Queer History 134: The KJV Bible Was Commissioned By a Gay Man

King James the 1st of England

The Hypocrite King: James I and the Bible That Damned His Own Kind

The bitter irony of a queer monarch authorizing scripture used to persecute millions

There exists no greater fucking tragedy in queer history than the story of James VI of Scotland and I of England—a man who loved other men with desperate, consuming passion while simultaneously crafting the very weapon that would be wielded against LGBTQIA+ people for centuries to come. This is the story of profound self-hatred made manifest in religious doctrine, of a closeted king whose legacy became a cudgel used to beat down every queer soul who dared to love openly after him.

James Stuart ascended to the English throne in 1603, carrying with him the weight of Scottish Calvinist repression and a heart that burned for men in ways his rigid Protestant worldview told him were damnable. The psychological warfare between his authentic self and his public persona would create one of history's most devastating acts of internalized homophobia—the King James Bible, a translation that would echo through centuries as the "Word of God" used to justify the persecution, imprisonment, and murder of countless LGBTQIA+ individuals.

The Making of a Monster: Early Life and Repression

Born into the brutal religious politics of 16th-century Scotland, James was raised by Calvinist tutors who hammered into his young mind that homosexual acts were abominations worthy of death. His tutor George Buchanan, a scholar who would later influence the king's biblical translation work, filled James's head with classical learning while simultaneously teaching him that the very desires stirring in his adolescent body were marks of Satan himself.

The young king's first documented male love affair began when he was just seventeen, with Esmé Stuart, 1st Duke of Lennox—a sophisticated French courtier thirteen years his senior who became James's closest advisor and, by all historical accounts, his lover. The intensity of this relationship scandalized the Scottish court and Protestant ministers, who saw Lennox as both a Catholic threat and a corrupting sexual influence on their young king.

The psychological damage inflicted on James during this period cannot be overstated. Here was a teenager experiencing his first profound love, only to have it condemned by every authority figure in his life as both politically dangerous and spiritually damning. The Protestant lords forced Lennox into exile in 1582, tearing the lovers apart and leaving James with a wound that would fester for the rest of his life. This early trauma would shape not only his personal relationships but his approach to biblical interpretation—he would become a man determined to prove his righteousness by condemning others who loved as he loved.

The Pattern of Passion and Denial

After Lennox's forced departure, James threw himself into a series of intense male relationships that followed a predictable and heartbreaking pattern: passionate attachment, public scandal, defensive overcompensation through religious rhetoric, and ultimately the sacrifice of personal happiness on the altar of political expediency.

His marriage to Anne of Denmark in 1589 was a political arrangement that provided him with heirs and a heterosexual facade, but it did nothing to quench his fundamental nature. Throughout their marriage, James continued to form deep emotional and likely physical bonds with a succession of male favorites, each relationship more politically damaging than the last.

Robert Carr, later Earl of Somerset, became James's obsession in the early 1600s. The king showered him with titles, lands, and affection so obvious that it became the talk of European courts. James's letters to Carr reveal a man completely besotted: "I desire only to live in this world for your sake," he wrote, language that went far beyond mere friendship or political alliance. Yet even as he poured his heart out in private correspondence, James was publicly supporting harsh penalties for sodomy and commissioning biblical translations that would condemn such relationships as abominations.

When Carr fell from grace following his involvement in a murder scandal, James transferred his affections to George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham. This relationship would become the most significant and destructive of James's life—a twenty-year obsession that dominated English politics and provided endless ammunition for the king's enemies. James called Buckingham his "sweet child and wife," language so explicitly romantic that it scandalized even the relatively permissive Jacobean court.

The psychological toll of loving these men while simultaneously condemning homosexuality in his public pronouncements created a king at war with himself. James's court became a place of extraordinary hypocrisy, where the king's male lovers wielded enormous political power while common men could be executed for the same "crimes" that were openly practiced at the highest levels of government.

The King James Bible: A Monument to Self-Hatred

In 1604, barely a year after ascending to the English throne, James convened the Hampton Court Conference to address religious controversies within the English church. It was here that the project that would define his legacy—and damn generations of LGBTQIA+ people—was born. Dr. John Reynolds, a Puritan leader, suggested a new translation of the Bible to replace the existing versions that various factions found problematic.

James seized on this proposal with an enthusiasm that seemed to far exceed its apparent importance. He appointed fifty-four scholars to work on the translation, divided into six committees, each responsible for different sections of scripture. The king took personal interest in their work, particularly in passages dealing with sexual morality and divine punishment for sexual transgression.

The translation process took seven years, during which James was deeply involved in reviewing and approving the language used in key passages. His personal input ensured that verses condemning homosexuality were rendered in the harshest possible terms. Leviticus 18:22 became "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Romans 1:26-27 described homosexual acts as "vile affections" and "that which is against nature."

But it wasn't just the translation itself—it was the authority with which it was imbued. By royal decree, the King James Bible became the official English translation, carrying the weight of divine mandate and royal approval. James had essentially signed his name to a document that declared his own deepest nature an abomination worthy of death.

The psychological mechanism at work here is painfully clear: James was attempting to purchase his salvation through the condemnation of others. By creating the most authoritative English-language denunciation of homosexuality in Christian history, he hoped to prove his own righteousness despite his private sins. It was an act of self-loathing so profound that it would echo through four centuries of Christian persecution of LGBTQIA+ people.

The Devastating Legacy: Centuries of Justified Hatred

The King James Bible became the most widely read English translation in history, spreading throughout the British Empire and early America, carrying with it James's internalized homophobia translated into the very Word of God. For over 400 years, Christians have opened this book and found divine authorization for their hatred of LGBTQIA+ people, never knowing they were reading the self-condemnation of a closeted king who loved other men.

The verses James helped craft became the scriptural foundation for laws criminalizing homosexuality throughout the English-speaking world. When British colonizers brought Christianity to Africa, Asia, and the Americas, they brought the King James Bible with its harsh condemnations of same-sex relationships. Countries that had previously tolerated or even celebrated diverse sexualities suddenly found themselves with Christian-imposed laws punishing homosexuality with imprisonment or death.

In America, the King James Bible became the foundation of fundamentalist Christianity's war against LGBTQIA+ rights. Every sermon condemning gay marriage, every political campaign against LGBTQIA+ equality, every family that disowned a queer child for their "sinful" nature—all of it traces back to the translation authorized by a king who himself loved men desperately and completely.

The psychological impact on LGBTQIA+ individuals has been incalculable. Generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people have grown up reading James's Bible, internalizing his self-hatred as divine judgment. Countless queer Christians have struggled to reconcile their faith with their sexuality, many choosing suicide rather than live with the cognitive dissonance. The blood of every LGBTQIA+ person who has taken their own life after reading condemnation in the "Good Book" stains James's legacy.

The Social Devastation of Religious Hypocrisy

James's Bible didn't just influence individual believers—it shaped entire societies' approaches to sexuality and gender. The Puritan colonists who fled to America carried the King James Bible as their primary religious text, using its condemnations to justify increasingly harsh laws against sexual nonconformity. The Salem witch trials, the Puritans' obsession with sexual purity, the American tradition of religious-based sexual repression—all of it can be traced back to the biblical translation commissioned by a man who was himself everything his religion told him to despise.

The social impact extended far beyond Christianity. As the British Empire spread across the globe, the King James Bible followed, imposing Western sexual morality on cultures that had often been far more accepting of sexual and gender diversity. Traditional third-gender roles in India, accepted homosexuality in parts of Africa, and fluid gender expression in many indigenous cultures were suddenly declared sinful and criminal based on a translation created by a self-hating closeted king.

The legal framework of anti-LGBTQIA+ persecution in the English-speaking world was built on James's biblical translation. The "buggery" laws that made homosexuality punishable by death in Britain and its colonies drew their moral authority from scripture that James had personally approved. When these laws were exported to British colonies, they carried with them the theological justification found in the King James Bible.

Even today, in countries where homosexuality remains illegal—many of them former British colonies—the King James Bible continues to provide religious justification for persecution. Uganda's anti-gay laws, Nigeria's criminalization of homosexuality, and similar legislation throughout Africa and Asia all draw their moral authority from biblical passages that James helped translate in his desperate attempt to prove his own righteousness.

The Philosophical Implications of Self-Betrayal

The story of James I presents one of history's most perfect examples of internalized oppression weaponized against an entire community. His creation of the King James Bible represents the ultimate act of self-betrayal—a man so ashamed of his own nature that he ensured future generations would suffer the same shame magnified thousandfold.

From a philosophical standpoint, James's legacy raises profound questions about authenticity, power, and moral responsibility. How do we judge a man who used his position of ultimate authority to condemn millions of people to persecution for sharing his own fundamental nature? Is there any understanding or forgiveness possible for someone whose self-hatred became institutionalized oppression on a global scale?

The existential horror of James's situation cannot be understated. He lived every day of his adult life as a walking contradiction—publicly condemning the very love that gave his life meaning, using his power to ensure that future generations of men like him would live in fear and shame. The psychological torture this must have inflicted on him was probably immense, but it pales in comparison to the suffering his actions caused others.

James's story also illustrates the devastating power of religious fundamentalism to corrupt and destroy human authenticity. Raised in a religious tradition that taught him his fundamental nature was evil, he never found the courage to challenge that teaching. Instead, he internalized it so completely that he became its most powerful advocate, creating a biblical translation that would spread his self-hatred to billions of people over four centuries.

The Psychological Impact on LGBTQIA+ Communities

The psychological damage inflicted by the King James Bible on LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities is impossible to quantify but easy to observe. For centuries, queer people have grown up in Christian households reading James's translation, absorbing its condemnations as divine truth. The number of LGBTQIA+ individuals who have suffered depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal ideation as a direct result of reading biblical passages translated under James's authority must number in the millions.

The Bible's influence on family dynamics has been particularly devastating. Countless parents have disowned their LGBTQIA+ children based on their understanding of biblical teaching derived from James's translation. The phrase "love the sinner, hate the sin" has become a way for Christian families to maintain their love for their queer children while simultaneously condemning their fundamental nature—a psychological torture that often proves more damaging than outright rejection.

Religious trauma is a real and documented phenomenon affecting huge numbers of LGBTQIA+ individuals raised in Christian environments. The cognitive dissonance between their authentic selves and their religious teachings, often based on James's biblical translation, creates lasting psychological damage that can take years of therapy to address. Many never fully recover from the early messaging that their very existence is an abomination to God.

The impact on LGBTQIA+ youth has been particularly severe. Teenagers struggling with their sexual or gender identity while reading biblical condemnations in the King James translation have faced impossible choices: deny their authentic selves to maintain their faith and family relationships, or embrace their truth and risk losing everything they've ever known. The suicide rates among LGBTQIA+ youth in religious families speak to the deadly consequences of James's legacy.

The Continuing Relevance and Modern Implications

James's story remains devastatingly relevant in the 21st century as LGBTQIA+ rights continue to face challenges from religious fundamentalism. Every time a politician quotes the King James Bible to justify opposition to marriage equality, every time a parent quotes Leviticus to condemn their gay child, every time a preacher uses Romans to preach against homosexuality, they are channeling the self-hatred of a closeted king who lived 400 years ago.

The translation James authorized continues to be used as the primary biblical text in many fundamentalist Christian denominations, particularly in the American South and in evangelical churches worldwide. The Southern Baptist Convention, one of America's largest Protestant denominations, still officially uses the King James Bible as their primary text, meaning that James's internalized homophobia continues to shape religious doctrine for millions of American Christians.

Modern biblical scholarship has revealed numerous translation errors and biases in the King James Bible, particularly in passages dealing with sexuality. The Greek and Hebrew words translated as "homosexual" or "abomination" in James's version often had much more specific or different meanings in their original contexts. But these scholarly corrections have had little impact on popular Christian understanding, which remains shaped by the 400-year-old translation of a self-hating closeted king.

The continuing use of the King James Bible in legal and political contexts also perpetuates James's legacy of oppression. When American politicians swear their oaths of office on the King James Bible, when court witnesses place their hands on it to swear to tell the truth, when it's quoted in legislative debates about LGBTQIA+ rights, the document carries with it all the weight of James's internalized homophobia translated into divine authority.

The Ultimate Tragedy: What Could Have Been

Perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of James's story is contemplating what might have been different if he had found the courage to accept and embrace his authentic self. As an absolute monarch with divine right authority, James possessed more power than any LGBTQIA+ person in history. He could have used that power to create a more accepting world rather than a more oppressive one.

Imagine if James had commissioned a biblical translation that emphasized God's love for all people regardless of their sexual or gender identity. Imagine if he had used his royal authority to protect rather than persecute sexual minorities. Imagine if the most widely read English Bible in history had been created by a king who celebrated rather than condemned same-sex love.

The ripple effects of such a choice would have been extraordinary. Instead of centuries of Christian persecution of LGBTQIA+ people, there might have been centuries of acceptance and celebration. Instead of laws criminalizing homosexuality throughout the English-speaking world, there might have been laws protecting sexual minorities from persecution. Instead of generation after generation of queer people growing up believing they were abominations, they might have grown up knowing they were beloved children of God.

James's failure to choose authenticity over fear represents one of history's great missed opportunities for human progress. His story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of LGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly those in positions of power, living openly and authentically. The closet doesn't just harm the individual hiding within it—it can harm entire civilizations when that individual has the power to shape culture and law.

Conclusion: The Price of Self-Hatred

James I of England stands as perhaps history's most perfect example of internalized homophobia made manifest in institutional oppression. His creation of the King James Bible represents the ultimate betrayal—not just of himself, but of every LGBTQIA+ person who would come after him. The blood of millions stains his legacy, the suffering of countless queer individuals traces back to his cowardice, and the continuing persecution of LGBTQIA+ people worldwide draws strength from his self-hatred translated into divine authority.

But James's story also serves as a powerful reminder of why LGBTQIA+ visibility and authenticity matter so profoundly. Every closeted individual who chooses to remain hidden contributes to a culture of shame and secrecy that harms the entire community. Every person in a position of power or influence who fails to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights because they fear exposure of their own identity perpetuates the same kind of damage James inflicted on a global scale.

The King James Bible will likely continue to be used to justify anti-LGBTQIA+ prejudice for years to come, but knowledge of its creator's true nature provides a powerful counter-narrative. When fundamentalists quote Leviticus or Romans to condemn homosexuality, we can remind them they're quoting the work of a closeted gay king whose self-hatred became scripture.

James I created a weapon of mass destruction disguised as the Word of God, and that weapon has been used against LGBTQIA+ people for four centuries. His legacy stands as eternal testimony to the devastating consequences of choosing fear over authenticity, self-hatred over self-acceptance, and religious conformity over human truth. May his story serve as both warning and inspiration—a reminder of what happens when we betray our authentic selves, and a call to never, ever let such betrayal happen again.

The closet kills. It killed James's capacity for authentic love, and it has killed countless LGBTQIA+ individuals who absorbed his self-hatred as divine truth. Our community's survival depends on choosing courage over cowardice, love over fear, and truth over the comfortable lies that keep us hidden in the shadows of other people's shame.

Citations

1. Young, M. 2016 “King James and the History of Homosexuality”

2. Hourly History, 2023 “King James I: A Life from Beginning to End”