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There have been widespread reports across history where Intermediate Type (LGBTQ) people have been closely involved with spiritual vocations; as priests, shamans, counsellors, or other forms of spiritual leadership - a phenomenon I have labelled Queer Ministry.

These Queer Ministry themed videos and website pages tell this story in detail.

If we want to understand Queer Ministry we need to study the cultures within which such people lived. And that needs an understanding of recent research into Patriarchy, Matriarchy and Biarchy.

It used to be argued that patriarchy (male dominance) was the natural, universal human condition, although possibly matriarchy (female dominance) might have existed in deep history. Recent high quality evidence now shows that biarchy (shared authority) was often the norm. Before patriarchy came into the world many societies across history displayed great gender equality. Women could maintain control over their domestic, financial and sexual lives, often by the women in the group or clan cooperating closely together.

These cultures which valued women's roles also seemed to value intermediate type lives and queer ministry vocations. The two issues appear to be linked. If a society values women and men equally, then a person containing both male and female qualities within themself might also be seen as of benefit. It was these biarchal cultures within which Queer Ministry thrived right across history and right across the world.

Sadly attitudes changed when patriarchal values spread across the world. Within patriarchal cultures women's freedoms and queer ministry vocations were both supressed, often violently. The problem was made worse when Judaism and Christianity, as state religions, adopted and enforced patriarchal ideas. This anti-LGBTQ suppression has been so strong that these world-wide stories of Queer Ministry have been all but lost. And it is these stories that I want to re-discover.

I will tell the Queer Minstry story in two phases. Phase 1 simply describes the many pre-patriarchal, gender egalitarian cultures across history where Queer Ministry flourished and gender variant people could live freely. I then use this learning to explore how Queer Ministry interacted with the early history of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

The videos in the Queer Ministry series are like chapters in a book, each video building on and following after the previous one. The first video is an introduction which carefully defines key concepts and explains this new research into Patriarchy. The second video describes these gender egalitarian, biarchal cultures, and shows how Queer Ministry vocations were lived out freely within such societies.

The remaining Queer Ministry videos takes the learning about Queer Ministry lives into the study of Judaism and Christianity. Queer Ministry vocations were common in the early stages of both religions. But such activity was suppressed when each religion later adopted patriarchal ideas. I want to recover the many lost stories of LGBT lives hidden within Judeo-Christian Scripture and history.

	QUEER MINISTRY Part 1. How Patriarchy suppressed LGBT and Third Gender Priests and Spiritual Leaders. The first of a series of recordings. First I explain key concepts and definitions, and then describe how recent research into Patriarchy can inform our understanding of LGBTQIA+ history. YouTube Video (Re-edited and re-uploaded January 2025) Texts and Resources Document - Listing the texts and references used in the recording, and recommendations for further reading. Discussion Definitions and Laws - a webpage which defines and explains the various ideas used in the project in more detail than I can give in the videos.
	QUEER MINISTRY Part 2. Gender Variant Spirituality in the Pre-Patriarchal World This video follows on from Queer Ministry part 1. I describe pre-patriarchal cultures right across the world where Queer Ministry was free to flourish - in America, Africa, India, Europe and Siberia. In each culture I describe how Intermediate Type lives and Queer Ministry vocations were accepted and valued. But this acceptance was within cultures which also accepted great gender equality, and where women often had great personal, financial and sexual autonomy. These two issues seem to go hand-in hand. YouTube Video (uploaded June 2025) Texts and Resources Document - Listing the texts and references used in the recording, and recommendations for further reading. Discussion Definitions and Laws - a webpage which defines and explains the various ideas used in the project in more detail than I can give in the videos.
Future planned recordings The first two videos are a sort of Queer Ministry Phase 1. They describe patterns of Queer Ministry behaviour in the pre-patriarchal world. The final videos in the series are Queer Ministry Phase 2 - using this learning to look for these patterns of Queer Ministry lives within Jewish and Christian history and Scriptures. Such Queer Ministry vocations were common in the early history of both religions, but these stories were supressed or denied when the religions later adopted more patriarchal values. I want to recover the many stories of LGBT lives hidden with Judeo-Christian Scripture and history. NOTE - the Queer Ministry phase 1 videos were uploaded in early 2025. I am now diverting to the Talking about Homosexuality theme because disagreements about how homosexuality is defined and understood are getting in the way of these studies. Once I have clarified my own understanding in 3 videos planned for spring 2026 I will return to Queer Ministry phase 2. QUEER MINISTRY Part 3. Gender Variant Spirituality in Mesopotamia QUEER MINISTRY Part 4. Gender Variant Spirituality in the Hebrew Scriptures QUEER MINISTRY Part 5. Gender Variant Spirituality in Pagan Rome QUEER MINISTRY Part 6. Gender Variant Spirituality in the Gospels QUEER MINISTRY Part 7. How Jacob and Joseph in the Hebrew Bible are stories of gender variance.

Finally, can I ask you a favour. I put a lot of work into these recordings, and it would be good if they can be seen by the largest number of people. If you have a friend or colleague who you think would benefit from knowing about these issues, please do pass it on. TELL A FRIEND! - SPREAD THE WORD! I would welcome comments and suggestions on this work - Contact Me. Thank You