How Did a Third-Century Catholic Sat Bee a Gay In? Here’s the Homoerotic History of Sat Sebastian

Contents:

• ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
• HOW DID A THIRD-CENTURY CATHOLIC SAT BEE A GAY IN? HERE’S THE HOMOEROTIC HISTORY OF SAT SEBASTIAN
• SAT SEBASTIAN AS A GAY IN
• A GAY SAT? L.G.B.T. GROUPS ARE PHG FOR 9/11 HERO FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE’S NONIZATN
• GAY ST. LOUIS
• COULD FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE BE THE FIRST GAY SAT?
• GAY SATS?
• WHY AS A GAY MAN I STAND FOR TRADNAL MARRIAGE
• THE GAY CHURCH
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?

His wrgs nvced historians John Boswell and Brian Patrick McGuire that Aelred was a gay man, albe one who still disuraged any sexual activy outsi the bounds of marriage.

Several relig anizatn, s cludg the Natnal Anglin Catholic Church and Integry the Epispal Church the Uned Stat have regnized Aelred as the patron sat of such gay-iendly groups as the Orr of St. By that terpretatn, such scripture as referenc to the disciple reclg upon the bosom of the Lord have spired homoerotic art pictg the relatnship between Christ and John as romantic.

While no tal actually exist providg rmatn about Sebastian's love life or sexual orientatn, the fact so much Renaissance art picts him homoerotic pos monstrat a strong nnectn to LGBT people.

HOW DID A THIRD-CENTURY CATHOLIC SAT BEE A GAY IN? HERE’S THE HOMOEROTIC HISTORY OF SAT SEBASTIAN

Of urse, the two men uld be gay and have had a strong affectnate and timate relatnship whout beg sexually active, jt as many gay men the prithood and relig life today mata their promis and vows of celibacy. While some people thk that homophobia agast gay men om a revulsn about male sex acts, I thk that for many people the more horrifyg and sndalo phenomenon is men beg emotnally sensive, tenr, and affectnate wh one another. Of urse, such gentle and timate rpons by men is only a problem if one suffers om tense homophobia or believ the enforcement of strict genr expectatns that men should not be emotnal and rg toward one another.

Yet, I thk a good se n be ma for Newman beg the “first openly gay” Catholic sat for the simple reason that we know so much more about him and his relatnship than we do about the other exampl. Ined, the Renaissance and Baroque pictns are rooted the Catholic teachgs about the permeabily of sats’ bodi and the ecstasy experienced their munn wh the dive—the pictns were the on to be later embraced by the gay muny who saw their own experienc mirrored Sat Sebastian’s betiful sufferg.

SAT SEBASTIAN AS A GAY IN

Reni’s patg was siarly fluential to the famed 20th-century Japane thor Y Mishima; Mishima’s 1949 novel Confsns of a Mask, the book’s adolcent protagonist experienc a homosexual awakeng while gazg at the very same patg. The referenc to the sat didn’t end there—Mishima, who was himself gay, went so far as to pose as Sat Sebastian a now-famo photographic portra, taken not long before the wrer’s ath by suici 1970. The photograph further cemented associatns between the ecstasy and torments of the sat’s martyrdom wh the homosexual experience of persecutn throughout the 20th century.

A GAY SAT? L.G.B.T. GROUPS ARE PHG FOR 9/11 HERO FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE’S NONIZATN

In the 1976 film Sebastiane, filmmaker Derek Jarman engaged wh the narrative of the sat to explore ti between sexual and spirual ecstasy, through a specifilly homoerotic lens. He nceals the pth of his emotns, experiencg both torments and pleasur privately, a feelg siar to the experience of gay inty for many men the 20th century (and often to this day).

GAY ST. LOUIS

Others have terpreted the arrows piercg the sat’s body as phallic allns and disguised referenc to homosexual sex, while his rope-tied hands n be seen through the lens of sadomasochism.

COULD FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE BE THE FIRST GAY SAT?

Perhaps most ncretely, the story of Sat Sebastian paralleled the experienc and fears of the closeted gay muny—when Sebastian’s ncealed te (Christian) inty was revealed, he was shunned, tormented, and killed by those power, a harrowg tale that mirrored the gay experienc of beg “outed” throughout morn history.

Who would both die om the disease, found solace not the sat’s ecstasy but his earlier medieval associatns wh healg and wardg off the plague, both rporatg referenc to this patron sat of the gay muny to their late artworks. In more recent terpretatns, the Christian fixatn wh the sirable bodi of s sats and the permeable boundari between the bodily flh and the dive have been seen as homoerotic or queer.

They jo the pany of Sebastian, patron sat of homosexualy, Pl the Apostle, who may have stggled wh homosexual sir, and John the Evangelist, who was possibly the “Beloved Disciple” of J — who are also venerated by queer Christians for a variety of reasons. This All Sats’ Day — and honor of All Souls’ Day — here’s a look at the ia that there are sats and martyrs of Christiany who were eher genr non-nformg, or who exhibed strong same-sex bonds or attractns — or who simply stggled wh what may have been homosexual sire. And when to queer-revered sats such as Sebastian, ’s important to unrstand that when we say he is regard as the patron sat of homosexualy, ’s not bee of anythg he did while alive, but merely bee of his longstandg populary wh gay men.

GAY SATS?

A young Ju prit, William Hart McNichols, held healg Mass for people wh AIDS, and the gay and lbian Catholic anizatn Digny helped nnect volunteers to people need of support. ”Father Judge’s volvement the Francisn mistry helped brg attentn to the overwhelmg need and to the hurt and anger gay New Yorkers felt toward some church Father Judge had a way of listeng, he said, that ma people ultimately feel loved and rpected. ”“I thk the AIDS mistry kd of me about bee of his beg part of the gay muny and lovg the gay muny and really feelg like the church had kd of abandoned the gay muny, ” said Mr.

WHY AS A GAY MAN I STAND FOR TRADNAL MARRIAGE

Sapienza beme creasgly disillned wh the Catholic Church over the treatment of gay people and trated when Catholic lears, cludg New York’s Cardal John O’Connor, unrmed public health mpaigns aimed at slowg the spread of H. ”He soon cid he would not be able to acplish that goal and remaed awed by Father Judge’s abily to live fortably the church as a gay man while rpectg his vows of chasty.

“I thk that would be very powerful for gay people of fah, gay Catholics pecially, to be able to say, ‘The church is nonizg this person that I n relate to, ’” he regardls of whether the nonizatn mov forward, he said, many people already believe that Father Judge is a sat. Sats Sergi and Bacch: – The Lie – their cln John Boswell’s book “Same-Sex Unns Premorn Europe” have ma them symbols of gay marriage the homosexual muny; some groups have even proclaimed them as the patron sats of same-sex unns.

“Although Martha and Mary are referred to as “sisters” and Lazas is referred to as their “brother”, we should note that equently the Bible the words sister and brother are ed not to signate a blogil relatnship but to regnize a ep mted love relatnship… leav open the possibily that J’ fay of choice was possibly a gay fay; that Martha and Mary were lbians and Lazas was a gay man. I fd this list remarkable, sce the gay muny subnscly chose to target Sats that were unwavergly dited to the Fah, gave their liv the Lord’s service, and were also mted to chasty.

THE GAY CHURCH

Created by the artist John Nava, they are jt extraordary—young people and old, Europeans, Ains, Asians, Lat Amerins and Indigeno people, women and men all surroundg and lookg wh toward I sat there the church wh my guts, lookg up at all the betiful imag, sudnly h me that not a sgle one of the people has been intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr, though undoubtedly some of them were.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

This is the teachg of the church, even if some Catholics discs or treat ways that suggt is this tth of our fah, fact, that allowed Francis to say, when asked a qutn about gay prits, “If a gay person is eager search of God, who am I to judge them? Catholics, Sister Gramick’s se for over 50 years; or to ve a group of transgenr people to the Vatin to receive their Covid vacce; or to rtore the openly gay theologian Father Jam Alison to active mistry after two s of what he scribed as a “Kafkaque” nightmare which he was not allowed to know what the charg agast him were, uld not make legal reprentatn of his se and was not allowed any appeal. /AIDS crisis, when the diagnosis many s reprented a ath sentence, and gay men were margalized and treated wh hostily by secular and relig thori, the sufferg queer Sat Sebastian beme an inic figure.