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Divine Playhouse, a queer arts venue in a deconsecrated church, opened in Sydney on July 8. Christian protesters heckled attendees outside the venue, .

The following day, after calls from fundamentalist Christian groups, the landlord issued a notice to cease operating “offensive trade”.

Divine Playhouse have been forced to close the venue and postpone events while they seek legal options.

Both the church venue and the performers’ parodic engagement with Catholic rituals – such as “Sunday Mess” and performative “exorcisms” – caused offence.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a long history of queer performers and church spaces interacting in ways that support both communities.

Queer art questioning the church

Parody, pastiche and camp irony are used in queer performance to reclaim what has historically marginalised queer and trans people.

of reconciling LGBTQIA+ and religious identities, queer art often playfully critiques organised religion.

San Francisco’s , drag queen nuns who satirize Catholicism as protest performance, was founded in 1979. have used performance to intervene in academic education conferences in the United States to question how religious teachings impact student attitudes towards queerness. And queer performances questioning religion are an of Australia’s arts landscape.

Queer art incorporating themes of religion frequently comes under criticism from these religious institutions.

In 2024, Austrian queer feminist performance maker Florentina Holzinger’s opera Sancta featured naked lesbian rollerskating “nuns” wearing only habits, reimagining the Catholic mass to explore female sexuality and bodily autonomy.

It was and sparked protests outside performances in Austria, Germany and Belgium.

In 2023, Filipino artist Pura Luka Vega a punk rock version of The Lord’s Prayer in “Jesus drag” in a Manila nightclub, commenting on feelings of exclusion as a queer person in a religious society. The work sparked across the Philipines, with Vega being arrested under obscenity laws.

Spanish artist caused outrage in 2017 for his highly camp staging of Jesus’ crucifixion to the soundtrack of Madonna’s Like A Prayer with allusions to oral sex.

Queer art in the church

The use of church spaces for queer performances is nothing new.

Even consecrated churches have been epicentres for secular experimental performance and activism by LGBTQIA+ people.

New York City is host to St Mark’s Church, an episcopal church that has housed since 1974, and , home to the iconic Judson Poets Theatre and Judson Dance Theatre.

While being active churches, as arts venues they have also been to the careers of many trailblazing queer artists including the gay minister Al Carmines.

In the United Kingdom, Canterbury Cathedral has hosted dance parties with “” to help with finances.

St Paul’s Church in West Hackney has hosted events by queer nightlife collective . at St Pancras New Church exhibits queer art.

in Paris permanently exhibits a Keith Haring triptych and hosts arts and cultural events.

Churches can host LGBTQIA+ arts events, enacting a powerful reclamation by people who have historically been shut out.

But as the Divine Playhouse closure shows, there can be “” in the use of churches for secular events, even if they are deconsecrated.

Supporting queer art

Queer art spaces are difficult to sustain and are in Australia.

Similar trends have been observed in , , and .

These closures have been for venues founded by and for women, trans and gender diverse people.

Queer spaces have a on the health of LGBTQIA+ people, foster inclusion, and are for cutting-edge artistic expression.

Internationally celebrated Australian artists such as , and got their start at queer venues and events like The Red Rattler, Club Kooky, The Imperial Erskineville and The Bearded Tit.

Making art in an expensive city

There is a tension between the art being made by artists – and supported by government (the Divine Playhouse from Create NSW for a venue revival and festival) – and the art which is being “allowed” by landlords.

New York City offers an ideal model, where the city to be artist-run and independently managed.

There are also precedents for this in Australia, particularly in relation to churches. City councils have contributed to the purchase of churches and converted them into arts spaces. In Sydney, was the former Burton St Tabernacle; in Victoria there is and .

Churches – perhaps even more so, deconsecrated churches, which no longer hold any sacred status – are ideal spaces for reclamation by the queer community for art and performance.

This may be especially the case in Sydney, the property market in the world.

If landlords can silence art in the spaces they own, the long-term future of queer arts and culture requires venues those communities can own and govern themselves. This is a tall order in Sydney’s market. Unrestricted funding from government agencies and philanthropy is critical. Queer artists and audiences must have access to spaces beyond the reach of commercial and ideological censorship.

Ironically, as we can see from around the world, such spaces may be found in the church.

, Lecturer, Theatre and Performance Studies,

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