Tell Me About a Gay Saint!

There’s a famous photograph of St Therese of Lisieux in which she’s dressed as St. Joan of Arc. People love this photo—because it delights us to imagine nun theatricals, because it provokes us to wonder whether the “Little Flower” saw herself as a warrior or in need of a warrior’s strength. And because it’s what saints are for. The Church canonizes saints because (among other reasons) they show us what it can look like when God’s Light shines through a person’s life, so that we can begin to discover what it will look like if we let God’s Light shine through our lives.

For this reason we’re encouraged to choose Confirmation names that help us identify with and befriend one of the friends of God. For this reason Catholic parents give their kids books about the saints. (We especially love Alexi Sargeant’s Saintly Creatures and Meg Hunter-Kilmer’s Saints Around the World series.

And for this reason we were so struck when a young woman, after thinking about it for a few moments, said that when she had been a frightened gay teenager speaking with Catholics she trusted, she had hoped “that they would tell me about a gay saint.”

To envision a future for yourself as a Catholic, it helps to have some sense of what a person like you would be like as a Catholic. That’s especially true, and resonant stories become especially powerful, when something about your experience makes you fear that there’s no place in the Church for someone like you.

If your school can tell stories of saints whose lives were shaped by devoted friendship, you don’t have to worry that your own friendships are childish. You don’t have to worry that there’s something wrong with you if you imagine spending your life with your best friend instead of with a Disney prince.

If your mom tells stories where Jesus protects people who are judged, you don’t have to fear that Jesus will reject you.

If your CCD teacher or your priest tells stories of queer people who sought Christ along the Catholic way, you might be shocked to discover that Catholics aren’t afraid of your tough questions! You might be astonished to find that what you’ve thought of as a terrible secret is just another part of the experience of faithful Catholics.

If your spiritual director shows you how Jesus, the Virgin, forged a new kind of family from His virgin disciple John and His Virgin Mother Mary, you don’t have to be afraid that you’ll be alone if you don’t have sex or get married.

These are only a few of the kinds of stories BCF helps Catholics tell. We focus on stories that have inspired not just one or two gay people, but many, to help you build a church where LGBT/SSA+ people see the Light of Christ shining through people like them.

Saint Therese as Saint Joan