List of works depicting Jesus as LGBT

A number of artistic works have depicted Jesus as LGBT or involved in same-sex romantic or sexual relationships. Jesus' sexuality is a topic of significant academic discussion.

Films and screenplays

• The Many Faces of Jesus, also called The Sex Life of Jesus and The Love Affairs of Jesus, a 1973 pornographic screenplay by Jens Jørgen Thorsen that depicted Jesus in sex acts with both men and women. After outcry and government intervention in multiple countries, Thorsen abandoned plans at producing the film, instead making a less explicit film, The Return  [da], in 1992.^[1]
• Him, a lost 1974 gay pornographic film by Ed D. Louie
• The First Temptation of Christ, a 2019 satirical comedy by Porta dos Fundos in which Jesus is depicted as having a boyfriend^[2]

See also

• Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption, a 2011 documentary about the play Corpus Christi (see below), but not itself a depiction of Jesus as gay or bisexual
• The gay Jesus film hoax, a long-running chain letter that claims that a film will soon be released depicting Jesus as gay, initially related to The Many Faces of Jesus (see above)^[3] and later including references to Corpus Christi (see below)^[4]

Literary works

• Thorsens Jesusfilm, a 1975 Danish book translating the script for The Many Faces of Jesus (see above)^{[5]: 26–27}
• "The Love That Dares to Speak Its Name", a 1976 poem by James Kirkup published in Gay News, which led to a successful private prosecution by Mary Whitehouse for blasphemy^[6]: 15

Music

• "Gay Messiah", a 2004 song by Rufus Wainwright from the album Want Two, which depicts a Second Coming wherein Jesus is "reborn / from 1970s porn" as the titular gay messiah^[7][8]

Stage

• Corpus Christi, a 1997 play depicting Jesus as a gay man from Corpus Christi, Texas, who is murdered for being gay
• The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven [pt; ru], a 2009 monologue written by Jo Clifford, depicts Jesus as a trans woman. A Portuguese translation by Natalia Mallo was performed in 2014 by Renata Carvalho.
• The performer Heath V. Salazar has played the drag king persona Gay Jesus since 2016^[9]

References

1. Stevenson, Jack (2015). "Appendix I: Jens Jørgen Thorsen: The Jesus Chronicles". Scandinavian Blue: The Erotic Cinema of Sweden and Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s. McFarland & Co. pp. 233–246. ISBN 9781476612591.
2. "Brazil: Netflix 'gay Jesus' parody film ban overturned". BBC News. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
3. Simbro, William (18 June 1984). "Crusade revives war on non-existent sex film". The Des Moines Register. p. 3A – via Newspapers.com.
4. Mikkelson, Barbara (17 January 2017) [April 21, 2000]. "Will Jesus Be Portrayed as Homosexual in an Upcoming Film?". Snopes. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
5. Gade, Rune (9 March 2018). "Liderlighedens fædreland—Noter om pornografiens frigivelse og religionsspørgsmålet" [Homeland of Lust—Notes on the Release of Pornography and the Question of Religion]. Slagmark—Tidsskrift for idéhistorie [Battlefield—Journal of the history of ideas] (in Danish) (61): 17–32. doi:10.7146/sl.v0i61.104057.
6. Tracey, Michael; Morrison, David (1979). Whitehouse. Communications. London & Basingstoke: Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-16200-0. ISBN 978-1-349-16200-0.
7. Deusner, Stephen M. (15 November 2004). "Rufus Wainwright: Want Two". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
8. Adams, Tim (20 February 2005). "Crystal clear". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
9. Isador, Graham (7 September 2018). "Toronto's 'Gay Jesus' Can Protest and Get Naked at the Same Time". Vice News. Retrieved 5 December 2023.