USA Archives - Page 4 of 7

Pauli Murray: Queer saint who stood for racial and gender equality

by Kittredge Cherry | | July 1-15, Nov 16-30, Saints, Top saints

Human rights champion and queer African American saint Pauli Murray is a civil rights pioneer, women’s rights advocate, author, Episcopal priest and lawyer whose legal arguments were used in landmark Supreme Court decisions outlawing discrimination. The gender...

Marsha P. Johnson: African American transgender woman at Stonewall Uprising

by Kittredge Cherry | | Aug 15-31, June 1-15, Saints

Marsha P. Johnson was an African American transgender woman activist and one of those credited with starting the Stonewall Rebellion that launched the modern LGBTQ liberation movement. A bold black trans street activist and lifelong Christian, she was nicknamed “the...

UpStairs Lounge fire: 32 killed in deadly attack on LGBTQ people

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, June 16-30

Before the Orlando Pulse massacre, the deadliest attack on LGBTQ people in U.S. history was an arson fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans. The fire killed 32 people on June 24, 1973. It is enlightening the re-examine the UpStairs Lounge fire in the...

James Tinney: Black gay professor who founded LGBTQ church in 1982

by Kittredge Cherry | | June 1-15, Saints

James S. Tinney was a black gay professor who founded an African American LGBTQ church in Washington DC in 1982. He died at age 46 on June 12, 1988, from complications due to AIDS. Born in Kansas City on May 12, 1942, he was ordained as a Pentecostal minister when he...

Orlando martyrs: Pulse gay nightclub massacre recalled in art and prayer

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, June 1-15, Saints

LGBTQ people and allies use art and prayer to remember the 49 martyrs killed in the massacre at the Pulse gay bar on June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. A mass shooter killed 49 people and left 53 wounded at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The hate crime...

Saints of Stonewall inspire LGBTQ justice — and artists, authors and film makers

by Kittredge Cherry | | Calendar, June 16-30, Saints

LGBTQ Pride celebrations are rooted in sacred resistance — when queer people fought back against harassment at New York City’s Stonewall Inn, they launched the modern LGBTQ liberation movement on June 28, 1969. Their bold rebellion against government...

The Two Rebeccas: Queer black pair founded Shaker religious community in 1800s

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 15-31, Saints

Preacher Rebecca Cox Jackson and her longtime companion Rebecca Perot were queer African American women who founded a Shaker religious community in Philadelphia in the 1800s. Known as “the two Rebeccas,” they lived together as ministry partners for more than 30 years...

Stormé DeLarverie: Butch lesbian at Stonewall Uprising

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 15-31, Saints

Stormé DeLarverie was a biracial butch lesbian “drag king” entertainer and one of those credited with starting the Stonewall Rebellion that launched the modern LGBTQ liberation movement. She died on May 24, 2014 at age 93. The LGBTQ people who resisted police at the...

Harvey Milk: LGBTQ rights pioneer stood for equality

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 15-31, Nov 16-30, Saints

Pioneering LGBTQ rights activist Harvey Milk is the first and most famous openly gay male elected official in California. His birthday (May 22) is a state holiday. He has been called a martyr for LGBTQ rights — and for all human rights. “If a bullet should...

Gloria Anzaldúa: Queer feminist Chicana scholar of spiritual activism

by Kittredge Cherry | | May 1-15, Saints

Gloria Anzaldúa is an influential queer Latina feminist scholar whose spirituality often gets overlooked. She died on May 15, 2004 at age 61. One of the first openly lesbian Chicana writers, she grew up in Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. In school she was punished...