Reading the story of Jesus through a queer lens and exploring the possibility of seeing me and my experience reflected back in millennia-old sacred text is what has returned my faith back to me. Getting to explore text and ask ‘how would this change if I make it gay?’ is a new hobby. Here are a few examples of stories of Jesus read through a queer lens that I particularly love to prove to you that this is a great practice to try!
Jay Hulme is an award winning transgender poet, speaker and theologian. With a special interest in queer rights and theology, Jay’s work engages particularly with ideas of faith, place, and identity, with many of his poetry books for adults being published by one the UK’s foremost Christian publishers. Melody, Movement Editor, sat down with Jay to find out where he draws inspiration for his work and to discuss how the church can be more welcoming of queer people.
I’ve heard people bemoan that there aren’t more good Christian films, or perhaps that Christian films are just no good at all. This will very possibly come from someone who has suffered through God’s Not Dead, amongst my least favourite films I’ve ever seen, or something similar. As you may be aware, God’s Not Dead tells the story of a Christian student who, upon enrolling in a philosophy class in his first year of university, is mandated by his professor to sign a declaration that God is dead before he can continue with the class.
Trans Day of Remembrance gives space for the grief, anger and pain that comes with being trans in a world that attempts to stifle our joy and flourishing. This year, two of the youngest names on the list of transgender people who have died due to transphobia leading to violence or suicide will be Brianna Ghey and Corei Hall; two trans children from the UK whose lives have been cut short by transphobia. Whilst discussing plans for the SCM TDOR vigil, a member of the Trans Theology Group reminded us of the phrase ‘remember the dead, fight like hell for the living’.
