Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Queer Easter Surprise: Gay Jesus on the Cross (March 28, 2006)

LOS ANGELES, CA -- March 28, 2006 -- A sign saying “faggot” hangs on the cross above Christ at JesusInLove.org, the first website to focus on the queer Christ.

“Every time a gay gets bashed, Jesus is crucified again,” said Kittredge Cherry, lesbian author and founder of the new website. “The anti-gay movement uses religion to justify discrimination, so even atheists can see the value in uprooting homophobia from Christian tradition.”

Artists who dare to put the Easter story in a queer context have had their work destroyed -- if they can find a way to exhibit it at all. Now these powerful images are available for all to see at JesusInLove.org.

A high-tech slide show takes visitors through the Easter story from a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewpoint at JesusInLove.org’s “Pray with Us” page. It includes the following:

*The crucified Christ is labeled “faggot” in a painting by Becki Jayne Harrelson.
*The female Christ dies on the cross while her purse is looted by the Pope, a businessman and a terrorist in a work by Sandra Yagi.
*The dead Christ is revived by a female Holy Spirit in Harrelson’s “Resurrection.”
*The risen Christ approaches hand-in-hand with his male lover in “Jesus Rises” by F. Douglas Blanchard.

“The Easter story is important for LGBT people. It tells us that God suffers with us, and it offers the promise of rebirth and redemption,” Cherry explained.

A recent review of JesusInLove.org by online magazine QueerDay.com called the site “a rather heavenly idea.”

JesusInLove.org features work by six contemporary American artists and an impressive links page that connects with many other artists worldwide who picture Christ as gay or female.

The history behind the queer Christ is fleshed out in a variety of new books listed at JesusInLove.org. The site also offers a sneak preview of Kittredge Cherry’s forthcoming fictional autobiography of the queer Christ, “Jesus in Love.”

For more information, contact JesusInLoveInfo@aol.com or visit JesusInLove.org.

###

No comments: