First Abraham Lincoln, now Jesus. In an upcoming book, Rollan McCleary explores
the sexuality of Jesus. McCleary, a popular gay astrologer, received his Ph.D.
degree last week from the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics at
Queensland University in Australia.
In his thesis, McCleary discusses gay spirituality. He said his thesis is not an
in-depth look at the sexuality of Jesus—that’s where his upcoming book, Signs for a
Messiah, comes in. McCleary believes, based on the planetary alignment at Christ’s
birth as well as other theologic writings, that Jesus was gay. Additionally, McCleary
says several of the disciples may have been gay.
A discussion on Brisbane’s ABC Radio caused an unwanted debate, McCleary said
via e-mail. ‘What has happened here both good and bad for publicity is that a
Brisbane journalist has triggered debate and scandal over funding of my doctoral
thesis, which I came here to be awarded, on gay sprituality. This was portrayed as
paying people to research Jesus’s sexuality—which as the journalist well knew the
thesis didn’t do.’
UQ News claims McCleary’s thesis is the first on gay spirituality. His book, which
suggests Jesus and several disciples were gay, may not be the first on the topic,
but McCleary believes his book is more credible than others. ‘People haven’t taken
them [books suggesting Jesus was gay] very seriously because they don’t have any
evidence and they say things so sensationally that people are not really going to
listen or just be very angry,’ he told Australia’s ABC radio.
Another new book on the topic is the yet-to-be-released title The Man Jesus Loved:
Homoerotic Narratives From the New Testament, from the Reverend Theodore
Jennings, Jr., a professor at the Chicago Theological Seminary of the United Church
of Christ. According to GFN.com, Jennings says not only that Jesus was gay, but
also that he had a boyfriend.
McCleary’s book, by Hazard Press (New Zealand), and Jennings’ book, by Pilgrim
Press, are expected to hit the market this month.
GLMA Protests Government Censorship of LGBT Health Research
The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association will send a letter to President George W.
Bush, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, and the Directors
of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention protesting widespread reports of censorship and monitoring of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgendered health research by govenrment funding agencies.
Recent reports in The New York Times and prestigious journals such as Science
have underscored the seriousness and extent of the problem.