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?
• SAT SEBASTIAN AS A GAY IN
• HOW DID A THIRD-CENTURY CATHOLIC SAT BEE A GAY IN? HERE’S THE HOMOEROTIC HISTORY OF SAT SEBASTIAN
• A GAY SAT? L.G.B.T. GROUPS ARE PHG FOR 9/11 HERO FATHER MYCHAL JUDGE’S NONIZATN
• WHERE IS THE GAY SAT?
• THE GAY SAT
• ALL THE GAY SATS
• THE GAY CHURCH

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

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.

SAT SEBASTIAN AS A GAY IN

” In the 21st century world, there is an unspoken expectatn afoot that to be “openly gay” means havg ma some very public statements about one’s orientatn and inty. 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.

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.

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

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. 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.

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. 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.

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

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. 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.

WHERE IS THE GAY SAT?

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). 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. 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.

THE GAY SAT

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. 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. A Catholic prit and the first rerd victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Tra Center uld bee the first gay sat regnn of his work to provi fort and aid to folks livg wh Judge, then 68, was the chapla of the New York Cy fire partment 2001 when terrorists flew two plan to both towers of the World Tra Center.

"Sapienza relled there was "a lot of nflict between the gay muny and the Catholic Church" at the time and scribed their work as "challengg the sense that oftentim we would walk to a hospal room to vis wh someone wh AIDS, and we would be asked to leave.

ALL THE GAY SATS

"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, " Sapienza was a celibate gay man. "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 said. 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.

But 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 lears.

”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.

THE GAY CHURCH

”“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.

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.