"Gay People, This Is Your Church"

"Gay People, This Is Your Church"

Robert M. Clement and John Darcy Noble stand in Sheep Meadow following the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March on June 28, 1970, beneath a hand-painted sign proclaiming, "Gay People, This Is Your Church." Earlier that day, Clement carried this sign in the march while Noble distributed leaflets announcing their forthcoming inaugural public Mass. Carried at the first anniversary march commemorating the Stonewall uprising, the sign publicly proclaimed the Church of the Beloved Disciple’s affirming sacramental ministry for lesbian and gay people ahead of its first public Mass on July 19, 1970. This restored photograph preserves one of the earliest surviving public images of Clement and Noble's ministry and documents a pioneering declaration that LGBTQ Christians could participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church without concealing their identities.

Church of the Beloved Disciple Archive, https://beloved-disciple.com

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