The war of words between gay activists and the homophobic religious wingnuts is generally so strident, with both sides shouting past each other, that generally I hold my peace. For completely different reasons, I see no point in trying to defend religion from atheists, nor to defend same sex orientation from homophobes. (Atheists are entitled to their views; homophobic bigotry will not be swayed by reasoned discussion). But what is to be done about the very many of us who are caught in the cross-fire? For those of us who are gay, lesbian, or other variety of "queer", but also have religious faith, we often find that is as difficult to be out as religious people in the gay community, as it is to be out as gay in our faith communities.
I find that to remain sane in this war, it is helpful to look beyond the slogans, and to explore the rich vein of queer material that runs through the Christian faith (and others - but I know less about them).
For it is a complete myth that Christian Scripture and tradition have been invariably and undoubtedly against same sex relationships. Last week, I wrote about gay bishops and same sex unions in church history. Over the last thirty years, there has been a publishing explosion of books dealing with matters of faith from an LGBT perspective. Many modern scholars have shown the errors in the traditional "clobber texts" in Scripture, and have moved on from defensive postures to finding specifically gay friendly readings of the Bible. There has also been an emergence of serious new academic disciplines such as gay /lesbian theology, queer theology, and indecent theology, as well as investigations of spirituality from an explicitly homoerotic starting point.
I do not wish to go into these matters here - although I do write about them on my regular blog, Queering the Church.
Instead, I would like to have a little more fun, by expanding on the brief reference I made last week to gay saints. I find that simply calling to mind their existence, is enough to remind me of the accepted place we have held in the church in the past, quite contrary to modern attempts to demonise us.
The best known, and widely adopted as symbols of gay men in the church, are Saints Sergius and Bacchus, 4th century Roman soldiers, lovers and martyrs. (Their "cult" was suppressed by the Western Church in 1969, and their feast day removed from the Western Church calendar. But it remains fact that they were honoured for 16 centuries of Church history, and remain so in the Eastern Orthodox Church). It is known that Sergius and Bacchus had been united in a formal liturgical rite of same - sex "union".
Also believed by some to have been united under this rite are the pair "Philip and Bartholomew". These are familiar to us as names coupled in the Eucharistic prayer of the Mass,as are Felicity and Perpetua, martyred together in Carthage - and some have claimed that their mistress/servant relationship masked a lesbian one.
Also from the 4th Century is Bishop Paulinus of Nola, who wrote memorable love poetry to his boyfriend, Ausonius.
St Anselm, prior of Bec, and later Archbishop of Canterbury, may be remembered for passionate love letters to men (as well as for his role in "preventing the promulgation of the first antigay legislation in England":
"Sweet to me, sweetest friend, are the gifts of your sweetness, but these cannot begin to console my desolate heart for its want of your love. Even if you sent every scent of perfume, every glitter of metal, every precious gem, every texture of cloth, still it could not make up to my soul for this separation..."
St Aelred of Rielvaux is known to have had homosexual relationships in his youth. He is believed to honoured hi vows of celibacy after entering the monastery, but this did not prevent him developing two distinct emotionally intimate love relationships with fellow monks, both recorded in passionate love letters.
Writers on erotic gay spirituality like to quote from the very well known mystic, St John of the Cross (remember, these are written by a male writer:
"Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping,
and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand
He caressed my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended."
As late as the 19th century, Cardinal John Newman (soon to be beatified) was known to have had an emotionally intimate, but possibly physically chaste, relationship with his fellow priest Aubrey St John. This relationship was so intense, that he insisted that he be buried in the same grave as St John, exactly as man and wife. This request was honoured, until at Vatican insistence, there was an attempt to disinter his remains and remove them to Birmingham Oratory preparatory to the beatification procedures next year. However, on opening the grave, no remains were found - which some would claim as evidence of the third miracle required for full canonisation!
Women
Nor are we talking only about men (although I know more about them). 12th century manuscripts between two unidentified religious women are clearly lesbian:
"I love you alone above all else,
You alone are my love and desire""
"Like a turtledove who has lost her mate
And stands forever on the barren branch
So I grieve ceaselessly
Until I enjoy your love again."
Bernadette Brooten, in her highly regarded book "Love between Women", investigated many notable examples from the early Church.
Then there is the extraordinary group of women collectively known as the "transvestite" saints. These were women, mainly from Eastern areas of the early church, who dressed themselves as men, depending on this deception to be admitted as monks to all male monasteries. Better recognised by the Eastern church than the Western, some are recognised by both branches of the church, but with different feast days.
Before the age of designated "saints", we have notable examples from Scripture. The love between Jonathan and David is well known; some believe that the story of Ruth and Naomi similarly conceals a lesbian relationship. Behind the story of Daniel and companions in the lions' den, lies a further sexual reference. Given their status as young slaves in foreign captivity, and explicit mention of their good looks, it is likely that that they had been brought to the king as eunuchs for sexual use. In the Song of Songs, well known for its sensuous, erotic language as metaphor for the love between man and God, it is not widely recognised that the original text may have written as between two male lovers, Asher and Caleb. However, at least one modern scholar (the Evangelical minister Paul R Johnson) believes that the oldest text was clearly so written, and that later copies deliberately changed the pronouns to hide its homoerotic nature:
“How delightful you are Caleh,
My lover-man, my other half.
Your pleasing masculine love is better than wine.
The smell of your body is better than perfume.
Your moustache is waxed with honeycomb.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The scent of your clothing is like the smell of Lebanon.”
In the Christian New Testament, there is the story of Philip the Ethiopian, who was a "eunuch". Remember that it is dangerous to equate modern terms with biblical words: so it is with "eunuch". Some scholars believe that it can be loosely compared with the modern word "homosexual", in a time when the latter term simply did not exist.
Finally, there is the Roman Centurion, who asked the Lord to heal his "paidion", usually translated as servant, or as "boy". But in the context of the living conditions of Roman Centurions, it is more likely to have been a slave boy, almost certainly used for sexual purposes. It is further likely that sexual use would have developed into emotional intimacy, thus explaining the use of the word "boy". Now remember the words of the Centurion: "Lord, I am not worthy that you come to my house..": words repeated today in the Mass, immediately before Communion.
So, to the alert ear, in the Mass there are at least three gay affirming references: to Philip and Bartholomew, to Felicity and Perpetua, and to the Centurion's prayer.
Gay and lesbian Christians have always been part of the long tradition of the Church. Only in recent centuries have the authorities made concerted efforts to exclude us, and now more and more responsible churchmen and women are returning to the true, historic path of inclusion.
Further reading:
Books:
John Boswell: Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality (University of Chicago Press,1980)
Donald L. Boisvert: Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints (Pilgrim Press, 2004)
Andrew Harvey: Essential Gay Mystics
On the Web:
LGBT Catholic Handbook: Calendar of Gay Lesbian & Transgendered Saints"
Queering the Church, various entries, but especially
"The Gospels' Queer Values"