Happy 44th birthday, MCC! Photos show LGBT church history

Protestors carried a sign saying, “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free” when the National Council of Churches denied observer status to Metropolitan Community Churches in November 1992 in Cleveland, Ohio. Pictured in the middle is Nancy Wilson of MCC. Photo by Kittredge Cherry.

Happy birthday to Metropolitan Community Churches! And thanks for 44 years ministering in the LGBT community. MCC was founded 44 years ago today on Oct. 6, 1968.

Photos from MCC history are posted today in honor of the occasion, and as a tribute to all queer people of faith who dare to believe that God loves us just as we are.

The photos here show highlights from my own ministry in MCC during the 1990s. I had the privilege of working closely with Rev. Troy Perry, the openly gay man who founded MCC. He was incredibly brave and visionary to create a church for queer people back in 1968, when homosexuality was still considered a sin, a sickness and a crime. He describes the founding and early years of MCC in the book Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches by Troy D. Perry and Thomas Swicegood.

I joined MCC in 1985 and became an ordained minister. I served as program director at MCC San Francisco. Then I joined the denominational headquarters in Los Angeles, where I handled ecumenical and public relations, working with Troy and Rev. Nancy Wilson, who currently heads MCC as moderator.

I try to post some of my historic MCC photos every year on MCC’s anniversary. This year I am sharing many of Nancy and me doing ecumenical ministry together. The photos capture just a few moments from those memorable times.

We held protest signs and took over the microphones when the National Council of Churches denied observer status to MCC in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 12, 1992. Nancy, pictured in the middle, seized the podium and said, “It’s easier to get into heaven than into the NCC!” She banged her fist on the podium so hard that it cracked. Protest signs in this photo say, “Stonewall Rises Again!!!” and “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual: We are Already in the Church. Let us be Open, Free.” Pictured are, from left, John Taktikos of Axios (Orthodox gay and lesbian group), Nancy Wilson of MCC, and Lorna Cramer of Unitarian Universalists for Lesbian/Gay Concerns. Photo by Kittredge Cherry. RIP John Taktikos, who died of AIDS in October 1993.

The MCC banner is carried by Peter Trabaris and Gloria Soliz at the National Council of Churches meeting in Cleveland in Nov. 1992. The banner has the MCC logo and the words, “A Christian fellowship reaching out the gays and lesbians around the world.” Barely visible in the background is Rev. Howard Warren of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns. It looks like his sign says, “Gay, lesbian and bisexual by God’s design.” The banner on the wall says, “National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.” Photo by Kittredge Cherry. RIP, Howard Warren, who died in 2003.

Here is the NCC-MCC Dialogue Committee in November 1992 in Cleveland, Ohio. We sure look miserable. Our committee tried and failed to find common ground on homosexuality. Left to right: Bishop Clinton Hoggard (African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church), Jean Marshall, Kittredge Cherry (MCC), Nancy Wilson (MCC), Laura Bailey (Disciples of Christ) and NCC staffer Eileen Lindner. Some other committee members are not pictured. RIP Bishop Hoggard, died 2002.

Ordination of Kittredge Cherry, July 1993 at MCC General Conference, Phoenix, Arizona. Ordination was done through laying on of hands by the elders. Elders pictured with me are, from left, Revs. Jean White, Don Eastman and Freda Smith. My life partner Audrey stands beside me on the far right. RIP Jean White, who died in 2010.

Close-up of my ordination from the photo above.

Happy times with Kittredge Cherry, Nancy Wilson, and my life partner Audrey at in July 1993 at MCC General Conference, Phoenix. I love the way the arch forms an arc over my head.

Nancy Wilson, left, and Kittredge Cherry advocated for LGBT rights at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991. I’m wearing headphones to listen to the translation at the multilingual event. This was the first conference that I attended after being hired as Field Director of Ecumenical Witness and Ministry for MCC.

MCC’s delegation to the World Council of Churches Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991 included, from left, Revs. Steve Pieters, Sandi Robinson, Nancy Wilson and Kittredge Cherry.

__
See more of my MCC photos at these links:

Happy birthday, MCC and Desmond Tutu!  (2011)

See LGBT history in photos (2010)

Happy 40th birthday, MCC! (2008)

ML King memorial and the gay hero of the March on Washington: Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin at news briefing on the March on Washington, Aug. 27, 1963 (Wikipedia)

When a new memorial is dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, let us also remember Bayard Rustin, the black gay man who organized the march.

MLK Jr Memorial
(Wikimedia Commons)

The memorial, with a 30-foot statue of King, is scheduled for dedication on Washington’s National Mall on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. (Update: The dedication was postponed to an undetermined date in September or October due to Hurricane Irene.)

A close advisor to King, Rustin was the chief organizer of the March on Washington, where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Rustin has been called “an invisible LGBT hero.” His name is almost unknown, even though he was a major leader in the movements for civil rights and non-violence. He was openly gay, so stayed behind the scenes. He died 24 years ago today at age 75.

Rustin (Mar.17, 1912 - Aug. 24, 1987) rarely served as a public spokesperson for civil rights because he was openly gay in an era when homosexuality was criminalized and stigmatized. His sexuality was criticized by both segregationists and some fellow pacifists and civil-rights workers. In the 1970s he began to advocate publicly for lesbian and gay causes.

From 1955-68 Rustin was a leading strategist for the African American civil rights movement. He is credited with introducing Gandhi-style non-violence to the civil rights movement. His decades of achievements include helping launch the first Freedom Rides in 1947, when civil disobedience was used against racial segregation on buses. He helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and much more.

Rustin’s sexual orientation became publicly known in 1953, when he was arrested for homosexual activity in Pasadena, California. He pleaded guilty and served 60 days in jail. A member of the Quaker faith with its pacifist tradition, he had been jailed before for refusing to participate in World War II.

He clearly saw the connections between the movements for racial justice, women’s equality and LGBT rights. He made it vividly clear in a controversial speech to the Philadelphia chapter of Black and White Men Together on March 1, 1986. The speech, titled “The New ‘Niggers’ are Gays,” is one of several pieces about LGBT rights in his book “Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writing of Bayard Rustin.” Rustin states:

“Today, blacks are no longer the litmus paper or the barometer of social change. Blacks are in every segment of society and there are laws that help to protect them from racial discrimination. The new “niggers” are gays. … It is in this sense that gay people are the new barometer for social change. … The question of social change should be framed with the most vulnerable group in mind: gay people.”

The full synthesis of Rustin’s black and gay identities -- the “two crosses” of his book title -- was the culmination of a life well lived. He died less than a year later of a ruptured pancreas on Aug. 24, 1987 -- 24 years ago today. Late August was also significant in Rustin’s life because the March on Washington was held on Aug. 28, 1963.

The new King memorial includes 24 niches honoring others who gave their lives in various ways to the civil rights movement. I wasn’t able to find out if Rustin will be officially honored there. Some niches have been left open and incomplete, so that more individuals can be added in the future.

Rustin deserves a place in the King memorial… and in the LGBT saints series here at the Jesus in Love Blog.

___
For more info, see:
Rustin’s biography at Wikipedia

Martin Luther King memorial at Wikipedia

Rustin.org (includes reflection by Rustin’s lover, Walter Naegle)

_________
This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes, holy people, deities and religious figures of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

See LGBT history in photos

Rev. Kittredge Cherry at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. This photo was taken at the MCC worship service at the Lincoln Memorial on the morning of the March.

Photos from LGBT church history are posted here today for GLBT History Month and the anniversary of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). It was founded on Oct. 6, 1968, to minister primarily in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

A new set of 18 LGBT church history photos is added to our image archive today too. It’s important to preserve our history. So I post these images as a tribute to all queer people of faith who dare to believe that God loves us just as we are.

The photos here show highlights from my own ministry in MCC during the 1980s and 1990s. I had the privilege of working closely with Rev. Troy Perry, the openly gay man who founded MCC. He was incredibly brave and visionary to create a church for GLBT people back in 1968, when homosexuality was still considered a sin, a sickness and a crime.

I joined MCC in 1985 and became an ordained minister. I served as program director at MCC San Francisco. Then I joined the denominational headquarters in Los Angeles, where I handled ecumenical and public relations, working with Troy and current MCC Moderator Rev. Nancy Wilson. As part of my job, I was part of many historic GLBT events. The following photos capture just a few moments from those memorable times.

Click here to see more photos in our new library of LGBT church history photos.

A million people at the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights listen to Rev. Troy Perry and his partner Phillip De Blieck on April 25, 1993. This photo was taken on the main stage looking toward the Washington Monument by Rev. Kittredge Cherry, who handled MCC’s media relations at the March.

Rev. Troy Perry, MCC founder, hugs Kittredge Cherry, right, at the National March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. She handled MCC’s ecumenical and public relations there.

The Wedding was a spectacular group blessing of 6,000 lesbian and gay couples at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Rights in April 1993. Kittredge Cherry handled media relations for the event as ecumenical and public relations officer for MCC. She is pictured here at the Wedding. It was a prayer demonstration for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

 

Rev. Kittredge Cherry presides over a communion service at MCC-SF in a photo from the front page of the San Francisco Examiner on April 16, 1990. It appeared with an article about the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco titled “Gay church thriving at 20.”



Protesters for gay and lesbian rights in the church picketed a National Council of Churches “Faith and Order” meeting in Berkeley, California, on March 19, 1993. The “Faith and Disorder” protest was led by Rev. Kittredge Cherry, MCC’s National Ecumenical Officer. Signs say: “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re going to church,” “Ruth and Naomi, Jonathan and David, me and my girlfriend,” “Thank God I’m gay” and “We’re everywhere.” People in the photo are, from left, Brian Cross (New Life MCC Berkeley member), unknown protester, Bill Pugh of MCC-SF, Kittredge Cherry, Leslie Addison of MCC-SF, and Beth Downey.

“Sometimes faith in God’s order calls all Christians to act in ways that may seem disorderly because they disrupt the social order established by human society,” Rev. Cherry said in opening remarks at the Faith and Disorder worship service held afterward in the Pacific School of Religion chapel. About half the NCC members present, including NCC General Secretary Joan Campbell, attended the service. Nearly 150 people filled the chapel. Photo by Audrey.

Kittredge Cherry, left, shakes hands with Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning human rights activist from South Africa. They met at the World Council of Churches meeting in Johannesburg in 1994. She was part of the MCC delegation there advocating LGBT religious rights.


Kittredge Cherry speaks at Hands Around the God-Box, a prayer demonstration to end homophobia in the church. She organized it as MCC's national ecumenical director. It was held at the National Council of Churches headquarters in New York City in 1994 on the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. MCC founder Troy Perry is clearly visible in the crowd.

More photos are posted in our new library of LGBT church history photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesusinlove/sets/72157624977253771/