There is a play depicting Jesus as a trans woman, and it sounds pretty cool
A play which features Jesus as a trans woman is being performed in Belfast.
The show, which is created by Jo Clifford, a practicing Christian, depicts Jesus as a trans woman coming back to modern day society.
The play ‘The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven’, shows in Belfast as part of the Outburst Queer Arts Festival.
Clifford told the BBC: “She [Jesus] pitches a sermon and tells a few very familiar gospel stories.”
“She has a communion, shares bread and wine with the audience, which is really a gesture of solidarity in the face of death and she gives a blessing.
“So it’s a very important, very intimate show.”
Of her reasons for writing and performing the show, Clifford says: “Obviously being a transgender woman myself it concerns me very greatly that religious people so often use Christianity as a weapon to attack us and justify the prejudices against us.
“I wanted to see if we could move away from that and make people think again.”
Clifford has taken her show on tour for a number of years, and it has been featured at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
However not all were fans of the production – Clifford says a group of 300 protesters held a candlelit vigil outside a theatre in Glasgow in 2009.
Those opposed claim the play is blasphemous, but Clifford says most critics hadn’t seen it, or read much about it.
“People did that when they didn’t know anything about the play,” she said. “They assumed that it would be very offensive to the church.
“As a practising Christian myself, I have no interest in attacking the church or mocking the church or make fun of the church or in anyway being blasphemous or offensive.”
Going on, she said: “I simply want to assert very strongly, as strongly as I can that Jesus of the gospels would not in anyway wish to attack or denigrate people like myself.”
Clifford actually said a lot of Christian people who have seen the show “are generally moved by it”, and that it “speaks very strongly to people” of all or no religion.
“I think it’s very important to get across the message that Jesus of the gospels would not condone or want to promote prejudice and discrimination against anybody and to try to convey a message of compassion and love and understanding of everybody,” said Clifford.
“No matter what their belief, no matter what their gender, orientation or sexuality.”
