Dear Listeners,
What happens when a queer kid raised in an Opus Dei all-girls Catholic high school picks up an iPad and starts drawing saints? In this week’s episode, we meet Dani—better known online as @andhersaints—whose art, humor, and deep love for queer spirituality are transforming how many of us see the Catholic imagination.
From their childhood days sketching animals to being reluctantly assigned to design Pope portraits in high school—sawdust carpets for Corpus Christi celebrations in Costa Rica—Dani’s creative path wasn’t always one of joy. They made their first religious icon at their mother’s request while identifying as an atheist. But what began as obligation has since become liberation. As Dani puts it, now that they’re free from having to make Catholic art, they want to—because it’s fun, it’s sacred, and it’s theirs.
Dani’s journey is part of a much longer tradition. Many queer people inside the Catholic Church have found spiritual and social survival through art—just think about all the gay choir directors, composers, iconographers, and yes, even Michelangelo himself. Catholic art has always been filled with longing, beauty, and embodiment—elements that queer artists, where out or not, bring to life in vibrant ways.
For Dani, that connection came first through St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a saint who understood girlhood, softness, and holy defiance. From there, they found companionship in Carmelite saints, saints who cared for AIDS patients, saints who wrote about gay sexual acts (hi, St. Catherine of Siena), and saints who defied marriage and gender roles.
This episode also dives into the painful contradictions queer Catholics face. The Church often makes our sexuality the centerpiece of why we’re excluded. Dani reflects on claiming joy, art, and silliness. As they beautifully say, “Even if there were no apologetics in existence about why being queer is not a sin, you still owe me the dignity that I can and do exist.”
Tune in to hear about saints, silliness, and the liberating art of not needing anyone’s permission to be beloved.
With joy,
Max & Emma
If you're ready to dive in, the full episode is available here on Substack but also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
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