Despite God, as the ground of being, not having a sex or gender as God is not a being but Being itself, modern western language about God throughout literature and liturgy focuses almost exclusively on the masculine and, in the process, makes the feminine subordinate, which has had the unfortunate effect of supporting patriarchal theology and social relations for generations. The default, of course, has been to gender God as male — while limiting God’s earthly representatives to men — but the language used to talk about God varies from the masculine to the feminine and even plural/gender neutral, thus our theology of God, Truth, Nature, Ultimate Reality, etc., should reflect that.
For example, beyond being spoken of using masculine pronouns and as a father, God is also described as a woman in labor (Isaiah 42:14), a nursing mother (Isaiah 49:15), a comforting mother (Isaiah 66:13), a mother bear (Hosea 13:8), a mother bird sheltering her children (Ruth 2:12), etc., and in the story of creation creates humanity male and female in their (plural) image (Gen 1:26-27). The Hebrew words for the wisdom (chokmah) and spirit (ruach) of God are feminine nouns, while the Greek word for spirit (pneuma) is neutral. Jesus compares himself to a mother hen (Mt 23:37), and many early church leaders spoke of God and Jesus in more than masculine terms. An early liturgical work, Odes of Solomon, portrays God as the mother of believers (and all of humanity), nurturing them with "holy milk" (8:17). Clement of Alexandria writes of Jesus, "The Word [Christ] is all to the child, both father and mother and tutor and nurse" (The Instructor). John Chrysostom's Christ says, "Be thou in need of nothing, I will be even a servant, for I came to minister, not to be ministered unto; I am friend, and member, and head, and brother, and sister, and mother; I am all; only cling thou closely to me" (Homilies on Matthew, 76). Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Julian of Norwich, among others, also compare Jesus to a mother. God is essentially nonbinary or genderfluid.
All of this serves to highlight that the imagery and understanding of God historically transcends the simplistic and patriarchal presentation we're often presented with, illustrating that God both transcends gender while simultaneously encompassing all modes of gender. And our understanding should, as well. The trinity represents the relational and diverse nature of reality; and to more clearly perceive that reality, we must love and accept it in all its multiplicity because love is our first principle.
Franciscan friar Richard Rohr, who takes a more mystical approach to the subject, has often described the trinity as a circular dance and the deepest flow of life, noting that each 'person' of the trinity relates by "living in an eternal self-emptying (kenosis), which allows each of them to let go completely and give themselves to the other. They are simultaneously loving and totally loveable, one to another." And that love is the very nature and shape of divine being: "This deep flow is then the pattern of the whole universe, and any idea of God’s 'wrath' or of God withholding what is an infinitely outflowing love is theologically impossible. Love is the very pattern with which we start and the goal toward which we move. It gives energy to the entire universe, from orbiting protons and neutrons to the social and sexual life of species, to the planets and stars. We were indeed created in communion, by communion, and for communion (Genesis 1:26 calls it being 'created in the image and likeness of God')."
Love, then, is wrapped into the very fabric of creation. And perhaps even more controversially, and while probably not their intention, Deacon Matthew Newsome make a great case/argument that God is profoundly queer and polyamorous when he writes:
Being made in the image of God means that we are made to be in relationship. The fact that God has within Himself relationship, while being a mystery above our reason, nevertheless is compatible with reason. God, after all, is love (1 Jn 4:8). And love requires both a lover and a beloved. Love requires relationship. You and I must look outside of ourselves for this; but God, perfect in every way, has this within His very being. This is why instead of saying "God is loving," we say "God is love." God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is both the Lover and Beloved and the Love between them. (The Trinity: Lover, Beloved, and the Love between them)
Just think about it for a moment. God is described as a trinity of three gender-fluid persons who, in their loving relationship and communion with each other, are one. Creation is nondual yet diverse. Creation is composed of relationships. Creation rests on love. And we mirror creation. As shocking as it may seem to some at first glance, God is clearly and profoundly queer and polyamorous—i.e., a template that holds within itself all other possible configurations of love, including that of our LGBTQIA+ siblings.
In the end, what I've come to believe — and what I think apparent in both scripture and tradition — is that the universe itself is alive with love, and any theology expressing its nature can't limit our understanding or our expression of love to fit inside of some restrictive and oppressive box without doing violence to nature itself.
