Queer Christianity

Rae | 24 | Asexual greybiromantic | nonbinary | they/them | Christian | If you have questions about God or the LGBTQ+ community my inbox is open!

[queer-christianity]

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I’m very glad you’re here! This blog centers around the topic of Christianity and the LGBTQ+ community.

I am a queer christian who spent years trying to figure out how that worked out with my beliefs. I will be the first to admit I don’t have all the answers, but I want to help and encourage others who are on a similar journey.

This blog is for:

Anyone in the LGBTQ+ community

Christians

LGBTQ+ Christians

People who are questioning their sexuality/gender

People who are curious about the LGBTQ+ community

People who are curious about Christianity

Everyone else :)

I want to create a community of people who can help, encourage, and give advice to each other as we all figure out who we are and what we believe. I am always open to asks or DMs with any questions about Christianity or the LGBTQ+ community. I am also available if you are questioning your sexuality/gender/romantic orientation and want help or information. Again, I don’t have all the answers, but I have done a good amount of research on this and hopefully I can at least point you in the right direction. Finally, if you ever are feeling down or just need someone to talk to, feel free to DM me. I may not able to fix whatever is wrong but I can listen and try to support you.

You do not have to be LGBTQ+ or a Christian to follow this blog, however I do ask that only LGBTQ+ people give advice on LGBTQ+ issues and Christians give advice on issues and questions on Christianity. This is just to ensure people are getting good advice from people with similar experiences.

Additionally, to keep things positive, the following will not be tolerated under any circumstances:

Bullying of any kind

Personal attacks

Attacking or criticizing someone’s beliefs (friendly debates are fine and encouraged but they must remain civil)

Attacking specific Christian denominations

Attacking other religions

Any kind of homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, etc.

Racism

Nazis

I may have missed something but use your judgement. If it doesn’t build people up then don’t say it. If you do any of these things, you will be given one warning and then blocked.

If you’re curious how LGBTQ+ and the Bible fit together, I have a series of posts going through each of the supposedly “homophobic” verses:

Romans 1:23-27

1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10

Leviticus 18:22

Genesis 19:5

Deuteronomy 22:5

More on Transgender People and Christianity

1 Corinthians 7:5-7

The Bible Doesn’t Say Anything About Trans People

You can also find all of these under the tag “lgbtq verse analysis”. If you find this list incomplete and know a passage that should be added, please let me know!

I also post weekly Bible studies every Sunday on different topics related to lgbtq+ experiences and Christianity. You can find those under the tag “sunday bible study”.

[xlightxshinesxbrightx]

It seems like my post about loving yourself and knowing that God loves you just as you are ended up on the wrong side of Tumblr, which isn’t shocking. Any time queer people want to share joy there’s always someone coming in to crash it.

So I’ll say it again: God loves his queer children and nothing can ever separate you from God’s love! Jesus told us to love each other just as much as he loved us! So I love you guys, God loves you, and don’t let anyone ever tell you any different ❤️

[forsakenbythenarrative]

here it is again, my favorite day of the year. we remember today, we are borrowing dirt. you are not above creation; you are a part of it. you are not living on Earth; you belong to Her, you are a piece of Her. you are dust breathing; you are the ashes of a thousand forest fires, the stuff built from the corpses of stars. you are made and guided by the Force that controls life and death, beginnings and ends, and the pathways in between. death is not a curse, it is a phase of being: a roadway between states of consciousness. you'll return back to where you once were. but God has decided that you should get to be of a separate consciousness; God made you alive and human. do well with that and be grateful. and remember today to whom you belong, where you come from, and where you are going.

i hope the Divine may resonate in your life today in a way that you can see. (the Divine is always there; i hope today your eyes may be open to it.)

[libraford]

I really hate entering the theological discussion of transness because it usually centers around the Christian God and not the many other interpretations of gender that exist across pantheons. But sometimes that topic comes towards you and they say 'you should accept the way that God made you' and its like...

...not that I'm in the habit of speaking on behalf of God or anything, but what if God wanted me to be nonbinary? What if God wanted my friends to be trans? What if God wanted gender to take a backseat to my sense of justice? What if God wanted me to be happy?

Like why can't this be part of God's plan? Why cant me, having bigger fish to fry that what's in my pants, be part of God's plan? What if God sent ME to YOU to teach about loving your neighbor and not the other way around?

What if the world was made of pudding?

[blood-is-the-life]

[headspace-hotel]

What finally put the nail in the coffin for me on the concept of "biblical inerrancy" was fully realizing how impossible it is for the meaning of any written piece of language to be consistent or even intelligible across times, places and cultures

I have sat through sermons about Jesus's teaching that you have to be "like a little child" to enter the kingdom of heaven that interpreted it as meaning, like, "innocence," or pure unquestioning belief like a child's belief in Santa Claus, but in college I took a 300-level course on Ancient Rome, and realized that being "like a little child" would have meant something totally different for a Roman or Roman-influenced society

The Romans were ridiculously hierarchical. Like, present-day American society is hierarchical but the Romans took it to the next level. Everything was all about your position on the totem pole relative to everyone else.

And children were at the bottom of the bottom. They were completely without legal rights, as in "the head of household can legally just kill his son and it's fine because he's the father."

that class made me realize just how much of the actual teachings of Jesus are centered on subverting social hierarchies, and just how intense they are about it. and this is no exception: it is a statement about upturning society so that the least valued people are most favored by God

[headspace-hotel]

my dad (former pastor with a master's degree in this stuff) likes to point out a lot of instances of this subversion of cultural hierarchies, but one of his favorites is the first witnesses to the resurrection being women, in a time where a woman's testimony wasn't considered valid in court

[burning-sol]

Whenever I see a queer invalidate another queer's relationship with god, I just get disappointed. "We need more complex queers!" You can't even handle religious queer people.

[burning-sol]

If you think that abandoning faith is the only solution to religious traumas, I'm REALLY fucking sorry to say you have a very small worldview. Maybe YOU gain comfort from disowning god, but others will redefine their faith to accommodate their queerness.

It is so incredibly difficult to word how complex faith is, there's a lot I could say.. But I guess to set the record straight, queer religious folk AREN'T your enemy. A queer religious person likely gets treated like shit just like you do, except now you're putting them into a position where they're simultaneously getting shit on by bigoted religious people AND the queer community that's supposedly oh so accepting of them.

This isn't even touching on how tunnel visioned you are that you forget how broad religion is in the first place. You guys DO know that when someone says "god", they might not be referring to the Christian god.. Right?? RIGHT?? (which is implying that major religions like christianity even have consistently AMONGST THEMSELVES like holy fuck they can't even agree on what day you're meant to go to church and what calendar is correct)

Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you Christian queers. I love you Muslim queers. I love you Jewish queers. I love you religious queers that fall outside the abrahamic religions: Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus.. I love you religious queers whose religion is too niche or unappreciated to ever come up. I love you religious queers who have many gods or no gods. I love you indigenous queers.

If you think religion is completely incompatible with queerness then fuck off, this isn't the blog for you.

[waitingforthesunrise]

moment of appreciation for all religious LGBTQ+ people right now; Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or anything else. It’s okay if you’re still figuring out what your identity means to you, or how it intersects with your religious beliefs. You are valid and loved <333

[depsidase]

[rapidashrider]

#me once again sighing and explaining that the seven deadly sins are MADE UP AND NOT SCRIPTURAL #they are NOT IN THE BIBLE please folks I am begging you #they were made up by a monk in the fourth century and then refined by a pope in the sixth #they are totally just not a thing #every time I see them mentioned #it's always with this air of #assuming that this is universally accepted and god given Christian dogma #and a bunch of guys just fully made them up #distorted some theologians saying 'hey certain thought patterns are unhelpful' #into 'THESE ACTS IMPERIL YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL' #which is like. completely counter to the entire point of the flipping gospel #it drives me INSANE

No you know what I’m not done and I’m taking this out of the tags to keep ranting because even if even IF you let fucking Evagrius Ponticus from the fourth century decide what is and isn’t redeemable by the sacrifice of literally actually God themself then there are EIGHT anyway, but the church later decided that “apathy” didn’t deserve its place in the lineup because actually major organised religions thrive on despair and listlessness, because what use to you is an impassioned warrior for justice and godliness when all they would do is turn the sword straight onto your own corruption

[roaaoife]

There are a lot of things people think is in the Bible but actually isn't:

Mary Magdalene being a prostitute (the prostitute was an entirely different woman)

The "fruit" being an apple. (It's just a fruit and this is a metaphor anyways)

The three wise men at the birth of Christ. (First, it was an undetermined number of scholars, and they didn't get there until Jesus was two years old.)

The Whale that swallowed Jonah (it was just described as a really big fish.)

Money is the root of all evil- it's actually the LOVE of money that's the problem

Cleanliness is next to Godliness - John Wesley made this up

This too shall pass - Chicago Bears Coach wrongfully attributed this to scripture

"God helps those who help themselves." - not anywhere in the Bible, actually antithetical to a lot of it

For the seven deadly sins, if I'm being generous, I assume people are getting confused with Proverbs 6:16-19. But if I'm being honest, they probably haven't read it.

[artbymoga-deactivated20200516]

Throwback to all these Jesus comics I drew in 2012…

[nejire-vs-villains]

Good post OP

[prismatic-bell]

Good post, OP, and if you ever decide to do another may I please suggest “NOT IN HEBREW IT DOESN’T” as a punchline? So much of the Old Testament is HORRIFICALLY translated from the Tanakh, it drives me batty.

[end-of--the-line]

WAIT WAIT WHAT DOES IT SAY?????? I NEED TO LIKE,, DESTROY MI MUM FOR BEING REALLY HOMOPHOBIC

[prismatic-bell]

Okay, so, strictly speaking, the infamous Leviticus 18:22 does say “forbidden.” Here’s the thing:

1) The word translated as “forbidden” is “toevah.” While that translation isn’t … wrong, it’s sort of like saying “McMansion” means “really big house.” There are a lot of connotations in that word. The specific issue with toevah is that we … sort of … don’t know anymore exactly what it meant. Based on context, it seems likely that the word referred to something ritually forbidden. This part of Torah was written not only as a guide for future generations, but also to say “so, look around, see your neighbors? DON’T DO THAT.“ Thus, if we interpret “toevah” to mean something that’s forbidden to do as a ritual before G-d, then the verse says nothing whatsoever about Adam and Steve and their two kids and their dog–it’s saying you shouldn’t have sex with another man in the Temple as a sacrifice.

2) Following the same “this is ritually forbidden” logic of toevah, this verse may also be interpreted as “don’t do sex magic,” which was a thing in. Like. A lot of fucking cultures at the time.

3) Hebrew is a highly gendered language, and the grammatical gender in this verse is really really weird. One of the “men” in this verse is given female grammar. Why? Who fucking knows, man, this isn’t the only grammatical oddity in Torah. (There are also places where G-d is referred to as plural, and also as female.) One suggestion is that this is a way of creating a diminutive–that is, that the verse should be read as “a man should not lie with a boy.” Now, it’s worth noting that modern secular scholarship has concluded the written Torah was written down around the 6th century BCE, and most non-Orthodox Jewish scholars are like “yeah, all things considered, that sounds pretty legit.”

Do you know what else was happening around the 6th century BCE? What laypeople tend to mean when they say “ancient Greece” was happening.

Do you know what happened a lot in that time period in Greece? Dudes forming relationships with younger boys, like ages 10-15, and using them for sex in exchange for financial gifts, mentorship, etc. While we don’t know just how young some of these younger boys may have been, we do know some were prepubescent. In light of this, and also something I mentioned under the first point–”see your neighbors? DON’T DO THAT,” if this verse is interpreted to say “a man should not lie with a boy,” then it’s pretty clearly “my dudes, my fellows, my lads, don’t be fucking pedophiles.”

4) Because of the grammar I mentioned in #3, it’s also possible that “should not lie with a man as with a woman” is actually referring to a place, not an abstract personhood: a man shouldn’t have sex with another man in a woman’s bed. In the time period, a woman’s bed was sort of like–that was her place, her safe sanctuary. It was also a ritually holy place where babies were made. By having sex in her bed, you’re violating her safe space (and also introducing a man who may not be a male relative, thus forcing her into breaking the laws of modesty). If this verse is read this way, then it should be taken to mean “don’t sexually violate a woman’s safety and modesty.” 5) And as an offshoot of #4, this may be a second verse relating to infidelity. Which woman’s bed is any random dude in 600 BCE most likely to have access to? His wife’s. But laws were administered differently based on whether the person they pertained to was slave or free, male or female, and so on–thus, a man committing adultery with a woman would be treated differently than man committing adultery with a man (especially because the latter would carry no chance of an illegitimate pregnancy).

So you’ll note, there are a lot of ways to read this verse, and only a one-to-one translation with no cultural awareness produces “being gay is wrong, all of the time”. (You’ll also notice the word “abomination” is nowhere to be found. That’s like … a straight-up fiction created for who only knows what reason.)

[the-spoopy-ghost-of-raejin99]

Apparently tumblr mobile doesn’t want to show @prismatic-bell ’s long and in-depth essay, so here’s the screenshots, because it still shows up on mobile browsers:

[prismatic-bell]

Much appreciated.

[kuriquinn]

I love when scholarship and history debunks bullshit

[mandalorianreynolds]

…I sadly have more bullshit to report.

“removed for violating guidelines”, EVERY screenshot.

[the-spoopy-ghost-of-raejin99]

…goddamnit

[pulmonary-poultry]

Let’s try this again

[the-invisible-self]

I am horrified that @prismatic-bell keeps getting censored + this info is gold.

[prismatic-bell]

Many thanks, @pulmonary-poultry. This isn’t the only Jewish post of mine that’s mysteriously stopped showing up in searches and/or vanished from my blog entirely, but it is the one I get the most requests to repost, so this saves me from having to rewrite the whole damned essay. @the-invisible-self, thanks for bringing it to my attention that someone was able to preserve the post!

[fetus-cakes]

what the FUCK??? WHICH community guidelines would an analysis of the Old Testament violate??

unless tumblr staff is just removing images that get reported a bunch of times

[starstruck-dandelion]

Never not gonna reblog

[queenofchaos7]

@prismatic-bell RESPECT 💜

[productomag]

‘‘jesus is my homeboy’’ photographed by david lachapelle for i-D magazine, september 2003

[eebie]

do christians realize how deranged they sound when they say they wouldn’t be a good person without the threat of a god sending them to hell

[depsidase]

[genasi-jedi]

I’m going to be coming out to my roommate and best friend today (I worded that weird but they are the same person). It feels so weird because I’ve been thinking about this for 5 years and I’ve finally found the right time. I expected to feel super anxious but I don’t. It just feels right. And whatever happens I have several back up plans. I have short term and long term plans for housing that I’m lowkey excited about if she doesn’t want to live with me any more and if things do go well then I have some friends I can’t wait to introduce to her. Those friends know I’m going to do this so I will have their support and if it goes badly, we’ll probably go shopping together tomorrow to get me out of the apartment. All of those years of anxiety about telling her and when it comes down to it, I am at peace and feel more loved and supported than I ever have. When people tell you not to rush into coming out, but wait until you’re truly ready, this is what they mean.

[genasi-jedi]

I sent the video yesterday but we just finally got a chance to talk about it and turns out she already knew! There was one time when I was living in a different place and had my pride flag hanging up and she walked into my apartment when I wasn’t expecting her to be there and saw it. She said that later she googled it and found out it was the asexual pride flag and learned what that meant. She didn’t say anything because she figured I’d mention it when I was ready and she didn’t really care. I’m so thankful to have her and a friend and so so relieved that I don’t have to hide and lie to her anymore! Also she said she wants to meet my friends!!

[queer-christianity]

Reblogging from my main blog again so you guys can see the conclusion. Coming out went very well!

[genasi-jedi]

I’m going to be coming out to my roommate and best friend today (I worded that weird but they are the same person). It feels so weird because I’ve been thinking about this for 5 years and I’ve finally found the right time. I expected to feel super anxious but I don’t. It just feels right. And whatever happens I have several back up plans. I have short term and long term plans for housing that I’m lowkey excited about if she doesn’t want to live with me any more and if things do go well then I have some friends I can’t wait to introduce to her. Those friends know I’m going to do this so I will have their support and if it goes badly, we’ll probably go shopping together tomorrow to get me out of the apartment. All of those years of anxiety about telling her and when it comes down to it, I am at peace and feel more loved and supported than I ever have. When people tell you not to rush into coming out, but wait until you’re truly ready, this is what they mean.

[queer-christianity]

Reblogging this from my main account because I want all of you to know too.

I will update this evening or tomorrow with how it goes.

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

merry christmas to the people who have to pretend to be someone they’re not for their families, who don’t have family to celebrate with, who have bad past experiences with the holiday, who are having a rough year and just want to reach the end of it, who couldn’t afford gifts this year and feel guilt over it. merry christmas to everyone but especially those of you who are feeling down.

[cruciform-solidarity]

Kelly Latimore | Christ in the Rubble

Red Letter Christians partnered with artist Kelly Latimore to create this new icon, "Christ in the Rubble," which illustrates the prophetic message that if Jesus was born today, he would be born "under the rubble." Kelly wants his art to be a ‘holy pondering’ - a process that potentially brings about a new way of seeing. Our hope is that this icon, "Christ in the Rubble" will create more dialogue among Christians in the United States during this holy season about the ways our beliefs and actions - or lack thereof - contribute to the violence we're currently witnessing in Gaza. How can we shape a culture of Christianity where love truly has no boundaries? How do we create a world where our poor, homeless, refugee, Palestinian Savior - born to a teenage mother and later condemned to death - would be cherished had he been born today.