Victoria Rue wears many hats. She is a university professor, feminist theologian, theatre director, writer and part of the movement of “women priests” in the United States and elsewhere that opposes patriarchy in the religious order.
A Roman Catholic by birth and faith, Prof. Rue believes that the church has to become more inclusive and accepting of not only women as part of the order, but also people of all sexual orientation. She is due to deliver a lecture in Bangalore on Friday, titled “Rehearsing Justice: Theatre, Sexuality and the Sacred” , that will bring together all the hats she wears.
“Sexism is sin,” says the feisty professor. Inclusion of women in the religious order, she believes, cannot be just a nominal gesture but a way of introducing a “critical eye” through which scriptures, theology, rituals and traditions have to be re-read. Living with her lesbian partner of over two decades in California in the US, she believes that sexuality of any kind “is a gift of God” that has to be celebrated.
“All patriarchal religions have tried to keep sexuality in the closet,” she says, adding that the time is now ripe for change. Women, she believes, can be models for an inclusive theology. As a model of inclusive religious perspective, Prof. Rue quotes Marcella Althaus-Reid, Scottish professor of theology, who said that God does not just visit the margins, but resides there.
Prof. Rue does not see a contradiction in the various roles she plays – be it as a “woman priest” or a theatre director. Being the eldest in a family of eight children, all her roles are to her like “making the family larger”. However, it is time to redefine the family. “A family can be a man and woman, but it can also be man and man, woman and woman or even two transgender. The point is that, it is friends who live together,” she says. “It is about making a place for everyone at the table.”
