Sat Sebastian: History’s first gay in?

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
• SAT SEBASTIAN: HISTORY’S FIRST GAY IN?
• WHO IS THE PATRON SAT OF GAYS AND LBIANS?
• WAS ST. PATRICK GAY?
• AT LAST, A PATRON SAT FOR GAY BMMIE REMAERS
• 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. An abbot medieval France, Bernard of Clairvz mataed a lengthy personal relatnship wh the archbishop Malachy, acrdg to gay liberatn theologian Richard Cleaver.

Boris would go on to hold special signifince for gay Christians bee of his apparently romantic relatnship wh his servant, Gee the Hungarian. This 16th-century Spanish sat was prone to g homoerotic imagery poetry exprsg his love of Christ, most notably his poem "On a Dark Night. 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.

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

This is the view explored Martti Nissen and Kirsi Stjerna's Homoeroticism the Biblil World: A Historil Perspective. The 19th-century Brish subversive scholar was beatified 2010, spe speculatn that he may well have been gay. Consired the ma patron sat of gays by many, Sebastian was martyred Rome the year 288 on the orrs of Emperor Dcletian.

SAT SEBASTIAN AS A GAY IN

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. Y, the Good Kg Wencls, a sat and a de, also was likely gay. The wrgs ma reference to such classil gay figur as Adonis and Ganyme.

Is he the Catholic Church’s first openly gay sat? The answer to that qutn pends on your fns of “openly, ” “gay, ” and “first.

Many tradnalist Newman scholars refute the ia that this was a gay relatnship.

SAT SEBASTIAN: HISTORY’S FIRST GAY IN?

Ian Ker, one of the foremost Newman scholars, says that the relatnship was not homosexual bee, by all acunts, the two were celibate. Other scholars believe that to ll the uple gay is readg our own 21st century ias to 19th century phenomena.

WHO IS THE PATRON SAT OF GAYS AND LBIANS?

I agree that is not right to terpret a past relatnship terms of today’s morn awarens of homosexualy. But that’s where we need to qutn what we might mean by “gay” and “openly. John were not gay bee is apparent that they were celibate.

Ker’s prumptn then is that “gay” means “sexually active.

WAS ST. PATRICK GAY?

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.

Many gay lay also live their liv by choosg not to be sexually timate wh someone. That don’t make them ls gay. Defendg Newman’s non-homosexualy by sayg that the prit was affectnate relatnships wh both men and women tri to expla away Newman’s love for St.

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. William Hart McNichols, a prent-day, openly gay prit.

AT LAST, A PATRON SAT FOR GAY BMMIE REMAERS

The other issue about Newman’s sexualy om our unrstandg of what means to be “openly gay. ” 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. Fally, if we of Newman as the first openly gay sat, we also have to look at what we mean by “first”?

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

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. From what I know (admtedly limed), I thk the se for Newman’s openly gay inty is the strongt. How did a third-century Catholic sat bee a ntemporary gay in referenced on everythg om the vers of men’s magaz to art and films and an adopted psdonym by Osr Wil?

But who was Sat Sebastian really and how, when, and why did this cur exultatn to the stat of gay in occur? 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. Ecstasy and Agony: Sebastian, Patron Sat of the Gay Communy.

In the morn era, the popularizatn of Sat Sebastian as an in the gay muny often leads back to Guido Reni’s Martyrdom of St.