University dean in UK claims Jesus may have been transgender based on paintings

A university dean in the United Kingdom has raised some eyebrows after defending a claim that Jesus may have been transgender based on some evidence seen in paintings and other depictions.

Dr. Michael Banner, the dean of Trinity College in Cambridge, came out in defense of a claim by a research student at the school that certain depictions of Jesus show a wound on his body that “takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance,” possibly indicating he was trangender.

The student, Joshua Heath, told an audience during an evensong service at the college chapel on Sunday night that paintings like Malouel’s Pieta with the Holy Trinity, depict the wound with blood running in a direction he claimed showed both male and female attributes.

“In Christ’s simultaneously masculine and feminine body in these works, if the body of Christ [is] as these works suggest the body of all bodies, then his body is also the trans body,” said Heath, according to The Telegraph. 

The outlet also reported that Banner had responded to Heath’s claims by saying, “speculation was legitimate, whether or not you or I or anyone else disagrees with the interpretation, says something else about that artistic tradition, or resists its application to contemporary questions around transsexualism.”

Heath reportedly also made mention of several instances in which Jesus’ genitalia is exposed, saying its appearance seemed to “urge a welcoming rather than hostile response towards the raised voices of trans people.” 

Some people who were present at the service allegedly left in tears over the claims made by Heath.