A one-woman show called “The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven” staring a 65-year-old woman who identifies as a trans, depicts Jesus as a transgender woman. According to Huffington Post, the show toys with many other biblical parables, and a screening of a past performance will be shown on November 15 at theatre in Ireland …
“There’s a little sermon that reminds the audience that Jesus never had a single word of condemnation for transpeople,” Clifford told The Huffington Post. “The show is a reminder that we have existed throughout this world and many cultures have accepted and celebrated our existence.”
The show received some serious backlash when it debuted at the Glasgay! arts festival in 2009. Droves of angry Christian protesters picketed the theater, holding signs that read “God: My Son Is Not A Pervert.”
Box office staffers received death threats, and a plain-clothed police officer was in attendance at the live performance to make sure Clifford didn’t get attacked. “I was very upset and very traumatized,” she told HuffPost. “It brought back distress from early emotional abuse that I suffered.” Clifford, a practicing Christian, who was estranged from her faith for many years credits her renewed Christian devotion to a particularly LGBTI-friedly church she attends in Edinburgh. “It was very clear to me that the only way I could belong to the church was through being in the closet and living a lie,” she said.