Queer, Gay, Trans, Lesbian, Homosexual, LGBTQ Love Spells in Hoodoo Tradition

(This image is what DeepAI thinks "LGBTQ love spell" looks like and I frankly haven't anything to refute it. Kind of reminds me of sigils or veves.)

So from time to time, I'm asked "what should I do if I want to perform [some well known hoodoo love spell] but I'm gay?" 

The answer, in most cases, is you don't need to do anything differently at all!

Gay/lesbian love spells have long been cast in hoodoo tradition, and they use the same formulas and ingredients as other spells.

While there are a few love formulas which are especially aimed at gay love spells (and I'll list them at the end of this post) for most spells there is no reason the standard love mixture won't work just as well for a gay spell as a straight one. The reason for this, is that most love formulas in hoodoo will work for both men and women equally -- a woman can use Come to Me on a man or a man can use it on a woman. And so, a man can also use it on a man or a woman on a woman. It's not about the body -- it's about the feeling.

There, however, are some formulas out there that work only on or for a specific gender. If you're using them as gay love formulas you might have to be a little more mindful with them. Something with a name like I Dominate My Man will only work on a male, so a lesbian looking to work it on another woman wouldn't find this formula useful. But a man seeking a man can utilize it. Similarly, a formula like John the Conqueror is usually considered to be a masculine-oriented love formula meant to operate on behalf of men; it can absolutely be used male for male but might be a little harder to work female for female (though women are able to use conqueror roots as well.) However, some practitioners subscribe to the opposite viewpoint: that the root you need depends on what you want to draw. Thus anyone seeking a man uses a Queen Elizabeth Root, and anyone seeking a woman uses a John the Conqueror Root.

Things get tricky when it comes to trans or gender-fluid people. Remember this is a pretty recent concept and so there isn't a long tradition of spellwork behind this. In olden times people were either considered homosexual (and thus still whatever gender they were born with) or born with some physical deformity like hermaphroditism that rendered them outside the norm (indeed they'd often be designated the shamen or witches because of the "unnatural" condition and not expected to have normal romantic lives). When it comes to choosing what gender to use for premade candles, formulas, etc. I would say what matters is the physical genitals the person has. If you consider yourself female but have male genitals, use male image candles and male-oriented formulas. If you consider yourself genderless or gender-fluid, whatever is your physical anatomy is what you go with for the spells. Remember: those store-bought image candles don't really look like anyone. They're always molded as a slim male/female of about 30 years with clean-cut hairdos. But they work the same on an overweight bearded punk with a mohawk. It's not about how the image candle looks, but what it represents: and they represent physical male or female. However, if you are especially fussy about the point, you can always custom make a wax candle that looks however is needed, and blend up customized versions of formulas for your needs (Conjure Cookbook has many standard formulas which can be adapted.)

If you are in love with someone who is of uncertain gender, you might need to steer clear of spells that use anything gender-specific until you learn enough about them to determine what physical attributes they possess. Again, most hoodoo formulas like Come to Me, Return to Me, Love, Stay With Me, Has no Hanna, Fast Luck and so on will work for any gender equally, and there is no need to worry about the ability to use them since they work on any type of person. 

Nevertheless, if you are very much in doubt, by all means make use of the queer oriented formulas which can help erase some of these limitations. Individual manufacturers craft their own formulas, often with explicit names like "LGBTQ Love" or whatever best describes their mix; but some LGBTQ friendly conjure formulas you might commonly find are:

Q

AC/DC (bisexual)

Lavender Love a.k.a. Lavender Flame

Dryad (for men only)

Mercury a.k.a. Hermes

Some others that will work for everyone but are more "free" in their intentions are:

French Love

Algiers

La Flamme

Tutti Frutti

Arabian Nights

Horn of Plenty

Hyacinth