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December 2015
Jesus in Love Newsletter
LGBT spirituality and the arts
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In This Issue
Brazilian gay Jesus
Top 25 books
Donate in December
Thomas(ine) Hall
LGBTQ scholars
Queer Nativity
Mystical same-sex marriage
Advent
Dance of the 41
World AIDS Day
Holiday faves
Malachy
10-year anniversary
Christmas cards & gifts


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Vision statement
 
I bring you queer cheer during this season of expectant waiting and holiday festivities. A gay Jesus in Brazil and the year's top 25 LGBT Christian books lead off a dynamic December newsletter.
Gay Christ appears in Brazilian photo
 
Queer Christ figure from Brazail
A sign saying "gay" hangs on the forehead of a crucified Christ figure in a photo from a Brazilian performance group.
 
"The photo was part of an experience for a new play at a theater about God. My search is about God and sexuality," said J�nio de Carvalho, the Brazilian actor and dancer who appears in the photo.  More info
 
(Credit: Gay Jesus with J�nio de Carvalho of Transeuntes)
Top 25 LGBT Christian books of 2015 listed
 
Books and cross with rainbow flag
The Top 25 LGBTQ Christian books of 2015 are listed now at the Jesus in Love Blog. They include theology, Bible, church life, memoir, meditations on Jesus, history, art, fiction, film, and more by a wide variety of authors.   More info
Donate in December for Jesus in Love

Kittredge Cherry with wreath I invite you to give to the December offering in support of my work at Jesus in Love for LGBTQ spirituality and the arts. Donations in December pay for expenses all year long.

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Many thanks
to the people who already contributed! Click to see their names and comments.
Thomas(ine) Hall: Intersex in colonial days
 
Thomasine Hall
Thomas(ine) Hall was an intersex person in 17th-century America who caused controversy by switching genders. The Jamestown court ruled in 1629 that Hall was both "a man and a woman" and ordered him/her to wear male and female clothing simultaneously.  More info

(Credit: "Thomas or Thomasine Hall" by the Corpse Debutante)
LGBTQ guide to AAR-SBL annual meeting
reveals hot topics in religion scholarship 
AAR-SBL Rainbow Flag
 
An huge variety of about 40 LGBTQ events happened at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Literature Nov. 21-24 in Atlanta.
 
Reading the schedule reveals the latest LGBTQ religious scholarship -- everything from Pauline Epistles to pop-culture phenomena like bodybuilding "muscle gods." More info
Queer Nativity shows love makes a family

Queer Nativity by Kittredge Cherry
Queer Nativity scenes show that love makes a family, including the Holy Family. Despite blasphemy charges, everyone should be able to see themselves in the Christmas story, even the growing number of LGBT parents and their children. More info

(Credit: "Love Makes a Holy Family" by Kittredge Cherry)
Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus
Bernardo de Hoyos
Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos is a 18th-century Spanish priest who wrote vividly of his mystical gay marriage to Jesus. 

Bernardo was 18 when he had a vision of marrying Jesus, with all the symbols of a human wedding. More info


Advent: We seek the Word embodied 

Advent wreath Advent is a time of expectant waiting for Christ's birth.
The season of Advent honors the mystery of the Word made flesh -- an important concept in queer spirituality. More info

("Advent Wreath" from All Saints Episcopal Church  by Susan Russell) 
Dance of the 41 Queers remembered 

The 41 Queers by Jose Guadalupe Posada One of the world's most notorious police raids on a queer gathering occurred in November 1901 when police arrested 41 men at a drag ball in Mexico City. The raid on the "Dance of the 41" caused a big scandal with lasting repercussions.  Today the Dance of the 41 is being reclaimed and reinterpreted by LGBT activists and scholars. More info

(Credit: "The 41 Queers" by Jose Guadalupe Posada, 1901)
Art connects Christ to World AIDS Day 

Jesus with red ribbon
Spiritual resources for World AIDS Day include artwork, icons, books, saints and prayers. A traditional Jesus wears a red ribbon to show AIDS solidarity in one icon. Another shows pairs of medieval male saints who faced disease together. More info

"We are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS" by Kittredge Cherry and Jim Mitulski, from Christian Century magazine on Jan. 27, 1988, is newly available online as a PDF download.  

(Credit: "Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs and Known Our Sorrows" by Tobias Haller)
Make the Yuletide gay with queer cheer

Rainbow Star by Andrew Craig Williams Find queer cheer in this round-up of Christmas highlights from the Jesus in Love Blog.

It includes queer Christmas songs, a gay baby Jesus, love between good King Wenceslas and his page, lesbian Madonnas, carol composter Christina Rossetti and such. More info

(Credit: "Rainbow Star" by Andrew Craig Williams)
Malachy: Same-sex soulmate to Bernard 
 
Malachy of Armagh by Rowan Lewgalon
Malachy of Armagh is an 11th-century Irish saint who died in the arms of his more famous soulmate, Bernard of Clairvaux.

Bernard showered Malachy with kisses during his lifetime and they are buried together, wearing each other's clothes. Malachy is also the attributed author for the "Prophecy of the Popes."
More info

(Credit: Malachy of Armagh by Rowan Lewgalon)

Jesusinlove.org celebrates 10 years 
 
Birthday cake
Jesusinlove.org is celebrating 10 years since it was launched by Kittredge Cherry to promote LGBT spirituality and the arts.

Here's a link to the original news release from Nov. 17, 2015: New Website Dares to Show Gay Jesus.

Donate now to help with the next decade! 
Queer Christmas gifts and cards

 

Jonathan & David by Robert Lentz

Want to give a Christmas present that expresses your spirituality? Looking for just the right gift for that LGBTQ loved one? You don't even have to be queer to love the innovative icons on sale at TrinityStores.com.

 

Trinity icons of same-sex couples and queer saints appear all year long as part of the LGBT Saints series at Jesus in Love. More info   

 

(Credit: "Jonathan and David" by Robert Lentz)  

 

 

    

Gay Nativity Xmas card
Gay/Lesbian Nativity Christmas cards 

 

What if the child of God was born to a lesbian or gay couple? Because, after all, LOVE makes a family, including the Holy Family.

 

Lesbian Nativity scene

Gay and lesbian Nativity photos by Kittredge Cherry are available as Christmas cards. Visit card shop 

 

The cards are true to the spirit of Christmas: God's child conceived in an extraordinary way. More info  

 

   

Queer Christ books 

And for the hard-to-please queer who already has everything, check out the Top 20 Gay Jesus books. Nobody has them all!

May you be filled with the love of Christ this Advent season as shadows lengthen and we wait in hope for the coming of the Light. Happy holidays!

Blessings, 
Kittredge Cherry headshot
Kittredge Cherry
Publisher, Jesus In Love Newsletter
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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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