Heavenly HomosHeavenly Homos, Etc

by Jan Haen



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Also on this website:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.



Toby Johnson's books:

Toby's books are available as ebooks from smashwords.com, the Apple iBookstore, etc.


Finding Your Own True Myth - The Myth of the Great Secret III

FINDING YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell: The Myth of the Great Secret III


Finding God

FINDING GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD: The Journey Expanded


Gay Spirituality

GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness


Gay Perspective


GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe


Secret Matter


SECRET MATTER, a sci-fi novel with wonderful "aliens" with an Afterword by Mark Jordan


Getting Life

GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE:  A Fantastical Gay Romance set in two different time periods


The Fourth Quill

THE FOURTH QUILL, a novel about attitudinal healing and the problem of evil




Two Spirits
TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life with the Navajo, a collaboration with Walter L. Williams



charmed lives
CHARMED LIVES: Spinning Straw into Gold: GaySpirit in Storytelling, a collaboration with Steve Berman and some 30 other writers


Myth of the Great Secret


THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET: An Appreciation of Joseph Campbell


In Search of God


IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD: A Mystical Journey



Unpublished manuscripts


About ordering


Books on Gay Spirituality:

White Crane Gay Spirituality Series


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  Articles and Excerpts:

Review of Samuel Avery's The Dimensional Structure of Consciousness


Funny Coincidence: "Aliens Settle in San Francisco"


About Liberty Books, the Lesbian/Gay Bookstore for Austin, 1986-1996 with a list of topics in Austin LGBT History


The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate


A Bifurcation of Gay Spirituality


Why gay people should NOT Marry


The Scriptural Basis for Same Sex Marriage


Toby and Kip Get Married


Wedding Cake Liberation


Gay Marriage in Texas


What's ironic



Shame on the American People


The "highest form of love"


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Gay Consciousness


Why homosexuality is a sin


The cause of homosexuality


The origins of homophobia


Advice to Future Gay Historians


Q&A about Jungian ideas in gay consciousness


What is homosexuality?


What is Gay Spirituality?


My three messages


What is Gay Perspective?


What Jesus said about Gay Rights


Myths, Salvation and the Great Secret with Rich Grzesiak


Queering religion


Common Experiences Unique to Gay Men


Is there a "uniquely gay perspective"?


The purpose of homosexuality


Interview on the Nature of Homosexuality


What the Bible Says about Homosexuality


Mesosexual Ideal for Straight Men



Varieties of Gay Spirituality


Waves of Gay Liberation Activity


The Gay Succession


Wouldn’t You Like to Be Uranian?


The Reincarnation of Edward Carpenter


Queer men, myths and Reincarnation


Was I (or you) at Stonewall?


Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality as Artistic Medium


Easton Mountain Retreat Center


Andrew Harvey & Spiritual Activism


The Mysticism of Andrew Harvey


The upsidedown book on MSNBC


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Enlightenment


"It's Always About You"



The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara


Joseph Campbell's description of Avalokiteshvara


The Nature of Suffering and The Four Quills


You're Not A Wave



Joseph Campbell Talks about Aging



Toby's Experience of Zen



What is Enlightenment?



What is reincarnation?


What happens at Death?


How many lifetimes in an ego?



Emptiness & Religious Ideas



Experiencing experiencing experiencing



Going into the Light



Meditations for a Funeral



Meditation Practice



The way to get to heaven



Buddha's father was right



What Anatman means



Advice to Travelers to India & Nepal



The Danda Nata & goddess Kalika



A Funny Story: The Rug Salesmen of Istanbul



Nate Berkus is a bodhisattva



John Boswell was Immanuel Kant



Cutting edge realization



The Myth of the Wanderer



Change: Source of Suffering & of Bliss



World Navel



What the Vows Really Mean



Manifesting from the Subtle Realms



The Three-layer Cake & the Multiverse


The est Training and Personal Intention



Effective Dreaming in Ursula LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven



Drawing a Long Straw: Ketamine at the Mann Ranch


Alan Watts & Multiple Solipsism


How I Learned Chakra Meditation


Je ne Regrette Rien



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Gay Spirituality


Curious Bodies


What Toby Johnson Believes


The Joseph Campbell Connection


The Mann Ranch (& Rich Gabrielson)


Campbell & The Pre/Trans Fallacy


The Two Loves


The Nature of Religion


What's true about Religion


Being Gay is a Blessing


Drawing Long Straws


Freedom of Religion


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The Gay Agenda


Gay Saintliness


Gay Spiritual Functions



The subtle workings of the spirit in gay men's lives.


The Sinfulness of Homosexuality


Proposal for a study of gay nondualism


Priestly Sexuality


Having a Church to Leave


Harold Cole on Beauty


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Marian Doctrines: Immaculate Conception & Assumption


Not lashed to the prayer-post


Monastic or Chaste Homosexuality


The Monastic Schedule: a whimsy


Is It Time to Grow Up? Confronting the Aging Process


Notes on Licking  (July, 1984)


Redeem Orlando


Gay Consciousness changing the world by Shokti LoveStar


Alexander Renault interviews Toby Johnson



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Mystical Vision


"The Evolution of Gay Identity"


"St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul."


Avalokiteshvara at the Baths


 Eckhart's Eye


Let Me Tell You a Secret


Religious Articulations of the Secret


The Collective Unconscious


Driving as Spiritual Practice


Meditation


Historicity as Myth


Pilgrimage


No Stealing


Next Step in Evolution


The New Myth


The Moulting of the Holy Ghost


Gaia is a Bodhisattva


Sex with God


Merging Religion and Sex


Revolution Through Consciousness Change: GSV 2019


God as Metaphor


More Metaphors for God


A non-personal metaphor God


Jesus and the Wedding Feast


Tonglen in the Radisson Varanasi


The Closet of Horrors


What is Truth?



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The Hero's Journey


The Hero's Journey as archetype -- GSV 2016


The  Gay Hero Journey (shortened)


You're On Your Own


Superheroes


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Seeing Differently


Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil


Allah Hu: "God is present here"


 
Adam and Steve


The Life is in the Blood



Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery"


Seeing with Different Eyes


Facing the Edge: AIDS as an occasion for spiritual wisdom


What are you looking for in a gay science fiction novel?


A Different Take on Leathersex


Seeing Pornography Differently


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The Vision


The mystical experience at the Servites'  Castle in Riverside


A  Most Remarkable Synchronicity in Riverside


The Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis


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The Techniques Of The World Saviors

Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby


Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara


Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection


Part 4: A Course in Miracles


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The Secret of the Clear Light


Understanding the Clear Light


Mobius Strip


Finding Your Tiger Face


How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated


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Joseph Campbell, the Hero's Journey, and the modern Gay Hero-- a five part presentation on YouTube


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About Alien Abduction


In honor of Sir Arthur C Clarke


Karellen was a homosexual


The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance


Intersections with the movie When We Rise


More about Gay Mental Health


Psych Tech Training


Toby at the California Institute


The Rainbow Flag


Ideas for gay mythic stories


My first Peace March


Toby Marotta & Sons of Harvard


Toby Marotta's Politics of Homosexuality


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People


Kip and Toby, Activists


Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta.


Harry Hay, Founder of the gay movement


About Hay and The New Myth


About Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, the first man to really "come out"


About Michael Talbot, gay mystic


About Fr. Bernard Lynch


About Richard Baltzell


About Guy Mannheimer


About David Weyrauch


About Dennis Paddie


About Ask the Fire


About Arthur Evans


About Christopher Larkin


About Mark Thompson


About Sterling Houston


About Michael Stevens


The Alamo Business Council


Our friend Tom Nash


Our friend Cliff Douglas


Second March on Washington


The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the "Statement of Spirituality"


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Book Reviews



Be Done on Earth by Howard E. Cook


Pay Me What I'm Worth by Souldancer


The Way Out by Christopher L  Nutter


The Gay Disciple by John Henson


Art That Dares by Kittredge Cherry


Coming Out, Coming Home by Kennth A. Burr


Extinguishing the Light by B. Alan Bourgeois


Over Coffee: A conversation For Gay Partnership & Conservative Faith by D.a. Thompson


Dark Knowledge by Kenneth Low


Janet Planet by Eleanor Lerman


The Kairos by Paul E. Hartman


Wrestling with Jesus by D.K.Maylor


Kali Rising by Rudolph Ballentine


The Missing Myth by Gilles Herrada


The Secret of the Second Coming by Howard E. Cook


The Scar Letters: A Novel by Richard Alther


The Future is Queer by Labonte & Schimel


Missing Mary by Charlene Spretnak


Gay Spirituality 101 by Joe Perez


Cut Hand: A Nineteeth Century Love Story on the American Frontier by Mark Wildyr


Radiomen by Eleanor Lerman


Nights at Rizzoli by Felice Picano


The Key to Unlocking the Closet Door by Chelsea Griffo


The Door of the Heart by Diana Finfrock Farrar


Occam’s Razor by David Duncan


Grace and Demion by Mel White


Gay Men and The New Way Forward by Raymond L. Rigoglioso


The Dimensional Stucture of Consciousness by Samuel Avery


The Manly Pursuit of Desire and Love by Perry Brass


Love Together: Longtime Male Couples on Healthy Intimacy and Communication by Tim Clausen


War Between Materialism and Spiritual by Jean-Michel Bitar


The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal


Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal


The Invitation to Love by Darren Pierre


Brain, Consciousness, and God: A Lonerganian Integration by Daniel A Helminiak


A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides by Andrew Harvey


Can Christians Be Saved? by Stephenson & Rhodes


The Lost Secrets of the Ancient Mystery Schools by Stephenson & Rhodes


Keys to Spiritual Being: Energy Meditation and Synchronization Exercises by Adrian Ravarour


In Walt We Trust by John Marsh


Solomon's Tantric Song by Rollan McCleary


A Special Illumination by Rollan McCleary


Aelred's Sin by Lawrence Scott


Fruit Basket by Payam Ghassemlou


Internal Landscapes by John Ollom


Princes & Pumpkins by David Hatfield Sparks


Yes by Brad Boney


Blood of the Goddess by William Schindler


Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom by Jeffrey Kripal


Evolving Dharma by Jay Michaelson


Jesus in Salome's Lot by Brett W. Gillette


The Man Who Loved Birds by Fenton Johnson


The Vatican Murders by Lucien Gregoire


"Sex Camp" by Brian McNaught


Out & About with Brewer & Berg
Episode One: Searching for a New Mythology


The Soul Beneath the Skin by David Nimmons


Out on Holy Ground by Donald Boisvert


The Revotutionary Psychology of Gay-Centeredness by Mitch Walker


Out There by Perry Brass


The Crucifixion of Hyacinth by Geoff Puterbaugh


The Silence of Sodom by Mark D Jordan


It's Never About What It's About by Krandall Kraus and Paul Borja


ReCreations, edited by Catherine Lake


Gospel: A Novel by WIlton Barnhard


Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey by Fenton Johnson


Dating the Greek Gods by Brad Gooch


Telling Truths in Church by Mark D. Jordan


The Substance of God by Perry Brass


The Tomcat Chronicles by Jack Nichols


10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives by Joe Kort


Jesus and the Shamanic Tradition of Same Sex Love by Will Roscoe


The Third Appearance by Walter Starcke


The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann


Surviving and Thriving After a Life-Threatening Diagnosis by Bev Hall


Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods by Ronald Long

An Interview with Ron Long


Queering Creole Spiritual Traditons by Randy Conner & David Sparks

An Interview with Randy Conner


Pain, Sex and Time by Gerald Heard


Sex and the Sacred by Daniel Helminiak


Blessing Same-Sex Unions by Mark Jordan


Rising Up by Joe Perez


Soulfully Gay by Joe Perez


That Undeniable Longing by Mark Tedesco


Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman


Wisdom for the Soul by Larry Chang


MM4M a DVD by Bruce Grether


Double Cross by David Ranan


The Transcended Christian by Daniel Helminiak


Jesus in Love by Kittredge Cherry


In the Eye of the Storm by Gene Robinson


The Starry Dynamo by Sven Davisson


Life in Paradox by Fr Paul Murray


Spirituality for Our Global Community by Daniel Helminiak


Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society by Robert A. Minor


Coming Out: Irish Gay Experiences by Glen O'Brien


Queering Christ by Robert Goss


Skipping Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage


The Flesh of the Word by Richard A Rosato


Catland by David Garrett Izzo


Tantra for Gay Men by Bruce Anderson


Yoga & the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main


Simple Grace by Malcolm Boyd


Seventy Times Seven by Salvatore Sapienza


What Does "Queer" Mean Anyway? by Chris Bartlett


Critique of Patriarchal Reasoning by Arthur Evans


Gift of the Soul by Dale Colclasure & David Jensen


Legend of the Raibow Warriors by Steven McFadden


The Liar's Prayer by Gregory Flood


Lovely are the Messengers by Daniel Plasman


The Human Core of Spirituality by Daniel Helminiak


3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke


Religion and the Human Sciences by Daniel Helminiak


Only the Good Parts by Daniel Curzon


Four Short Reviews of Books with a Message


Life Interrupted by Michael Parise


Confessions of a Murdered Pope by Lucien Gregoire


The Stargazer's Embassy by Eleanor Lerman


Conscious Living, Conscious Aging by Ron Pevny


Footprints Through the Desert by Joshua Kauffman


True Religion by J.L. Weinberg


The Mediterranean Universe by John Newmeyer


Everything is God by Jay Michaelson


Reflection by Dennis Merritt


Everywhere Home by Fenton Johnson


Hard Lesson by James Gaston


God vs Gay? by Jay Michaelson


The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path by Jay Michaelson


Roxie & Fred by Richard Alther


Not the Son He Expected by Tim Clausen


The 9 Realities of Stardust by Bruce P. Grether


The Afterlife Revolution by Anne & Whitley Strieber


AIDS Shaman: Queer Spirit Awakening by Shokti Lovestar


Facing the Truth of Your Life by Merle Yost


The Super Natural by Whitley Strieber & Jeffrey J Kripal


Secret Body by Jeffrey J Kripal


In Hitler's House by Jonathan Lane


Walking on Glory by Edward Swift


The Paradox of Porn by Don Shewey


Is Heaven for Real? by Lucien Gregoire


In Search of Lost Lives by Michael Goddart


Queer Magic by Tomas Prower


God in Your Body by Jay Michaelson


Science Whispering Spirit by Gary Preuss


Friends of Dorothy by Dee Michel


New by Whitley Strieber


Developing Supersensible Perception by Shelli Renee Joye

Sage Sapien by Johnson Chong


Tarot of the Future by Arthur Rosengarten


Brothers Across Time by Brad Boney


Impresario of Castro Street by Marc Huestis


Deathless by Andrew Ramer


The Pagan Heart of the West, Vol 1 by Randy P. Conner


Practical Tantra by William Schindler


The Flip by Jeffrey J. Kripal


A New World by Whitley Strieber


Bernhard & LightWing by Damien Rowse


The Mountains of Paris by David Oates


Trust Truth by Trudie Barreras


How to be an Excellent Human Being by Bill Meacham


The Deviant's War by Eric Cervini


What Is the Grass by Mark Doty


Sex with God by Suzanne DeWitt Hall


The Sum of All the Pieces by Paul Bradford


All the Time in the World by J. Lee Graham


Jonas and the Mountain by Janis Harper


Two Hearts Dancing by Eli Andrew Ramer


Where's My Pizza? by Larry Armstead II


A New Now by Michael Goddart


Heavenly Homos, Etc by Jan Haen


Heavenly LGBTQ+ by Jan Haen


My Life As a Boy, Priest, Gay Man, and Artist by Jan Haen


Scissors, Paper, Rock by Fenton Johnson




Toby Johnson's Books on Gay Men's Spiritualities:




Gay
Perspective cover
Gay Perspective

Things Our [Homo]sexuality
Tells Us about the
Nature of God and
the Universe


Gay Perspective audiobook
Gay Perspective is available as an audiobook narrated by Matthew Whitfield. Click here







Gay
Spirituality cover
Gay Spirituality

Gay Identity and 
the Transformation of
Human Consciousness



gay-spirituality-audiobook
Gay Spirituality   is now available as an audiobook, beautifully narrated by John Sipple. Click here








charmed lives
Charmed Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling

edited by
Toby Johnson
& Steve Berman







secret matter
Secret Matter

Lammy Award Winner for Gay Science Fiction

updated







Getting Life
Getting Life in Perspective

A Fantastical Romance





Getting
Life in Perspective audiobook
Getting Life in Perspective is available as an audiobook narrated by Alex Beckham. Click here 






The Fourth Quill

The Fourth Quill

originally published as PLAGUE




johnson-the-fourth-quill-audiobook
The Fourth Quill is available as an audiobook, narrated by Jimmie Moreland. Click here






Two
Two Spirits: A Story of Life with the Navajo

with Walter L. Williams




Two Spirits
audiobookTwo Spirits  is available as an audiobook  narrated by Arthur Raymond. Click here






Finding Your Own True Myth - The Myth of the Great Secret III
Finding Your Own True Myth: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell

The Myth of the Great Secret III








In
Search of God in the Sexual Underworld
In Search of God  in the Sexual Underworld






Finding God
Finding God In The Sexual Underworld: The Journey Expanded

2020 Revised Version










The Myth of the Great Secret II

The Myth of the Great Secret: An Appreciation of Joseph Campbell.

This was the second edition of this book.




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Toby Johnson's titles are available in other ebook formats from Smashwords.


Saints living among us


heavenly homos

Heavenly Homos, Etc

Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion, and History

by Jan Haen



Apocryphile Press (April 27, 2022)


107 pages, paperback, $24.50

ISBN:  978-1955821964


Available from Amazon in print and digital

Heavenly Homos


5 stars

Description:


Saints and heroes of the LGBTQ community come alive through bold artwork in Heavenly Homos, Etc. by Dutch priest Jan Haen. He paints diverse people of faith, courage, and love who can inspire readers with new models of queer holiness. The clear, concise style packs a whole pantheon of saints into a single user-friendly volume.

Dozens of saints and historical figures from all over the world are presented, including popular favorites such as Sebastian, David and Jonathan, Joan of Arc, Sergius and Bacchus, Harvey Milk and Matthew Shepard. Less famous but richly deserving people are also canonized by Haen’s paintbrush.

Short, accessible text lets the pictures tell their stories. The book’s deceptively simple style conveys sophisticated understandings of sexual orientation and queer Biblical scholarship. Large, colorful illustrations on every page present a fresh, unsentimental perspective on saints and other uplifting people. Intended for adults, the book naturally includes the occasional nudity that is needed to tell the history.

“Queer saints danced in my soul when I read ‘Heavenly Homos Etc.’ Let the heavenly homos encourage you by revealing their place in human history and in God’s creation.” —Kittredge Cherry, publisher of Qspirit.net, author of Art That Dares and The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision






Review:


The history of religion is filled with people we'd now call LGBTQ+. Some of them were probably saints because they were gay and acting out naturally gay traits of kindness and compassion and sensitivity. Some of them were probably saints in spite of being gay or because they were so distressed at being gay they made their lives into acts of goodness to "prove something" to themselves and to the world. That's the hypothesis of Donald Boisvert in Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints (2004).

In a delightfully innocent and "child-like" way, Dutch priest Jan Haen presents the stories of some of these "gay/lesbian/bi/trans" saints in comic book fashion.

What a nice and simple way to convey this information. Many of these names we all recognize; some are obscure; some are ancient; some are contemporary. Some knew what gay was and thought of themselves in that way; some lived before any names had been given to deviations from the norm of sexual consciousness.

Nice to let them be recognized for who they really were.

The "cartoon" format makes everything so much less controversial—as it should be. That there were gay and lesbian and even trans* saints should be expected. And that, within LGBTQ culture, we present our heroes as wholesome and contributing is the reason for having saints in the first place. By celebrating the virtue and role-modelling of those who lived before us, we recreate the face of the Earth for those who come after us.

Reviewed by Toby Johnson, author of Finding God in the Sexual Underworld, and other books and novels.


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Heavenly LGBTQ+Heavenly LGBTQ+

Queer Icons from LGBTQ Life, Religion, and History

by Jan Haen



Apocryphile Press (February 24, 2023)


102 pages, paperback, $24.00

ePub $7.99

ISBN:  978-1958061220


Available from Amazon in print and digital

Heavenly LGBTQ+


5 stars

Description:

Queer people have bravely faced conflicts with church and society throughout history and around the world, including during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Heavenly LGBTQ+ highlights the role of LGBTQ+ people in the Russia-Ukraine war and puts it into a broader context. Illustrated biographies tell the stories of seventeen diverse international LGBTQ figures from Alvin Ailey to Xenia of St. Petersburg. They include saints, activists, martyrs, ministers, writers, and performers from North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Most lived in the 20th and 21st centuries. Their courage inspires hope for LGBTQ+ people.

Short, accessible text lets the pictures tell their stories. Lively commentary reflects on how sexuality, gender, and religion impacted the war in Ukraine. The book’s deceptively simple comic-book style conveys sophisticated understandings. Large, colorful illustrations on every page present a fresh, unsentimental perspective on uplifting people who faced tough times. Intended for adults, the book naturally includes occasional nudity and violence, as they are part of history.

Heavenly LGBTQ+ is the sequel to Jan Haen’s first book, Heavenly Homos, which was praised by reviewers:

Jan Haen is a Dutch visual artist and Redemptorist priest who has ministered in the Netherlands and South Africa. His art appears frequently in the LGBTQ Saints blog series at Qspirit.net. He painted murals in schools, churches and public places in Africa and across Europe. Haen is an active member of the Werkverband van Katholieke Homo-Pastores, an association of gay Catholic pastoral leaders.

Review:

The cartoon style of Jan Haen's books belie the seriousness of the topic. And in a way that makes the boldness and presumed impossibility of their assertion seem quaintly, innocently, and obviously true—gay/queer/LGBTQ+ lives can be sometimes, even maybe often saintly and virtuous.

The first book dealt with mostly canonized saints who were known historically for their moral or personal goodness, but who with modern eyes we can see were homoexual in some way—saint first. This second book deals more with people whose homosexuality was what made them saintly—LGBTQ+ first. For some it was their sexuality which caused them to be bullied, even martyred. For others that sexuality inspired social service and good works.


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Heavenly LGBTQ+My Life As a Boy, Priest, Gay Man, and Artist


by Jan Haen



Apocryphile Press (February 24, 2023)


91 pages, paperback, $22.99

ePub $9.99

ISBN:  978-1958061541


Available from Amazon in print and digital

My Life As a Boy, Priest, Gay Man, and Artist



5 stars

Description:

“Being a Roman Catholic priest was my vocation in life. But it was impossible for me to ignore that I was a gay sexual being.”

A gay Roman Catholic priest reveals his adventurous life and ministry in this cartoon-style memoir. During a half-century of priesthood, Jan Haen found surprising ways to unite his inclusive spirituality, queer sexuality, and monumental artistry across the globe in Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. He sparked both admiration and controversy by showing same-sex couples in his religious art.

After ordination in 1969, Haen discovered his gay identity against the backdrop of a tradition-bound church. His struggles led him through a transformative personal odyssey, including a period of vulnerability when he became a mental-health patient at the same hospital where he once served as chaplain. Guided by faith and bolstered by support from the Redemptorist order in the Netherlands, Haen found courageous, creative ways to live authentically. At the heart of his narrative is his enduring partnership with a man named Ton, his beloved companion of nearly four decades.

Haen worked with local people to paint murals in churches, schools, and public spaces, often amplifying untold stories. Beyond his artistic endeavors, Haen’s legacy is advocacy and action. He fought for racial justice in South Africa, sailed the Caribbean as a Dutch naval chaplain, illustrated LGBTQ Christian literature, and much more. Short, accessible prose lets the pictures tell his inspiring journey of gay faith.

Review:

Haen tells his own story. He doesn't present himself as a saint the way he presents the other lives he tells about in the other books. But the simplicity of his story and his apparent willingness to keep pushing through shows hm a kind of saint himself.

The most provocative section of the book is about his religious order, the Redemptorists in The Netherlands, accepting and supporting him in coming out as gay and as a maintaining a relationship with a man named Ton, his partner of nearly 40 years. That's told almost glibly. But what a transformation in Catholic thinking it demonstrates. Haen rightly comments: "I had taken a vow of chastity, which is not the same as celibacy, I reckoned."

Indeed, this is an important distinction. The vow of chastity, which monks and priests (and nuns) of religious orders take. is a commitment not to marry and raise children. It's not anti-sexual; it's anti-normalcy, a commitment to live your life for others, not just your own progeny. The Redemptorists welconmed Ton as Jan's friend and partner. The vow of chastity shuld mean you'll use your sexuality and feelings of love and desire in a way that furthers your spiritual life and makes you a better person.

It's Jan Haen's artwork that becomes his most important contribution. He has decorated churches and community buildings and created memorials honoring local heroes
all around the world.

These two--now three--little books about LGBTQ+ consciousness are further examples of his art.

The autobiography is interesting, easily readable because it's got so many pictures, and inspiring.











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Toby Johnson, PhD is author of nine books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, four gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality and editor of a collection of "myths" of gay men's consciousness. 

Johnson's book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness won a Lambda Literary Award in 2000.

His  GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our [Homo]sexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe was nominated for a Lammy in 2003. They remain in print.

FINDING YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell: The Myth of the Great Secret III tells the story of Johnson's learning the real nature of religion and myth and discovering the spiritual qualities of gay male consciousness.

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