A Queer Chaplain’s Remarkable Story of Renouncing Religious Shame and Reclaiming Spirituality

Bonnie Violet, a trans, gender queer drag queen, has many stories to tell. Growing up in Idaho, Bonnie Violet first found a fulfilling community in church and felt a calling within her to be of service to others. But her queerness and transness didn’t feel compatible, at first, with the church, and she left it for a decade.

But that calling still lived within Bonnie, as she worked in HIV/AIDS advocacy, and she began to reclaim the spiritual thread in her life, undertaking a remarkable process of healing that she shares in our Queer Devotions podcast.

Now Bonnie Violet is “A Queer Chaplain” with a vibrant YouTube page and Facebook group, where she interviews drag queens about their spirituality, hosts multifaith discussions about transness and spirituality, and talks across the religious divide with her conservative aunt in a podcast called, Splintered Grace. Her work provides spiritual and pastoral care to queer and trans folks who are so often denied it.

Standout episodes of her Drag & Spirituality series include her discussion with Ms. Penny Cost, Fonda Coxx, and a multifaith discussion with Mango Lassi, Coco Sho-Nell, LoUis CYfer.

This work is now included in our Resource Portal, launched today with other work focused on the spiritual care of queer and trans people. This includes the memoir of Rev. Dr. Cheri NiNovo, The Queer Evangelist, Beloved Arise’s album, Serenade, Ivan Coyote’s new book Care Of: Letters, Connections, and Cures, and the article from Autrostraddle, “Queering Faith: Reclaiming the Holy of Spirituality.”