Ex-Mormon Josiah Ryan Spreads Love as ‘Gay Jesus’ in Utah
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Josiah Ryan, a gay former Mormon, dresses up as “Gay Jesus” every year at the Utah Pride Festival in Salt Lake City to help attendees reconcile their feelings of being ostracized by their families and religious communities.
Ryan recently explained in a TikTok video that he purchased a $20 costume from Amazon two years ago and wore it to the Pride parade.
“I had no idea the reception that Jesus would have,” he says, noting that the following year, he commissioned someone to create a “custom sparkly Gay Jesus costume” that he wore for the entire festival.
Approximately between 1,000 and 2,000 people stopped him to take photos with him. He’s even reportedly had people “break down in tears” while hugging him and thanking him for cosplaying Jesus, according to LGBTQ Nation.
This year Ryan is upgrading the costume to add a crown of thorns with dangling rubies to signify drops of blood.
But he also will be attending the festival with other ex-Mormons and representatives from the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network (CTSN), and is seeking to use his popularity to help raise money using GoFundMe, for the group to attend the Pride festival, which will take place on June 7 and 8.
Noting that it costs to book a booth and create materials that can be given to attendees at the festival, Ryan says he’s asking his followers to chip in $5 donations to ensure the Conversion Therapy Survivor Network can continue their work, which includes warning people of the dangers posed by so-called conversion therapy, and offering comfort to others who feel betrayed or abandoned by the LDS, or Mormon, Church because of their LGBTQ identity.
Content retrieved from: https://www.metroweekly.com/2025/04/ex-mormon-josiah-ryan-spreads-love-as-gay-jesus-in-utah/.
