"Modern People News has revealed plans for the filming of a movie based on the SEX LIFE OF JESUS in which Jesus is portrayed as a swinging HOMOSEXUAL. ..."
— An early version of the chain letter[1]
Since around 1979, a chain letter has falsely claimed that a film is in the works in which Jesus will be depicted as gay and involved in a promiscuous swinger lifestyle.[a] Born of half-truths regarding The Many Faces of Jesus, Jens Jørgen Thorsen's abandoned pornographic film about Jesus, the hoax initially implied that the film's would-be producer was a magazine that had run a poll about Thorsen's plans. The narrative has morphed over time to claim that the supposed film is an adaptation of the 1997 play Corpus Christi, which does depict Jesus as gay, although not in a sexualized manner.
Many letters have directed recipients to contact the attorney general of Illinois to demand a ban of the supposed film, peaking at roughly 2,000 letters per week. In 1985, Attorney General Neil Hartigan wrote a letter to advice columnist Ann Landers asking for her help in publicizing the film's nonexistence. Entities to fall for the hoax in subsequent decades include the county council of Pictou County, Nova Scotia, and the affirmative action officer of Schenectady County, New York. As recently as 2018, the hoax film remains the subject of complaints to regulators across the globe.
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