SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Which LGBTQ Person or Ally Would You Canonize This All Saints Day?

With All Saints Day coming up, Bondings 2.0 is asking our readers a question:

“If you could canonize any LGBTQ person or ally, living or dead, Catholic or not, fictional or real, who would it be, and why?”

We were inspired to ask this question by the “Jesuitical” podcast which asks all of its guests: “If you could canonize anyone, living or dead, Catholic or not, fictional or real, who would it be, and why?” Recently, one of the co-hosts, Zac Davis, crowdsourced answers to this question from listeners and readers of America Media, the podcast’s sponsor.

You can answer our LGBTQ version of that question by filling out the form below and submitting it by Wednesday, October 30th.  We will share a selection of responses in our All Saints Day post, November 1st.

The answers to Davis’ question were diverse: one was a Polish Catholic who resisted Nazi occupiers, one was a listener’s father who did not attend church, a few were pastoral workers and educators. And Fred Rogers, aka Mister Rogers, made the list, too.

Also included was Ezra Furman, a Jewish singer who is newly-out trans woman.  In nominating Furman, Shelley James wrote:

“She arranges her whole life around her faith. For example, on tour she still keeps Shabbat and does not work or travel between sunset on Friday and sunset on Saturday. Being a struggling indie rock performer, this means a lot of rearranging things like festival appearances and gigs.

“She recently came out as transgender, which has led to her getting a lot of criticism from the usual bigots, who had previously just stuck to anti-Semitic and homophobic abuse but now have branched into trans-phobia. Despite this, she is being incredibly open and real about her experiences purely so she can ‘help out other young queers’ by being visible. Despite a lifelong history of mental health problems, she still makes herself a symbol of transgender power at great personal risk; and I love her for that.”

So, let’s hear from you readers!  Complete the following form and submit it by Wednesday, October 30, 2019,  5:00 p.m.  Eastern U.S. Time!

Oops! We could not locate your form.

—Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, October 28, 2019