This Ash Wednesday, Christians will be mixing glitter into their ashes to promote LGBTQ inclusion and visibility.
Churches and other sites are hosting “Glitter+Ash Wednesday,” sponsored largely by Christian LGBTQ organizations and activists, where Christians can receive ashes mixed with glitter in the shape of a cross on their foreheads for Lent. Numerous churches in New York, Boston, Toronto, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Francisco will participate and are easy to find via this event map.
“Glitter+Ash is an inherently queer sign of Christian belief, blending symbols of mortality and hope, of penance and celebration,” one of the initiative’s organizers, Parity, states on its website. “At this moment in history, glitter ashes will be a powerful reminder of St. Augustine’s teaching that we cannot despair because despair paralyzes, thwarting repentance and impeding the change that we are called to make.”
LGBTQ activists and allies receiving glitter ashes will be using the hashtag #GlitterAshWednesday to stand in support of the movement.
One week until #glitterashwednesday! Ashes are in the mail and we are ready to go. #lgbtq #lgbt #ashwednesday #glitter #christian pic.twitter.com/YON4Yx3rJ6
— Parity (@ParityNYC) February 22, 2017
interested in participating in #glitterashwednesday TOMORROW there are many locations….https://t.co/Pyp5rKY24G #LGBT #queerandchristian
— Cathy Renna (@CathyRenna) February 28, 2017
“We do not live in fear of ash—of death—we place it on our foreheads for the world to see,” Parity writes.
