Gay artist-philosopher Matthew Wettlaufer makes connections between anti-gay hate crimes, other human-rights struggles and his own art in a powerful interview at the Jesus in Love Blog.

Wettlaufer lived in El Salvador and South Africa before returning recently to the U.S. 

"I was strongly affected by their murders, it was one of the reasons why I found myself leaving the United States," he says.  More info

(Credit: "The Murder of Matthew Shepard" by Matthew Wettlaufer)

Two lesbian ministers pose as husband and wife to infiltrate a conservative Texas mega-church in a new documentary.

"Faith of the Abomination" premiered in February.  Ceil Melton and Han Nguyen went undercover after the church rejected them for being lesbians.  Their film investigation unravels a hornet's nest of greed behind the hate.  More info

A vibrantly alive Jesus, complete with homoerotic desires, emerges from the poetry of Toronto teacher Brian Day in his new book "Conjuring Jesus."

From the very first poem, Day delves into the bisexuality that Jesus inherited from his ancestor King David.  Day conjures up a Jesus who is both sexual and spiritual, "wholly versatile" and "an unscrupulous party boy" with a male Beloved.  More info  Read a poem

Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus, Roman soldiers in Armenia, are a primary example of same-sex lovers in the early church. 

The men had a strong desire to spend eternity together.  Shortly before Polyeuct died, he spoke his last words to Nearchus: "Remember our secret vow." More info

(Credit: Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus by Robert Lentz, trinitystores.com)

Karen Ziegler preached an unforgettable sermon on AIDS, grief, and friendship between gay men and lesbians at the height of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco.

She was pastor of MCC New York at the time.  More than 20 years later, her words are still just as powerful and inspiring: "We ARE light, all of us...Lights that nothing can quench."  More info

Celebrate Holy Week and Easter at the Jesus in Love Blog with LGBT art and readings from Kittredge Cherry's novel At the Cross.

Appropriate excerpts will be posted at the blog beginning on Palm Sunday (March 28) and continuing through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter (April 4). 

The dramatic events of Christ's Passion happen in the context of a gay love story between Jesus and his beloved disciple John.  Artists include F. Douglas Blanchard, Becki Jayne Harrelson, Corinne Quinones and Gary Speziale.

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(Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amagill/ / CC BY 2.0)