21st century Archives - Page 2 of 6

Metropolitan Community Churches: Ministering in the LGBTQ community since 1968: Historic MCC photos from Kittredge Cherry

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, Oct 1-15

Metropolitan Community Churches, the first denomination to affirm LGBTQ people, was founded on Oct. 6, 1968 by Troy Perry. Dozens of my photos from more than 35 years of MCC history are posted today in honor of the anniversary. The photos posted here show highlights...

Carl Bean: Black LGBTQ church founder who sang “I Was Born This Way”

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 1-15

Carl Bean was founding archbishop of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement in the Black LGBTQ community, early AIDS activist and Motown singer of the 1977 gay-liberation anthem “I Was Born This Way.” He died Sept. 7, 2021 at age 77 after a long illness. Bean (May 26,...

FannyAnn Eddy: Lesbian martyr in Africa

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 15-30

FannyAnn Eddy was a major activist for LGBTQ rights in her native Sierra Leone and the rest of Africa. She was murdered on Sept. 29, 2004. Nobody was ever convicted of the crime. She founded the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association in 2002 and advocated for LGBTQ...

Virginia Mollenkott: Trailblazing queer theologian and feminist Bible scholar

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 15-30

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott was a trailblazing feminist Bible scholar and queer theologian whose 13 books liberated countless LGBTQ lives. She died peacefully in her home in New Jersey on Sept. 25, 2020, at age 88. Mollenkott shook the religious world with her...

Tyler Clementi: Gay teen driven to suicide by bullies

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 15-30

Tyler Clementi (1992-2010) brought international attention to bullying-related suicide of LGBTQ youth by jumping to his death on Sept. 22, 2010. Clementi’s highly publicized tragedy made him into a gay martyr whose untimely death put a public face on the problems of...

John McNeill: Pioneering gay priest who inspired LGBTQ people of faith

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 15-30

John McNeill was a pioneering gay priest, psychotherapist, author, theologian and Jesuit scholar who inspired countless LGBTQ people of faith and their allies. He died on Sept. 22, 2015 in a hospice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his partner of 49 years, Charles...

Mark Bingham: Gay hero of 9/11 died resisting hijackers

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints, Sept 1-15

Gay executive and rugby champion Mark Bingham lost his life while fighting back against terrorist hijackers on Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001. He helped lead the effort to prevent the hijackers from crashing the plane into a target in Washington DC, most likely the...

Robert Wood: First clergy to picket for LGBTQ rights, author of first book on Christianity and homosexuality

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 15-31, Saints

Robert Watson Wood was an ordained Congregational minister who started advocating for LGBTQ rights in the early 1960s. He died Aug. 19, 2018, at age 95. In 1960 Wood urged churches to welcome lesbian and gay people in America’s first book on homosexuality and...

Delores Berry: Black lesbian evangelist blessed many with music

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 1-15, Saints

Delores P. Berry is a black lesbian clergywoman and evangelist whose music and ministry blessed many. She died on Aug. 8, 2017, at age 66 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania after a brief illness. Berry was born Feb. 15, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. She answered a call to...

Patrick Leuben Mukajanga (Mleuben Maccarthy) : Ugandan pastor and LGBTQ activist

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 16-31, Saints

Patrick Leuben Mukajanga, known by many as Mleuben Maccarthy, was a gay Ugandan pastor and LGBTQ activist. He died in a motorcycle accident while riding from Kampala to his home in Ibanda town on July 31, 2020 at age 43. A memorial portrait of Mukajanga was created...