Due to the fine efforts of Kitt Cherry at JesusInLove.org, the upcoming print and online editions of The Advocate will feature a controversial oil painting, "The Crucifixion of Christ," by (*cough*) someone I just happen (*cough*) to know well. Was that subtle enough?
I dunno yet what The Advocate will write, maybe short and sweet, but editorial interest was jogged by Kitt's news release. Daniel Kusner of the DallasVoice, who actually recognized the appropriated Dali foreshortening, befittingly scribed a DaVinci Code and Easter lede describing Kitt's website as "Heaven Sent." When GayWired picked up the story, a network of GL publishers from the US to South Africa and Australia ran the headline, "Web Site Courts Controversy with Gay Jesus on the Cross." A clip from the Provincetown Edge:
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 www.jesusinlove.org/prayf.php. 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."Ahhhh, how divine! Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Disappointing. They backed away. Too far past Easter.
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