Elton John's Gay Jesus

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-18 08:10:00 UTC
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Elton JohnWhoa there. This is going to be more controversial for Elton John than that time he sang with Eminem at the Grammys.

John gave an interview to Parade Magazine this week, in advance of his annual Oscar shindig to raise money for his HIV/AIDS Foundation. There's some nuggets about his rock star fame, his previous drug use, and his thoughts on why being famous is not as good as being a philanthropist.

But the best parts are reserved for Elton John's thoughts on Jesus, as well as his thoughts on the politics of HIV. For Elton John, if you take all the good things you hear and read about Jesus in the Bible, you get the archetypal homosexual.

"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him," John says. "Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead."

Sure, there's a bit of a non-sequitor there, but the point gets across. Compassion. Understanding human problems. Super-intelligent. Sounds exactly like the characteristics of people who live under oppression, but fight for justice.

Of course, that's bound to get some members of the right-wing wound up. A play depicting a gay Jesus, Corpus Christi, is regularly blasted by the religious right, even though its central message is less about the sexual orientation of Jesus, and more about the works of justice. But no matter. Mix the words gay and Jesus together, and you might as well put ants down the pants of certain religious leaders.

As for Elton John, the musician also throws a bone to the history of HIV/AIDS. Remember during the 1980s, when lots and lots of gay men were dying and the President of the United States wouldn't say anything about it? Yeah, Elton remembers that.

"Every time I sing 'The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes' onstage, I say that this is a song written about a time when people in America started getting AIDS and your president, Ronald Reagan, did nothing about it. I get boos," John said. "There's a lot of hate in the world."

Or maybe just a lot of people who like to romanticize Ronald Reagan.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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