Saint Lydia of Thyatira

Background:

"On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.' And she prevailed upon us."

St. Lydia of Thyatira, described in Acts 16, was a gentile worshipper of the God of Abraham (a "God-fearer) and an economically-independent woman. She is notable as a merchant of purple dye and cloth, and is considered a patron saint of dyers. The Eastern Church also honors her as an "Equal to the Apostles."

The Queer Bible Commentary describes her as "a woman with great dyke credentials." She's independent of a man's authority, she runs her own business and her own household, and has the authority to invite whomever she pleases into her home. She is first encountered in a group of all women who worship God, and she joins the ranks of women like Mary Magdalene who materially supported the mission of Jesus. Whether or not she was "really" a lesbian in real life, she DOES have great dyke credentials, so I'm going to go ahead and claim her as "one of us." In this icon she's serving girlboss, high femme, all dressed up but not for a man. It's giving mermaid. It's giving siren. It's giving "smash men on the rocks if they mess with you." It may also be a reminder of the work and resources that modern lesbians have put into the effort of LGBTQ liberation from the very beginning of the movement, often behind the scenes and without thanks or recognition. We've kept it up even in the face of other queer people banning us from gay bars, erasing us from the narrative, and smearing us as fun-hating harpies, transphobes, exclusionists, and "assimilationists." Ultimately, there would be no "gay rights" without lesbians.

Iconography

• Lydia is traditionally depicted wearing a purple veil. In this icon, it is a very fine translucent veil, probably made of silk.
• Lydia would have been a wealthy and empowered woman. Here she is very well-dressed and wears lots of jewelry.
• Lydia's dress is transforming into an ocean wave. Her business was tied to the Mediterranean Sea, which bound together the whole Roman world.
• Seashell: the purple dye would have been the famous Tyrian purple, which was laboriously extracted from murex sea snails and reserved for high-status uses. The seashell also kind of looks like a vulva, which was not intentional, but it amuses me anyway and I'm here for it.