There are a number of christian clergy/ministers who have lead the charge to make many of the Christian denominations more LGBT inclusive. I know more about the Reverend Troy Perry (Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches) than most of the others, although I'm well aware of Bishop Gene Robinson (of the Episcopal Church) as well. Another Episcopal Church minister that helped to lead the charge within the Episcopal Church is the Reverend Malcolm Boyd. He passed away on Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 91, due to complications from pneumonia.
From The Advocate:
Boyd was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1955, having left a career in film, TV, and radio production for the religious life, the Episcopal News Service reports. As the 1950s gave way to the 1960s, he became an activist clergyman, advocating for racial integration and other social justice causes. He embraced the era’s counterculture, speaking in coffeehouses and other unconventional venues, such as the Newport Jazz Festival and the Hungry I nightclub in San Francisco. At the latter he sometimes opened for politically outspoken comedian Dick Gregory.
In 1965, Boyd published a landmark book of prayers called Are You Running With Me, Jesus? It “took prayer out of church onto the city streets in a slangy vernacular not found in Sunday missals,” the Los Angeles Times noted in its obituary. Dealing with such issues as racism and teen pregnancy, the book “is a classic of spiritual writing for its generation,” the Rev. Robert Raines once told the Times. “It tells about the underbelly of society, which Malcolm knew something about. His was a Christian faith lived out in bars and on the streets. His prayers came out of the realization that God is not only in church. God is in the painful situations of your life.”
While many lauded Boyd’s unusual approach to ministry, few of his fans — or members of the church hierarchy — were ready to embrace his homosexuality when he came out in 1976. For several years no church would hire him.
“It was wilderness time,” he told The Indianapolis Star in 2003. “There was criticism, there was unemployability. I learned you have to be flexible in life.” He wrote books on gay spirituality and ran consciousness-raising groups, and finally, in 1982, St. Augustine-by-the-Sea in Santa Monica, Calif., offered him a job.
I haven't read any of his books -- something else to add to my reading list.
From Towleroad:
Boyd is survived by his partner of over 30 years Mark Thompson. In 2004, the two had their relationship blessed in a church ceremony and in 2013 were legally married in California after Proposition 8 was struck down by the Supreme Court.
I just have a minor correction to the Towleroad article. The US Supreme Court did not strike down Proposition 8. They dismissed the case because the Prop 8 defendants did not have Article III standing. That left federal district Judge Walker's ruling (from the Northern District of California) striking down Prop 8 in place.
(H/T Towleroad)