For Immediate Release – March 9, 2023
The Drag community is part of our Queer spiritual heritage and the art of drag has helped fund Queer ministries for decades. Drag is so much a part of our religious heritage and culture that at Sunshine Cathedral we even call our vestments “drag.”
Limitations on drag could mean infringement on our religious liberty. For example, we believe we find drag in the book of Esther; if we were to perform the story of Esther, we would wish to use drag performers to do so!
Beyond these facts, the lens of Queer Theology (through which we engage our faith and scriptures) helps us see drag in the very story of divinity that we have inherited.
The Spirit (She/It) showed up to Jesus’ baptism in dove drag.
Lady Wisdom (She), lived for a time as Jesus of Nazareth (He), and Jesus opined that he felt like a Mother Hen (She/They).
And nonbinary God (She/He/They) has a different costume for every occasion: Day Cloud, Night Fire, Tornado, Rock, Castle, Rainbow, Sweet Daddy, Big Mama, Mountain Mama, Ice Mama, Mother Eagle, etc.
God’s Presence often performed under the drag name, Shekinah Glory, and she was fierce indeed!
Performing in a variety of costumes as a variety of characters that can’t be contained in a limiting binary is the divine story for followers and descendants of the Jesus Way.
It is a matter of faithfulness to our non-binary God and Queer Christ, and to the principles of freedom of religion and freedom of expression, that we affirm the wholesomeness of the art of drag.
Sunshine Cathedral is The World’s Largest Progressive Queer Church with both a local and global congregation of over 30,000. Celebrating 51 years, the Church is physically located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We are a progressive spiritual community with deep roots in Christian worship as well as the Gay Rights movement. While Jesus is our primary faith symbol we are non-dogmatic and are open to the truths expressed in various religions, philosophies, poetry, art, and science. We at Sunshine Cathedral affirm that all people have sacred value (“You are God’s miracle and not God’s mistake”), that God is omnipresent Love, and while we love the bible we tend to interpret it allegorically rather than literally. We resist weaponizing scripture and we believe religion is wrongly used when it is used to demonize, dehumanize, and demoralize people. Learn more at SunshineCathedral.org