LGBT Saints
Jesus in Love honors traditional and alternative saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes, holy people, deities and religious figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and our allies. Click for profiles in the LGBT Saints Series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. This list is a work in progress. More names will be added later. LGBT saints are listed by date on our holidays page.
Traditional Christian
Aelred: Gay saint of friendship
Avertanus, Romeo, Bartolo and Vivaldo: Patrons of the AIDS pandemic
Blessed Bernardo de Hoyos
Boris and George: United in love and death
Brigid and Darlughdach: Celtic saint loved her female soulmate
Gay centurion: Jesus heals a soldier’s boyfriend in the Bible
Esther and Vashti: Biblical queens inspire LGBT writers
Ethiopian eunuch: A black gay man was the first Christian convert
David and Jonathan: Love between men in the Bible
Francis of Assisi’s queer side revealed by historical evidence
Queer Lady of Guadalupe: Artists re-imagine an icon
Hildegard of Bingen and Richardis: Mystic who loved women
Jacob and the angel: Wrestling to reconcile sexuality and spirituality
Joan of Arc: Cross-dressing warrior-saint
Dark Night of a Gay Soul: John of the Cross
John the Evangelist: The man Jesus loved?
Sor Juana de la Cruz: Mexican nun who loved a countess
Julian of Norwich: Celebrating Mother Jesus
Lazarus: Jesus’ beloved disciple?
Martha and Mary of Bethany: Sisters or lesbian couple?
Mary, Diana and Artemis: Feast of Assumption has lesbian goddess roots
Mary Magdalene’s many faces: Undeserved reputation for sexual sins
Cardinal Newman and Ambrose St. John: Scholar and his “earthly light” share romantic friendship
Friends to the end: Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Brothers by affection: Saints Polyeuct and Nearchus
Ruth and Naomi: Love between women in the Bible
Sergius and Bacchus: Male couple martyred in ancient Rome
Symeon and John: Holy fool and hermit who loved each other
Saint Valentine: Marriage equality role model
Wenceslas and Podiven: Good (gay) King Wenceslas
Wilgefortis: Bearded woman
Alternative
Marcella Althaus-Reid: Queer theology pioneer
Anonymous Priest of Sachsenhausen: Holocaust Remembrance
Artemisia Gentileschi: Baroque rape survivor paints strong Biblical women
Mark Bingham: Gay hero of 9/11 died fighting hijackers
John Boswell: Historian of gays and lesbians in Christianity
Tyler Clementi: Gay martyr driven to suicide by bullies
FannyAnn Eddy: Lesbian martyr in Africa
Peter Gomes: Gay black Harvard minister preached “scandalous gospel”
Mychal Judge: Gay saint of 9/11 and chaplain to New York firefighters
David Kato: Ugandan LGBT activist
Krishna: What if Christ and Krishna made love?
Kuan Yin: A queer Buddhist Christ figure
Harvey Milk: LGBT rights pioneer stood for equality
Pauli Murray: Queer activist-saint for civil rights and gender equality
Henri Nouwen: Author-priest who struggled with his homosexuality
Adrienne Rich: Lesbian feminist poet of the soul
Christina Rossetti: Queer writer of carols and lesbian poetry
Rumi: Poet and Sufi mystic inspired by same-sex love
Bayard Rustin: Gay saint of civil rights and non-violence
Allen Schindler: Gay martyr and naval officer
Matthew Shepard: Modern gay martyr and hate crime victim
Saints of Stonewall: Launched LGBT rights movement
We'wha of Zuni: Two-spirit Native American bridged genders
Jemima Wilkinson: Queer preacher reborn in 1776 as “Publick Universal Friend”
More info
Calendar of LGBT saints listed by date (Jesus in Love)
Calendar of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Saints (Paul Halsall)
Calendar of LGBT / Queer Saints and Martyrs (Queering the Church)
Why we need LGBT saints (A queer theology of sainthood)
Catolico y gay: Santoral LGBT (Catholic and gay: LGBT Saints - in Spanish)
Icons of many saints named above are available on plaques, cards, T-shirts, candles, mugs and more at TrinityStores.com.
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