Cameron Esposito sent her Twitter followers into a tizzy with a photo of her neighbor’s gay-themed reimagining of the Christmas story.
The queer comedian, 36, shared a snapshot of the decor Nov. 24, showing a nativity scene in which the Virgin Mary was swapped out with a second Joseph.
In her tweet accompanying the photo, Esposito said she was “beaming” after seeing the display.
The sight of a same-sex union at the start of the holiday season no doubt had personal resonance for the comedian, who collaborated with her wife, Rhea Butcher, on a new comedy album, “Back to Back,” due out Dec. 8.
Esposito’s fans loved the image, too. As of Tuesday afternoon, her tweet had received more than 22,000 likes and 3,300 retweets, not to mention some gleeful responses.
A number of her followers responded with same-sex nativity displays of their own.
Queer-themed nativity scenes are nothing new. Retired pastor and author Kittredge Cherry, who identifies as a lesbian, depicted Jesus Christ as having two dads and two moms in a 2009 photo series, “Love Makes a Holy Family.” In 2016, Cherry’s scenes caught the ire of a number of conservative Christians when a California-based artist used photos of the crèches in a series of ornaments without Cherry’s permission.
Still, Esposito’s neighbor’s display feels like an outward embrace of nontraditional families ― and, after all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?
