Stories of LGBT+ Religious Activism

From top left to bottom right: Bill Johnson, the first openly gay man to be ordained in the United Church of Christ; image from The Advocate; the Council on Religion and the Homosexual; Karen Oliveto; article about Bill Johnson's ordination; Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.

The Shower of Stoles records the stories of many of the religious activists who have made communities of faith more open and accepting today than many were even twenty years ago. We thank them for their courage, their grace, and their steadfast commitment to justice.

The Shower of Stoles, as it was initially intended to primarily counter homophobia within the Presbyterian Church, originally only included stoles from Presbyterians. The Shower of Stoles subsequently became an ecumenical Christian venture, and is now a multifaith, eclectic collection of liturgical garments.

Many of the stoles' narratives reference pivotal moments in LGBTQ+ religious history that may be unfamiliar to readers today. You may read more about those crucial turning points here. This is, of course, not a comprehensive detailing of the complex, rich, and beautiful multifaith history of greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, but, rather, this segment is intended to shed greater light on specific events recounted throughout various stoles' stories. These brief synopses of LGBTQ+ religious movements feature artifacts from the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network's other digital exhibits, which we encourage you to check out! Indeed, we focus on elements of these faith traditions' histories which may be easily further explored via the broader Archives Network.

Much of this supplementary information is drawn from historian R.W. Holmen's excellent compendium Queer Clergy: A History of Gay and Lesbian Ministry in American Protestantism. Parenthetical page citations are included.