Pioneers of the LGBTQ Religious Community

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LGBTQ Religion

When we mention the word 'pioneer', we immediately think of the notion of an individual who either created something completely new, or was the first person to embark on such a mission. That is what we have collected here - a group of individuals in the religious community who were first in their endeavors and accomplishments.

Religious organizations and religion itself, of course, have generally been hostile to the LGBTQ community as a whole, though there has been significant progress to and acceptance of LGBTQ individuals and leaders in the religious community in developed countries. Much of this has been accomplished by the individuals highlighted below, while much of the work continues to be carried forward by many other religious individuals listed in QueerBio.Com.

The religious community includes a broad range of religions, and in our efforts to uncover the LGBTQ pioneers of the religious community we have managed to find individuals of many faiths - Jewish, Christian (Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopalian, etc.), Muslim, and others.

The Religious Archives Network (RAN) catalogues a large number of LGBTQ religious participants and helps to support the archiving and presentation of the history of this community. The Pacific School of Religion in the United States has its Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry.

Do you know:

  • who was the first openly gay Imam of the Muslim faith?
  • who founded the first LGBTQ church for homosexuals in France?
  • who was the world's first transgender priest?

Read on to find the answers to these questions, and to be introduced to a fascinating group of individuals

Canada

  • Eilert Frerichs - United Church Minister who fought successfully to get LGBTQ individuals accepted into the church and allow the ordination of self-declared homosexuals (1988).
  • Brent Hawkes - Metropolitan Community Church minister who performed the first same-sex marriage in Canada
  • Gary Paterson - first openly gay moderator, United Church of Canada

France

Great Britain

  • Lionel Blue - prominent journalist, and one of the first Rabbis in the U.K. to come out as gay
  • Sharon Ferguson - CEO, Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement
  • Mark Solomon - one of the first openly gay Rabbis in the U.K.
  • Carol Stone - world's first transgender priest, Anglican

Israel

  • Ron Yosef - first orthodox Jew to come out as gay

Malaysia

South Africa

Spain

United States

See Also

Further Reading/Research


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