal Son and His Husband Receive a Blessing”

by J.R. Leveroni
Witness his first brush with homosexuality as a young seminarian, to the time he ordered hospitals to admit partners of homosexuals into ICUs... On the day he became a cardinal, he was asked by a reporter: "What is your secret of success?" 


In Holy Love , Steve Harper shows that what the Bible teaches about sexuality is more complex than often portrayed. Through a fresh, rigorous theological examination of the Bible’s teachings, Harper helps readers make the constructive case that biblical, Christian teaching is compatible with love and intimacy amidst all sexual orientations.   


Toby Johnson’s sweet, funny, endearing sci-fi romance about aliens with a wonderful trait. Who’d have thought the Visitors would look like that…?

Plus a punch line that reimagines what might really have happened in the Garden of Eden with that contentious fruit.  
THEY: A Biblical Tale of Secret Genders ” by Janet Mason.
 
I am fascinated by Mason’s ability to weave together biblical historical stories with modern concepts of sexuality and gender. — Reader. Gender-fluid characters act on their passions. The story is lifesaving and liberating. Adelaide Books (New York/Lisbon).

GAY CHRISTIAN? LESBIAN CHRISTIAN? BISEXUAL CHRISTIAN? See new free info now. Why Christian and gay or lesbian or bisexual is okay.
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By Kittredge Cherry

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Q Spirit / Jesus in Love promotes LGBTQ spirituality with saints, history, art and books. Created by Kittredge Cherry, the project fosters religious and artistic freedom by teaching love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.