My Rainbow Journey

Trinity Grace United-Sunday Reflection, March 15, 2026
By Pearl Wong

Thank you for giving me the chance to share my story.   My story is one of the many stories of LGBTQI+ Christians who struggle with their homophobic churches. 

 I was born and grew up in Hong Kong and have lived there most of my life, a city where there is still no law to protect discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, and many churches are not welcoming toward them. We are double marginalized by both the church and society.

I often told myself, “I cannot believe that God condemns me instead of loving me. I cannot believe that God discriminates me instead of embracing me as who I am. I refuse to believe that God wants to bring me immeasurable pain and shame. I do not believe”.

In 2008, I went through a confession of my sin as lesbian with my church leaders because my church condemns homosexuality. I was going through a painful decision to leave my same-sex partner of twenty-two years, but I could not do it so I went away to Vancouver, hoping that I could gather enough courage to stop sinning. One Sunday I wandered into an affirming United church, and I met Rev. Bethan of Shiloh Sixth United, she assured me that God loves me the way I am, my identity as lesbian and Christian can become “one” under the loving grace of Christ. She arranged for me to meet a rainbow fellowship group, and I listened to their stories. 

Back in Hong Kong, when I told my church leaders that I would not leave my same sex partner, the pastor requested me to stop my involvement in church and prayed about my sin. I felt rejected and alienated so I left my church. Then I met Dr. Rose Wu, my mentor, ally and friend who inspired me to study theology, and I began my full-time study at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College. It was easy for me to hide my lesbian identity, I wanted to avoid confrontations and rejections from those who strongly oppose to homosexuality, and I was convinced that my “coming out” would complicate matter for myself. 

Occasionally students and teachers from my Divinity School engaged in heated discussion of homosexuality and I kept silent. I enjoyed the easy relationship with everyone at School by staying in the comfort zone. It was out of fear that people would label me as “abnormal and unnatural” that kept me in the closet. 

 The struggle to reveal my sexuality remained an unsettling affair. I had to admit that I was still constrained by the “natural and unnatural” sexual categories imposed by the heterosexist Christian ethics. On a personal level, I am untruthful towards my sexuality as well as my spirituality. On a political level, I failed to walk in solidarity with LGBTQI+ people by denying that I am one of them. 

Finally, I came out to the Divinity School together with ten members of the newly formed Queer Affirming Fellowshipby sharing our experiences and struggles. Telling my own story had an empowering effect. My choice of coming out has set me free from the closet of fear to celebrate my sexuality, without this true self, I cannot have a right relation with God and others. Coming out to ourselves and others also become an empowering agent for resisting unjust power relations concerning LGBTQI+. By “coming out” we stand together as family in protesting against the separation and alienation constructed by sexual categories and boundaries. My personal experience impels me to advocate the movement of coming out as the ongoing process of liberation from heterosexism. Coming out of the closet means identifying oneself as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer. It is the process of affirming the identity of oneself and then declaring it out loud to others. Many of us believe that coming out and being honest with oneself and with others about their sexual orientation is essential for an emotional and spiritual healthy life.

  When I was still finalising my graduate thesis, Rose Wu suggested that we should consider officially forming Queer Theology Academy, not only to do our own queer theology but to put what we write into praxis. I jumped at this opportunity immediately without thinking twice! Queer Theology Academy was officially registered as a non-profit in 2014. From queer theology study group to queer affirming fellowship to the founding of Queer Theology Academy, our ministries to the queers began.

Queer Theology Academy is the pioneer of queer theology written by Chinese queer Christians in reflection of their own experiences. First, we provide a safe space for queers to encounter each other and share their stories. Second, we invite queers to use their queer bodies and spirits to embark on a theological journey together and thus leading to our publications and workshops. Our queer theological praxes become a loud and prominent voice in queer advocacy for equal rights and social justice which spread from Hong Kong to Asia and eventually global. 

First, We Publish a series of books on queering theologies

Theology books usually give the impression of being too academic, too much theologizing and boring since what missing is the human touch. Our books are different because the people are there in every chapter; and every word represents their pains, sufferings, desperation as well as joy, hope and resurrection. Queer persons are the subjects instead of objects in their journeys of theological reflections. Recognizing this uniqueness, we organize a series of book clubs so that the authors can tell their own stories. The audience connects with our authors through their storytelling. Our books are also on sale in the largest Christian bookstores that usually sell theology books with a conservative view on sexuality. The bookstore added a plastic cover to our book with a warning label which reads, “This book deals with controversial topic on sexuality, only suitable for readers who are experienced Christians”. 

Next, Queer theologies workshops for Chinese LGBTQI+ Christians.

 As an ‘out’ queer Christian, I realize the scarcity of being accepted by seminaries in Asia. However, we also recognize the importance of ‘us’ having the appropriate theological training to equip ourselves in praxis, that is, to empower and support the queer Christian communities. 

From 2014 to 2025, we organized five queer theologies workshops for Chinese LGBTQI+ Christians. The goal of this workshop is to enhance the skills of Christian leaders in advancing their ministries with theological and biblical training as well as Christian counseling for queers; and provide resources to counter Christian right in their own regions that are opposed to the equal treatment of LGBTQI+ people. As a result, our workshops have also inspired a few participants to study full-time at the Divinity School I graduated from.

Our workshops recruited Chinese participants not only from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan but expanded the queer horizon to include Singapore, Malaysia, U.K., USA and Canada. The online workshops were facilitated by an awesome team of lecturers, teaching assistants, spiritual directors, and ministers who have extensive experiences working with Chinese-speaking LGBTQI+ Christians.  Our lectures include feminist, postcolonial, indecent and queer theologies, queering the Bible, queer history in Christianity, queer movements in different regions and denominations, sexual ethics, Populism, DEI and Christian values.

Since I moved back to Vancouver in 2021

I continue my work with Queer Theology Academy. We hope to publish a new book by the end of this year, the book title is “Rainbow Witnesses”, it will feature 10 affirming Christian ministries in Hong Kong, all founded by LGBTQI+ Christians. We will also organise online seminars this summer.

I am the first church planting member of Gallery of Faith, one of the new emerging communities of faith in the United Church of Canada. I am actively involved with them in creating an inclusive faith community for Hong Kong new immigrants and LGBTQI+ Chinese Christians living in Canada. I am also a member of a network of Chinese Christian ministers and theologians in Canada and USA in building a progressive Chinese theological movement.

Everyone has a story. Every faith community has stories. This is my story. These are our stories. Queers are persecuted, condemned, outcasted and marginalized as in the life of Christ. However, queers experience the love of God so that we become wounded healers and caregivers to others.

  Some Churches call us sinners and not worthy in God’s eyes, but are we not those who bear good news to the world? Are we not witnesses to social justice? Are we not God’s messengers?

Stories are lonely if they do not share commonality, struggles and joy. The sharing is called encounter; persons of these stories encounter each other through Christ. Through our encounters we actualize the good news.

I would like to end by reading a poem that I wrote in 2011

Locked in a room.

Silent prayers and tender tears

Jesus, hide me behind your love

Homosexual? Bisexual? Lesbian?

Staying in is safe

Their stories stir my butterfly spirit

Their denial and pain grieve me

They do not abandon

Embrace the amazing grace

My companions reach out 

Touch my loneliness

Coming out with praises and stories

Creating, created 

Becoming

Beyond black, white, purple

Oranges, apples, pineapple

Coming out to the miracle of rainbow.