Protesters held a candlelight vigil at the Tron theater in Glasgow, Scotland this week on the first night of a play in which Jesus is portrayed as a transsexual.
As many as 300 protesters, carrying placards bearing messages such as "Jesus, King of Kings, Not Queen of Heaven" and "God: My Son Is Not A Pervert", gathered to sing hymns and light candles as
Jesus, Queen Of Heaven, written by 59-year-old Jo Clifford, formerly John Clifford and the only performer in the play, began its run as a part of Glasgow's Glasgay! arts festival.
The protest, which the
London Times says was attended by evangelical Christian groups and Roman Catholics, shocked Ms Clifford, who changed gender nine years ago and is said by the
Independent to be a committed Christian. She said:
I think it is very sad that the protest has enlisted Christians who have difficulties with gays and transsexuals. I wanted to point out that this does not have any foundation in the Bible. The people who angered Jesus were the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites – the people who were deeply prejudiced, those who passed judgment on people they did not know
Ms Clifford added that people had wrongly assumed the play would be sacrilegious, noting that those unhappy with her work should reread the Gospel as in it Jesus said "judge not".
One possibly unexpected consequence of the protests on the opening night of Ms Clifford's play, which one reviewer thought to be “overburdened by its ambition and a central characterisation that could inspire no-one”, is that the 25-seat Tron theater is now sold out for every performance of the play until it ends on Saturday. However any plans to move the play to an alternative venue are being undermined by the protests, which appear to have taken organizers of the Glasgay! festival by surprise.
Whilst she came out to family and friends nine years ago it took another four years before Ms Clifford began living as a woman. That was after the death of her partner, feminist writer Sue Innes. The couple had two children together.
Jesus, Queen of Heaven is, according to the
London Times, a portrayal of the life Jesus might lead were he a transsexual woman living in the present day and age. A previous play,
God’s New Frock, written in 2002 when Jo Clifford was still living as John Clifford, was partly about Ms Clifford's struggle growing up as a man, all the time feeling that she was truly a woman.
Metro quotes Glasgay! producer Steven Thomson as saying:
This work is not intended to incite or offend anyone of any belief system. However, we respect the right of people to disagree with that opinion
Those who do disagree with Mr Thomson's comments include Pastor Jack Bell of the Zion Baptist Church. Pastor Bell attended Tuesday's protest in Glasgow and he declared:
If this play had treated the prophet Mohammed in the same way there would have been a strong reaction from the Islamic community, but that just wouldn't happen
Protesters called the play "totally blasphemous", with a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, Archbishop Mario Conti, asserting that "a more provocative and offensive abuse of Christian beliefs" was very hard to imagine.
