“Lineages of queerness:” A conversation with Mikey Gulcicek about his series photographing queer faith leaders

Vicar Deivis Ventura of Lutheran Saint Peter’s Church in Midtown Manhattan.

BY EMMA CIESLIK March 21, 2026

Queer people of faith have long led American religious and spiritual communities--think of the Public Universal Friend, an American Quaker preacher who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. After suffering a severe illness, the Friend believed they had died and been reborn as a leader without a gender. But the Public Universal Friend’s story is just beginning to be told, both because of religiously-motivated bigotry that denies the existence and rights of queer and trans people but also because of the assumption that queerness and religion cannot coexist--partially because of the violence the former has waged against our communities. 

Freelance photographer Michael “Mikey” Gulcicek is working to change that with his new series of environmental portraits of queer faith leaders in their churches, temples, and holy spaces. In this series, Gulcicek explores the ways in which queer people claim and inhabit their faith communities as a measured response to both the rise of Christian nationalism that seeks to weaponize religion in service of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and within LGBTQ+ communities that after years of hurt, have reinforced the idea that faith and queerness cannot coexist. Gulcicek’s series argues that queer people of faith have and always will exist and lead their communities of faith. 

I sat down with Gulcicek to learn about the history and importance of this series--and the future dialogue it will open surrounding queerness and faith. 

Dean (now Emeritus) Patrick Malloy of St. John the Divine.

Cieslik: What inspired you to capture these photos of queer people of faith specifically in their worship spaces or in spaces sacred to them?

Gulcicek: It was really important for me, in conceiving this series because I wanted to bring the spaces of the institution into dialogue. These are spaces that have historically excluded queer people, so to recontextualize the idea of structured religion by highlighting a queer individual who’s in a leadership position within the community, within the organization, I thought would be powerful. We could have easily taken photos outside of these spaces or done them in a studio, but I wanted to highlight that these are front and foremost within the institution and to take advantage of the divinity of the spaces. 

I also wanted to retrace the lineages of queerness inspiring spiritual practice and guidance. Within many traditions in the world, queer and trans people are looked up to as people who have some sort of tether to the divine.

Cieslik: What is your own religious background, if you feel comfortable sharing, that has informed how you approach this series?

Gulcicek: I’m very skeptical of institutionalized spaces in general and institutional organized belief systems, and how they’ve operated in the post-colonial context, specifically in monotheistic religions. Even within Buddhist traditions, you can find a lot of elements that are a bit outdated or non-inclusive of identity politics. 

To answer your question, I would align most with the Buddhist tradition, but I hesitate to call myself a Buddhist because I don’t want to align myself with those institutional practices. It depends on what kind of branches of Buddhism. The fact that even in this one lineage that I followed--Vispassana meditation and in the tradition of SN Goinka--you still have male teachers that are leading everything, and the genders are separated into male and female. 

I hope to explore in the series other ways that we modernize and reinterpret these old traditions, but I align with a buddhist kind of philosophical mindset. I meditate every day. I am drawn to the spiritual realm, and that’s what inspired me to look more into this project. 

I don’t necessarily feel included or seen or see a community in these more traditional religious spaces among queer people, so I wanted to investigate how queer people navigate and experience spirituality because I think it should be something that is accessible to queer people, especially in light of the fact that I mentioned earlier that I feel to be queer is in some ways to be in touch with the divine and in touch with yourself in a way that’s very beautiful. 

Reverend Micah C. Ma, Interim Senior Minister at First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn.

Cieslik: How is your series similar and different to other portraits of queer and trans people of faith, like Salgu Wissmath’s?

Gulcicek: I love Salgu’s work. I think it’s fabulous how they have elevated it into a more spiritual realm through the halos. I think this project is really on the border of documentary portraiture made with elevated lighting but at the same time, highlights the space and individual in a way that feels angelic or divine. The work exists in a post-documentary context.

Cieslik: How is the visibility and representation of queer people of faith--and queer leaders of faith--important when fighting for inclusion in these traditions?

Gulcicek: I think this project is definitely rooted in a documentary kind of practice. It’s rooted in the idea of community. The series is nascent and ongoing, so I want to follow up with longer form iterations of the project to see how these communities are formed, adding in video elements and more narrative storytelling about how not only queer people interact with these communities led by queer individuals but also like how does having a queer person at the helm welcome in other ideas around community, faith, spirituality, and solidarity. 

Cieslik: What is the beauty of capturing queer joy in faith spaces, which have for many of us been domains of trauma, abuse, and loss?

Gulcicek: This series is for queer people and coming from a queer person who also has a desire to understand and be in touch with having queer communities rooted in something other than—at least from a cis, gay male point of view—sexual desire. I want to connect with people on a human level that is rooted in a shared humanity and values that are more global and accessible to non-queer communities. 

The point I’m trying to make is that this is New York City—it’s a beacon for hope and how the values of these religions could actually welcome in queer people into these prominent leadership positions. The goal is to show queer people the spaces that have been made and do exist and are going to continue to be made and develop within spirituality. I think it’s something that our community would really like to have access to. 

Cieslik: What is the importance and impact of this series amid the rise of White Christian nationalism using religion to justify state-sanctioned bigotry and violence?

Gulcicek: Every time I did one of these shoots, I walked away with a sense of purpose. Part of the series is exposing a civil rights issue, how some of the trans people that I’ve photographed have been excluded from ministries, have been closeted for decades before coming out and then transitioned within the church to somebody who’s so respected in the community. They have pride in being able to lead these congregations and being able to represent something.

Then there’s also the higher call to political action, to mobilizing communities and living up to these values and speaking to the moment of our nation as well. [Christian nationalism] has been a problem in our country for so long. I like to use the word “weaponize” because I really feel like they weaponize the vulnerability of people seeking religion and solidarity and community with the divine and use fear to enable policies that go directly against what the actual texts of these religions say. 

Reverend Danila Noble at the First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn.

Cieslik: What do you hope and envision for the future of this series--both its display and the dialogue it will open and encourage?

Gulcicek: I’d love to publicly display this series somewhere - such as St. John the Divine or in a more traditional gallery setting. I think it is really important for this work to occupy physical space somewhere and communicate to a live audience in a tangible way. Eventually, I hope to make the series a book.

 I want to go deeper with some of the people I’ve already photographed and really see how these communities function and some of the work that these leaders are doing. I would also like to keep exploring the non-traditional, more paganistic, spiritual ways that queer people find community now while these larger organized religions kind of deal with becoming more inclusive. 

A lot of people just don’t even think these two things [being queer and a person of faith] can go together. Until people see something, they don’t know it’s true, so it’s also about exposure and trying to show that these are communities that are thriving or that are enabling certain values that are really beautiful. 
People can view some of the work on mikeygulcicek.com/queer-spiritual-leaders.