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“Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” – Ephesians 5:18-19. Honey, the blues is gay! And its rich LGBTQIA+ Black history is something to celebrate.
Black queer artists like Ma Rainey, Gladys Bentley, Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon, Billie Holiday, Billy Strayhorn, Alberta Hunter, and Bessie “Empress of the Blues” Smith deeply influenced the blues genre.
One of the first documented blues performances was in the early 1900s. John W.F. “Johnnie” Woods was known as a female impersonator, what we now call a “drag queen.” In 1934, James “Kokomo” Arnold referenced his bisexuality in his song “Sissy Man Blues.” Ma Rainey and Gladys Bentley were also known for their raunchy lyrics celebrating Black queer love and desire.
Too often, we exclude Black queer leaders and history from our conversations about liberation, resistance, and spiritual history. We’ve been taught queerness isn’t “natural.” Isn’t Black. Isn’t Godly. But if we are all children of God, where do these teachings actually come from?
Our understanding of liberation is incomplete without Black queer resilience, faith, joy, and liberation practices. Black liberated futures rooted in faith must include our Black LGBTQIA+ community.