I experimented with a new queer myth. I’m an old pro at queering existing texts and characters. Give me any story and I can find parallels in it to the LGBTQ+ world, but how marvelous is it when we find or create stories that are explicitly about our lives? To that end, I told the ubiquitous and brilliant AI to write a short story about an angel whose job is to watch over the queer community.
That was all the instruction I gave, other than the name of the angel. I chose Qeshetiel, a Hebrew word meaning angel of god’s rainbow, or god’s rainbow angel. Got the name, got the reason for the name, got the idea for the story. Miss AI, take it and run. And she did by cranking out this story: “The celestial archives hummed with ancient light, but Qeshetiel rarely lingered there.
Their true work lay not in dusty scrolls but in the vibrant, ever-shifting tapestry of human hearts. Qeshetiel, whose name whispered “Rainbow of God,” was an angel of promise, a guardian whose essence shimmered with the very hues of hope.
From their perch above the earthly plane, Qeshetiel’s gaze often settled on the LGBTQ+ community. They saw the quiet courage in coming out, the fierce joy in chosen families, and the resilience in the face of prejudice. Each act of authentic love, each defiant display of self, added another brilliant thread to the unseen rainbow Qeshetiel wove around them.
One crisp evening, Qeshetiel observed a young person, tears streaming, confiding in a friend about their fear of being truly seen. Gently, subtly, Qeshetiel extended a blessing—not a miracle, but a whisper of strength, a warmth in the chest, a sudden clarity that they were not alone.
The young person looked up, a faint smile touching their lips as the friend embraced them. Qeshetiel knew their blessing wasn’t about erasing hardship, but about fortifying spirits. It was about reminding each soul that the divine spectrum of love was boundless, and that within every heart, a rainbow of God’s own making shone eternal.” We can queer the old stories, we can try to crack the code where queerness is hidden, and we can also dream up our stories, with or without the help of AI.
In any case, stories that shine a light on us and reveal the light within us are sacred and needed more than ever today.
