Last Updated on March 6, 2026 by Kittredge Cherry
Gay-rights pioneer Troy Perry spoke to a crowd of a million people at the 1993 March on Washington for LGBTQ rights — and I was there on stage with him as his photographer and publicist. It was one of the peak experiences in my life.
Troy thrilled the crowd by proclaiming, “The right-wing religious groups in America don’t hold a monopoly on God. We have God on our side too!” He spoke with spiritual authority that came from founding the LGBTQ-affirming Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968. “We gather here today to proclaim our freedom to be ourselves and not be ashamed,” he affirmed.
Recently I tracked down the little-known video of Troy’s March on Washington speech. I was happy to see myself clearly visible onstage as the intrepid photographer covering it from every angle. That morning Troy told me, “Stick to me like a tick to a bear!” And I did. The US Capitol building is behind us in the background.
I was all smiles, knowing I had captured a great photo, as Troy Perry and his husband left the March on Washington stage in this screenshot from the video.
I never saw a video of our time on stage until now, but it lived on in my memory. A million people watching us felt like electricity in the air, but also strangely lonely — kind of like being in a hot desert or a heavy blizzard. Tears came to my eyes. Troy only spoke for a few minutes, but they are etched in my mind forever. My best photo shows Troy and his husband Phillip DeBlieck from behind as they face the enormous crowd. As I wrote at the time, “The crowd stretched toward the sun as far as I could see, engulfing the Washington Monument.”
Troy Perry addresses the crowd of a million people in the iconic photo that I took at 1993 March on Washington.
Held on Sunday, April 25, 1993, it was officially named the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation.
The Full Video: Troy Perry at the 1993 March on Washington
Watch Troy Perry’s full speech in the embedded video below. Each speaker was allowed only a few minutes, but Troy made the most of his time (from 28:33 – 32:50 on the video, which is cued that point in the embedded video here).
I handled media relations for Troy Perry
I was more than just Troy’s photographer. As MCC public relations director, I became media czar for the whole denomination. My MCC friends teased me by calling me “minister of propaganda.” I served as Troy’s personal publicist and worked on the elite team that planned MCC activities at the March on Washington, including the mass blessing of same-sex couples called the Wedding.
My work relationship with Troy reminded me, on a smaller scale, of the dynamic between Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin, the gay activist who worked behind the scenes to organize the 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech.
For most of Troy Perry’s speech, my face is hidden behind my camera. Pictured in this screenshot are, left to right, Kittredge Cherry, Troy Perry, Phillip DeBlieck and Paul Sherry, head of the United Church of Christ.
My face was visible for a brief few seconds during Paul Sherry’s speech. Troy Perry is listening on the right in this screenshot.
On the Sunday morning of the march, MCC sponsored a worship service on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We felt tremendous pride as we set up the podium and other equipment in that historic location. Someone there snapped the now-classic photo of Troy with his arm around me, both of us wearing clergy collars, MCC crosses and gay pink triangles, while the crowd behind us waved rainbow flags, protest signs and MCC banners.
Troy Perry and Kittredge Cherry at the 1993 March on Washington. This is my favorite photo of us together.
I searched for the video this month because I am being interviewed for a new book about Troy by William Stell, who teaches religion at Princeton University. The working title is “The Moses of the Gay Liberation Movement: A Religious Biography of Reverend Troy Perry.” It is under contract with Eerdmans Publishing Co., a major independent religious press. Troy described the founding and early years of MCC in two autobiographies: “The Lord is My Shepherd and He Knows I’m Gay” (1972) and “Don’t Be Afraid Anymore, but this will be the first scholarly book about him. Stell’s first book ““Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity” will be released in May 2026 by Princeton University Press.
I also dug out the article that I wrote about the March at the time. “March on Washington Inspires the World” is posted here today as part of this article. It was published in the June 1993 issue of “Keeping in Touch,” the monthly MCC denominational newsletter that I edited.
“March on Washington Inspires the World” by Kittredge Cherry was the top story in the June 1993 issue of Keeping in Touch, the MCC denominational newsletter.
“The magic of being at the March began as soon as I boarded the plane to Washington,” I wrote on page 2 of my reflections.
My article concludes as I recall, “My most memorable moment came when I stepped onto the main stage with Rev. Perry…”
The words that I wrote more than 30 years ago still ring true: “So many of us once lived in hiding. So many of us once believed we were sinners. So many of us once thought, ‘I am the only one in the world.’ The shame and pain of that isolation melted and were replaced by this new image: Marching together, a million strong.”
Remembering our faith-based activism three decades ago gives me hope and courage to face today’s challenges.
Links related to Metropolitan Community Churches history
Metropolitan Community Churches: Ministering in the LGBTQ community since 1968: Historic MCC photos from Kittredge Cherry
Historical articles from MCC Keeping in Touch newsletter document Kittredge Cherry’s LGBTQ ministry and activism
Kittredge Cherry’s MCC photo album on Facebook
UFMCC’s First Quarter Century by Kittredge Cherry
Back issues of Keeping in Touch, MCC newsletter edited by Kittredge Cherry, 1991-95
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Top image credit:
Screenshot from “Footage from the Afternoon Rally at the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation” by Green And Yellow TV. University of Minnesota Libraries, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.
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This article was originally published on Q Spirit on Feb. 1, 2026.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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