York Art Gallery in England has, in partnership with the York LGBT Forum, put on display “the reinterpretation of selected artworks from the collection.” And what does this look like, exactly? Consider the placard next to this painting of Saint Agatha by Bernardo Cavallino, an Italian artist who lived from 1616 to 1656.
The influence of the worst kind of ideologically polluted Labour Council. Could they be any more self-regarding? pic.twitter.com/vf2qazTZ9L
— George Wade I/me (@GeorgeWOxford) September 21, 2022
It reads:
St Agatha is usually shown with her severed breasts on a plate to represent her martyrdom. Here, however, she covers her newly flat chest and looks towards heaven in ecstasy.
This reminds me of the gender euphoria I felt the first time I, a transmasculine person, wore a chest binder. It hurt my ribs, but I finally saw myself the way I wanted to be.
I see myself in androgynous Agatha. Euphoric, despite being tormented for simply being ourselves. The elation of transcending physical form that we share is profoundly trans. Artwork of saints like this speaks to the queer experience of pushing against social norms to live euphorically as ourselves.
Anonymous, YMT LGBTQIA+ Ally and LGBTQIA+ Community Member
As worthy of scrutiny as the thoughts of “anonymous, YMT LGBTQIA+ Ally” may be, they have nothing whatsoever to do with Cavallino’s subject. Saint Agatha was a woman and a Catholic, tormented for her commitment to Jesus Christ and for the lengths she was prepared to go to protect the virtue of chastity. Her ability to transcend suffering, even the brutal torture of having one’s breasts sliced off — which she was subjected to for refusing her tormentor’s sexual advances — speaks to the strength of her faith. It does not speak to her being “profoundly trans.”
This anonymous young woman who is subjecting herself to the self-harm of a chest binder needs help — not a platform from which to engage in cultural vandalism.