Queering The Lens Of History To Understand Our Present Chaos

The recent furor over the Olympics opening ceremonies and the depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” using drag queens in place of the original characters. The backlash was mostly from Evangelicals and Catholic viewers who felt it was mocking their faith. The reactionary nature of the meltdown over the ceremony was not due to the reimagining of the works but the interpretation of malicious intent. I think it was indeed a different kind of ceremony but the intention wasn’t to mock Christ, but just incorporate a new twist on a very famous painting. The transphobic and homophobic nature of some Christians led to them judging everything they saw through those lenses. To argue with that perception is to argue with a wall that has been fortified through years of reenforced conservative building blocks. This distortion of biblical ideas, theology, and Jesus Christ’s message goes back decades and is tied into major Christian movements—Christian Nationalism, Dominionism, and American Evangelicalism.

Much of the outrage is coming from Gen X parents that are now the moral right in our country. The parents of the current generation who they are claiming is slipping away due to drag shows and transwomen competing in sports—or just using a bathroom. The irrational reaction to The Last Supper performance is panic. It is not even just bigotry; it is the result of indoctrination of the evangelical Christian Nationalist idealism mixed with the ever progressing merger of church and state inside the conservative movement. The outrage wasn’t about what they saw, it is about what they think they saw—better yet what they were told they saw. It is not a legitimate reaction to blasphemy nor is it biblical response to any legit passage of scripture. The truth is this was all a part of the same shit I spoke of in my last piece, a great manipulation. I am going to take a bit of journey here but trust me—it related to bath today and Gen X.

The Last Supper and a Gay Artist’s Sin

I wanted to talk about Leonardo da Vinci who painted The Last Supper on commission for the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. It was painted between 1495–1498 and was a mural in the refectory of the convent there. Da Vinci was a sought-after talent during the high renaissance by the Roman Catholic Church and was commissioned by the church and private patrons to do work. What most don’t know or talk about much was Leonardo’s sexuality and identity. In 1467 da Vinci, then 24 years old, was arrested with a group of men and charged with sodomy. There are records of this arrest which was a serious offence in that time—it was punishable by death. The story of this arrest is obviously quite vague, but it is known that gay men gathered in various places in Florence, to engage in sexual behavior. This arrest involved several known sex workers and a member of the Medici family—who were the most powerful family at the time. It is likely that the connection to the Medici helped in da Vinci avoiding prison and a death sentence.

Da Vinci’s sexuality was relatively known as a part of his life though in the oppressive church ruled Italy—it was also dangerous. He was a Catholic but also a man who loved men, preferring them as intimate partners. Da Vinci had lovers that are known to have had very loving intimate relationships with the artist. Gian Giacomo Caprotti – more commonly known as Salaí which meant ‘Little Devil’, was a younger assistant at da Vinci’s shop. He and Leonardo spent 25 years together, which da Vinci served as both a master to the apprentice and a lover. Many of the gay relationships in Florence during these years were between older men and younger teens and early 20 somethings that were either apprentices, muses, or assistants. His other known lover was Francesco Melzi, meeting da Vinci in 1505 and their relationship was much different than the one with Salai. Melzi was a member of a wealthy family, unlike Caprotti who was of a peasant class. Melzi served as a secretary for da Vinci and their intimacy was said to have more of a father-son closeness.

Salai was Leonardo’s muse, often the depiction of male beauty in his works. Da vinci would buy Salai expensive clothing, take him on travels, and kind of show him off to others—kind of acting as a “sugar daddy” to others. Da Vinci was very clear on his love of male beauty, and while he was known to have very healthy relationships with women his preference was clearly males. It’s been said that da Vinci, who studied anatomy and created some of the earliest detailed drawings of human body, had a negative view of female sexual intercourse. It was said to even repulse him despite his many female friends who he supported and respected. His interest in heterosexual sex was clearly not high on his list of desires. Yet he did have an almost obsession with the penis, writing,

‘The penis sometimes displays an intellect of its own. When a man may desire it to be stimulated it remains obstinate and goes its own way, sometimes moving on its own without the permission of its owner. Whether he is awake or sleeping, it does what it desires. Often when the man wishes to use it, it desires otherwise. And often it wishes to be used and the man forbids it. Therefore, it appears that this creature possesses a life and intelligence separate from the men.'”- Leonardo da Vinci

Da Vinci was still a desired artist by the church, a church that likely new his sexual identity. It was safer to claim celibacy which da Vinci was said to do, despite the evidence that suggest he did have lovers. In 15^th century Florence there was a body that specifically investigated sodomy known as the “The Office of the Night” whose sole purpose was to investigate what would be called gay activity amongst men during that time. One thing to understand is that there was no “gay culture” as we understand it today. Sodomy was part of male culture, especially in Florence—which was associated with drinking, gambling, and other hobbies of the night. Many men were accused of sodomy and convicted, which led to a death sentence by burning. A lot of these men were not “gay” but part of a culture that would engage in male-on-male sex because men were almost exclusively with men, as women’s roles in that culture were not really integrated. Women were primarily homemakers, mothers, wives or simply worked in jobs that only women did. Sodomy was an ambiguous law that was homophobic but pre-dates our modern understandings of Queer culture.

Context and Gay Sex

The reason I’m including this background on da Vinci is to show the hypocrisy of a church that often employed the services of an artist whose lived lifestyles condemned. Other artists like Donatello and Michelangelo were responsible for some of the greatest Christian religious art in history—were also likely gay men. Michelangelo had a deep love for Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, a wealthy nobleman. Throughout his career there is evidence of their relationship being one that was both intimate and passionate. Michelangelo struggled with his desires and his faith, becoming a clear part of his work. The churches views on sexuality and sodomy made him battle his own shame. Feeling one way about his heart and another about his soul—created a lifelong conflict in the artist.

Like Michelangelo—Donatello was also said to be gay and created a statue of “David” for a patron in the Medici family. Unlike the enormous, masculine depiction of a man that Michelangelo’s famous statue shows, Leonardo’s is much different. His version of the Jewish king is younger looking and completely ambiguous, creating a sculpture that is very gender non-conforming. There are elements of Florence’s Queer cultural built into the piece. The subject of the young man slaying Goliath is depicted wearing a hat. The hat is not something David would have worn at his time but was common on the streets of Florence in the 15^th century. Young male sex workers would wear these types of hats to attract older men looking for sex. The men would take off the young man’s hat and walk away, this was a signal of wanting a sexual encounter. Many Queer scholars feel this was purposefully put in by Donatello as a form of protest art against the church’s sodomy laws. Others suggest it could be the patron themselves who engaged in the company of young men, using the hat as a cheeky little joke.

Italy in the 15^th century was a known for its art but also harsh rule of the church. The feared “Office of the Night” was said to have sentenced over 17,000 during the 70-year run of the commission. This would have accounted for nearly half of all men living in the city of 40,000 citizens. Interesting enough while the hunt for gay men was actively pursued by the Church led government there were gay couples. Many same sex couples would go to church together, pray together, and even approach the alter without any repercussions. The “Office of the Night” even was said to have recognized same sex marriages, because the sin they were prosecuting was that of sodomy—considered a deviant sex act by individuals that was against reproduction. The church saw gay men not as interfering with God’s plan for procreation. This however wasn’t completely about male intimate relationships. It was about sex being used for pleasure. The law church saw sexual intercourse as a means for childbearing and men would have wives for that purpose. This very repressed sexual idealism made men go outside the marriage to find sexual pleasure, in Florence, it was with other men.

Florence was known across Europe as “the capital of the sodomites” and since sexuality really wasn’t defined into our modern understanding until the 19^th century, all of this is based on church interpretations, Roman and Greek understandings. Male to male romantic relationships were defined by the Neo-platonic understanding of love between men. This was that man could only have acceptable intimacy with another man if that man was sodomizing and being sodomized. The act of being sodomized was seen as not masculine and therefore would put a man in danger of being arrested or killed for it. This is why the most common intimate relationship between man was known as pederasty, where an older man would court the attention younger teenaged boys. These relationships were seen as a mentorship which didn’t raise suspicions for either person involved This might all sound very disturbing because it involved such age gaps and underaged people. This was common societal practices in the 15^th century and came from the ancient Greek understandings of Plato’s views of companionship and love which was the norm for centuries. It was also a safeguard for gay men to live their lifestyle without being persecuted. Those adult men caught being sodomized were seen as unnatural—lacking god given masculinity and were often put to death.

Panic, Propaganda and the Policing of Sin

So, what does all this have to do with the Olympics or the outrage over the opening ceremonies? I think the history here is so important in the understanding of the pearl clutching and performative reactions of so many online and in the media. First, understanding who painted The Last Supper is incredibly important. He wasn’t just an artist and scientist who lived centuries ago—he was a complex human being. Da Vinci was a gay man living in a time and place where men were loving other men whilst being aggressively hunted by the church ordained “Office of the Night”. The persecution of gay men, or sodomites, as they were known, was a centuries old tradition. Dante Alighieri wrote quite sympathetically of gay men and their persecution. In Dante’s Inferno it remains interesting where sodomites are placed in greater favor than others in his purgatory. There is not much evidence of Dante being gay but there is a lot of Queer scholars that believe he was around many gay men, having deep empathy for them. They were not damned by him or sentenced to an eternity of suffering beneath the lowest of lowly sinners.

Back to the Olympics—which is also Greek dating back to ancient Greece where homosexual relations were not only common but part of the enlightened society. In our current culture we have seen the rise of angst towards the LGBTQIA+ community, mostly targeting transgender folks. This is a very interesting parallel to the renaissance days of sodomites. Sodomite is a derogatory term that refers to a biblical interpretation of Sodom and Gomorrah as this den of sexual perversion. The church adopted the idea that God destroyed Sodom for the practice and acceptance of homosexuality. Most trusted biblical scholars would agree that it wasn’t why it was destroyed, and this interpretation is grossly false. The church however has fed into this and used it to persecute gay men for centuries and now are doing it again attacking trans people and drag queens.

As I wrote in my last piece Generation X grew up in the age of the rise of Christian Nationalism. The satanic panic of the 1980s might have made more of a culture impact but the Christian Evangelical propaganda of the “Gay Agenda” was pushed on Christian teens as a warning in the 80’s and 90s. We were warned to avoid certain places, cultural events and public spaces that gay men would frequent. The idea of recruitment was often the floated idea about gay culture. That gay men would actively try to coax adolescent boys into homosexual lifestyles—ironically using the very methods of Christians when evangelizing. This led to books on how to keep kids safe from the gay agenda and an attack on the arts for mocking God, spitting on Christianity, and making a mockery of Jesus. There was always an underlying fear of pedophilia placed in the hearts of Christian parents. This was a tool to make gay men seem extra evil and of Satan. The truth, of course, is none of this was happening with in the gay culture. In fact, at that time gay men were dying by the thousands to AIDS with very little care of compassion from the Christian church.

We see this again today as it was in da Vinci’s day. The church pushing these outrageous ideas that they have manipulated into doctrine. The sin policing of society that is selective based on the need of those they deem vile or deviant. As in the Renaissance, the church was rounding up gay men to kill, but also protected those who they benefitted from—even protecting them centuries later by never speaking of their sexuality. Today we see the sin police looking for any reason to sound their self-righteous alarm. In the case of the Olympic opening ceremonies, they are claiming blasphemy based on interpretation of The Last Supper. These upset viewers see the painting a holy relic not a piece of art that was not at all historically accurate. It depicts twelve very European white men who are representing Arabs that would have been the disciples. The White Jesus idealism is a centerpiece of Christian Nationalism and the driving image behind not just Project 2025 but also MAGA itself.

Connecting The Dots

These panics by Christians that erupt in culture are nothing new. The church the once commissioned great works of art from the greatest artists in history, also banned art from the church under the same god. It is this hypocrisy that saw men like da Vinci spared a fiery execution but also has elevated a man like Donald J. Trump to the savior of American Christian Nationalism. There is so much I could say about the transphobic response to the Olympic opening ceremonies, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is when the church and state become aligned, the lines become blurred between reason and superstition. Much of the legalism that has led us to a place where a strategy like Project 2025 can exist, was done through misinterpretation, manipulation, and targeted action on behalf of Christian leaders looking to control government. Whether we are talking about The Office of the Night in the 15^th century or the Trump/Vance campaign of 2024, there is a similar tone. Use a corrupted version Christianity as not just a moral foundation but as a dog whistle to scare the masses into falling in line. The gay men of Florence were forced to live in hiding or face persecution and death. The trans people of today, especially transwomen are very much the same. There is a fear that is all too often realized everyday by trans folks—many of whom have been killed just for being them. The culture of toxic masculinity is the same as the culture in Renaissance Italy in which appearing unmasculine could get you hurt or even killed.

We are in these days of fear that is baseless but because of religion it has a deeper hook in people. The sight of drag queens sparks a response that is illogical yet accepted in the conservative circles—that “They are after our kids!” The same nonsensical rhetoric exists with the public bathroom, the transwomen in sports, and the DEI debates. That somehow by being kind, loving, or inclusive you are endangering people—especially children. There have Christians and right-wing celebrities helping fuel this by claiming Christians should fight back, invoking they are too graceful or forgiving. The very attributes that make up Christ’s entire gospel are the principles that the church rejects over and over. It was so in the times of da Vinci, and it is today. The fact remains Christianity is not threatened by art, or depictions of art—it is quite the opposite. The fear and outrage is virtue signaling, it is a strategy to get Christians and conservative to become outraged over nothing thus giving them an opening to push more theocratic ideas. For progress to work we must learn from our history, be Gen X or the high Renaissance—it is all part of the story.

These examples of coerced mob rule and panic are nothing new, but they are effective. The right side of history is often the side the wrong took away—burying it deep and covering it in arbitrary morality. We must not just react to reactions but understand the very systemic things that got us here. The institutional erosion of human reasoning and logic isn’t the work of some red horned clown or a “woke mind virus”. It is the indoctrination and merging of religion with secular government, the very thing Jerry Farwell called The Moral Majority in the 1980s which is currently being shopped as Project 2025. We have seen the outrage over LGBTQIA+, reproductive rights, and drag queens reading children’s books, and that is just the surface. The legislation currently in many states is dehumanizing trans kids, allowing weapons in the hands of dangerous people, and pushing a narrative that lifestyles deemed ungodly are rightfully to be persecuted.

When I was a pastor, I preached about Jesus. It wasn’t the Jesus that would boycott an Olympics over an artist’s re-imagining of The Last Supper. No, I preached the Jesus that loved people the world despised. The same Jesus that wasn’t afraid to be around those considered sexual deviants or socially outcast. Jesus was more likely to dine with drag queens and transgender kids than he would be those crying blasphemy. Let us not forget that people survived the churches attempts to dictate law and order. I still have that little flicker of hope in me that says we will survive it again.

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