70 20 2502 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/0d8a14868da689aafce6c30dbd08e1d9.jpg 6b413da139e59c5801b22784735288cc Person An individual. Text Any textual data included in the document <p>Morris Floyd, an early leader of LGBT movements in The United Methodist Church, was born in 1946 in Austin, Texas.&nbsp; His father Morris Sr. was studying for an MBA degree at the University of Texas.&nbsp; The family moved to Arizona when Morris was two, living first in Tucson and then in Glendale while his father worked for J.C. Penney.&nbsp; His brother Steve was born before his father’s 1952 death, from an illness contracted while a prisoner of war in Germany. Morris’s mom Buena, almost always shortened to “Boots,” remarried in 1957.&nbsp; Ray was serving in the U.S. Air Force and his assignment took the family, now including Ray’s children from his first marriage and their daughter to Ramstein Air Base in Germany in 1961.</p> <p>Morris attended school at Kaiserslautern High School where he was a member of the Latin Club, the National Honor Society and studied Russian. He was active in the Protestant youth group at the chapel on the base and often led the group in its Sunday evening worship. He also worked as director of the Youth Employment Services on the base during his last two years of high school.&nbsp; There he helped match other teenagers with domestic jobs, such as babysitting and household chores.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris had a sense of his sexual orientation during high school but little opportunity to explore that then.&nbsp; Years later he reconnected with Joe, one of his best high school friends, who was also gay. They had traveled together around Europe together during the last couple of years of high school and became close again before Joe died of AIDS in 1987.&nbsp; Overall Morris thrived during his high school years and graduated in 1964.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris intended to study premed in college and was accepted at the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; However, one of his teachers was a graduate of George Washington University (GWU) in D.C. and encouraged Morris to apply there.&nbsp; So Morris began college at GWU in the fall of 1964.&nbsp; He enjoyed his time in this diverse, urban setting.&nbsp; However, right away he struggled in the classroom with organic chemistry and decided to drop premed studies.&nbsp; When his family moved from Germany to California, Morris transferred to the University of Texas to be closer to them.&nbsp; He was active at the Wesley Foundation on campus and at University U.M. Church.&nbsp; It was during these college years that Morris started to identify himself as a gay man albeit largely in private. He took some summer classes which allowed him to graduate in January 1968 with a double major in philosophy and political science with a minor in anthropology.&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ college years coincided with peak years of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.&nbsp;&nbsp; In the winter of 1965 he traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in a Methodist Student Movement Conference. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was scheduled to be the keynote speaker. On Morris’ connecting flight departing Chicago, Dr. King spotted him reading a book recommended for the conference and struck up a brief conversation.&nbsp; That encounter and his experience at the conference nurtured a commitment to social justice activism.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>As he completed college, he considered options. &nbsp;Although he was accepted for training as a Peace Corps volunteer, Morris perceived that church ministry would provide an opportunity to use his skills to address what was needed in the country and world. &nbsp;He was accepted to enter Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1968.&nbsp; &nbsp;In the interim, he drew on his mother’s past associations with Congressman J.J. Pickle (elected to Lyndon Johnson’s House of Representatives seat when LBJ became a Senator) to get a position working odd jobs in the House of Representatives that spring and summer. &nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ seminary years were again marked by prominent socio-political movements in the U.S. with the anti-Vietnam War protests, the Poor Peoples’ Campaign and the Stonewall Riots.&nbsp; Wesley students and faculty were certainly tuned into these tumultuous events.&nbsp; Morris did student pastoring as a youth minister at a Glen Burnie, Maryland congregation and was then assistant pastor at Marvin Memorial U.M. Church in Silver Spring.&nbsp; He had a good working relationship with the senior pastor Edward Carroll (later elected a bishop) and enjoying numerous opportunities to preach. At Wesley he preached a highly-praised antiwar sermon in chapel, drawing on Simon &amp; Garfunkel’s “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream.”&nbsp; He was also active in student government at Wesley.&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris stayed in seminary a fourth year to work with a cohort of 15 or so top Wesley students who sought to create a more experiential learning experience. They designed a program called “Interact” in which they created their own coursework that would integrate studies with field work.&nbsp; Wesley Dean L. Harold DeWolf supported the venture and educator-activist Parker Palmer was enlisted to lead the group.&nbsp;&nbsp; It was in this group that Morris began to talk with others about being gay.&nbsp; Morris worked with other Wesley students to organize a conference that year, “Politics of Hope,” that brought seminarians and students to D.C. for an intensive urban experience. Dan Rather was the keynote speaker for the conference.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ last seminary year coincided with the 1972 United Methodist General Conference. &nbsp;Prior to the General Conference, Morris and leaders of other United Methodist seminary student governments decided to try have voices of seminarians heard at the General Conference.&nbsp; They organized and traveled to the conference in Atlanta with a proposal that they be seated with voice but not vote.&nbsp; Following an affirmative vote by the conference, Morris was able to sit in with other conference delegates.&nbsp; He did get to speak in the historic debate on a Social Principles statement on Homosexuality, which resulted in the “incompatible with Christian teaching” clause being adopted.&nbsp; He was aware of gay activists who were circulating around the edges of the conference—among them Gene Leggett, Ernie Reagh, and Don McGaw.&nbsp; He also met Michael Collins there, beginning a deep friendship built on common commitments as gay men of faith and advocacy for LGBT folk in the church.&nbsp; They worked together closely until Michael’s death in 1984.</p> <p>Morris recalls traveling with Michael one summer to the meeting of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, where Michael’s ministerial relationship was in jeopardy because he was openly gay.&nbsp; On the road trip from Southern California, they spent some time in Gold Beach, OR, where an innkeeper<span>&nbsp;</span><em>insisted</em><span>&nbsp;</span>on giving them a room with two beds even though their reservation had only asked for one.&nbsp; After a couple of times of back and forth with the innkeeper Michael – exasperated – finally said, “You can give us two beds if you must, but we’re still only going to use one!”&nbsp; Walking up the beach for dinner a little later, the two worried half-seriously if they should be on the lookout for bashers.</p> <p>Following seminary graduation, Morris enlisted in the US-2 program, a domestic mission venture for young United Methodist adults.&nbsp; He was assigned to be chaplain at the Robinson School in San Juan, Puerto Rico.&nbsp; The school needed coaching football, so Morris (who was not an athlete) decided to draw on his experience observing touch football on the seminary campus to coach the junior varsity team.&nbsp; He quietly glowed when the team finished with a 4-3 record, as the varsity team had a losing season.&nbsp; Learning that sports provided a great opportunity to connect with students, he became the athletic director at the school.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris developed a close mentoring relationship with a number of students and stays in contact with them decades later. During his time in Puerto Rico, Morris was commissioned as a Home Missionary.</p> <p>Morris pursued membership and ordination in what was then known as the Southern California-Arizona Annual conference of the United Methodist Church.&nbsp; He remembers a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry asking him when he was planning to get married, to which he had no answer.&nbsp; In those days it didn’t raise quite the red flags it would raise today, and his application was successful.&nbsp; Later, the pastor who asked him that question became a strong supporter of LGBT folk in the church.</p> <p>In 1975, Morris returned to Southern California to complete a year of pastoring required to fulfill probationary status.&nbsp; He served that year working with youth at First U.M. Church of El Cajon with a conservative senior pastor.&nbsp; Persons spotted books about homosexuality on his bookshelves and were concerned about this, but he was not overtly challenged.</p> <p>After that year Morris moved to Farmington, New Mexico to become principal at Navajo United Methodist Mission School. The students boarded there during the week and went home on weekends. The objective of Morris’ leadership was to change the school from being an old-style mission school—where, for example, students were not allowed to speak Navajo—to become more of a Navajo School.&nbsp; A Navajo pastor was hired as chaplain.&nbsp; A graduate of the school came back to serve as the guidance counselor.&nbsp; The school superintendent and Morris were building a board of directors that was primarily Navajo.&nbsp; After his second year, another school graduate became principal and Morris became associate superintendent.&nbsp; He spent his last year there largely traveling to raise money for the school.&nbsp;</p> <p>During one of those trips, he connected by coincidence with the young Affirmation group, LGBT United Methodists and allies, at its national meeting at Broadway U.M. Church in Chicago.&nbsp; This was the first opportunity for Morris to have significant interaction with other LGBT United Methodists.&nbsp; The group was considering how to respond to the decision of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary to forbid the graduation of two gay students.</p> <p>Working with Lyle Loder and other friends in the Southern California annual conference, Morris helped to organize a presence for Affirmation in the region.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>In February 1980, Morris moved to New York City to work for the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) helping to resource missions in the U.S. &nbsp;He helped lead training for a new class of US-2 volunteers in the summer 1980 in Boston and the following year in Washington, D.C. He went to the 1980 General Conference in Indianapolis—not as an agency staff but to assist Affirmation in advocating for LGBT concerns.&nbsp;</p> <p>Although ordained, Morris was also commissioned as a Home Missionary and active in the work of Deaconesses and Missionaries, which is a lay office in the UMC. &nbsp;In the period not long after the firing of Deaconess Joan Clark, Morris&nbsp;advocated&nbsp;strongly for an approach inclusive of LGBT folk in the office. &nbsp;This did not make him popular with the woman who provided administrative leadership for Deaconesses and Home Missionaries, but he felt it was especially urgent to do so. &nbsp;During the decades when women could not be ordained and thereafter, the role of Deaconess has been a path by which many lesbians entered the UMC’s ministry of lay service as leaders, advocates for the disadvantaged and staff for church and community ministry and community centers, among other options.</p> <p>He was a member of the board of Diaconal Ministry in his home annual conference and participated in three international conferences. He also advocated strongly for LGBT concerns in that role, including several "energetic" with the then-head of the office at the GBGM. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris had told his boss that he was gay and could see that there were a number of other gay and lesbian persons on the staff.&nbsp; But there was unease around the agency in the aftermath of the 1979 firing of Joan Clark for being a lesbian. Although Morris had no reason to think he would be challenged, he also realized that in the case of a major expose, the support he would get would be limited.&nbsp; So in August 1981, he moved to Minneapolis to become executive director of Gay Community Services (later Lesbian &amp; Gay Community Services – LGCS), a mental health center funded largely by the county and by United Way.&nbsp; During his 20 years in Minneapolis, Morris provided leadership in the LGBT community and beyond by, among other things, being one of the founders of the Minnesota AIDS Project and serving on the state’s AIDS Task Force, as well as the board of directors of the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus.</p> <p>This move freed Morris up to become more actively and publicly involved in Affirmation.&nbsp; He was selected for the Coordinating Committee and helped design plans for advocacy and witness at the 1984 General Conference and to launch a new “welcoming church” program, the Reconciling Congregation Program.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris went to the 1984 General Conference in Baltimore as one of Affirmation’s national co-spokespersons, alongside Mary Gaddis.&nbsp; His years of work in United Methodist missions and as a national agency staff positioned him to get an audience with some denominational leaders there. He was invited to dinner by Bishop Finis Crutchfield from Houston (who was outed after his death from AIDS a few years later) in the dining room of the hotel that housed the bishops.&nbsp; Crutchfield made a point of walking Morris around and introducing him to other bishops.&nbsp; He wanted to impress Morris in this way and by relating what he had done for the gay community, previously in New Orleans and now in Houston.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris also recalls a hallway discussion with a prominent pastor who was seen as an ally but vehemently opposed the strategy of having an openly gay person to speak to the General Conference. &nbsp;This taught him to be skeptical about how far “progressive” leaders would go to advocate for LGBT persons.&nbsp; Affirmation sponsored a dinner for allies and friends at a Baltimore congregation where they honored “saints” who had supported LGBT concerns.&nbsp; Following the dinner, a leading African-American pastor took Morris to task for not being recognized for the risks he had taken to lead his congregation to provide space for a largely-gay Metropolitan Community Church.&nbsp; This brought Morris face-to-face again with how covert racism could thwart the intentions and vision of Affirmation that believed it was espousing social justice.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Morris had also sought an appointment by Bishop Jack Tuell to his position at LGCS.&nbsp; This led to several years of discussion with the Conference leadership about Morris’ status, and initially Morris was placed on an involuntary leave of absence, an action that required a supermajority vote of Annual Conference clergy.</p> <p>At the clergy executive session of the Annual Conference where this occurred, Bishop Tuell made a ruling of church law affirming that such a leave may be initiated and imposed involuntarily. Such decisions are automatically referred to the Judicial Council, the denomination’s Supreme Court.&nbsp; Morris argued in opposition to the Bishop’s action that the decision was contrary to the Constitution of The United Methodist Church and to key due-process rights provided in the United Methodist<span>&nbsp;</span><em>Discipline</em><span>&nbsp;</span>to protect clergy from arbitrary removal of their right to an appointment.&nbsp; In<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.umc.org/decisions/41417/eyJyZXN1bHRfcGFnZSI6IlwvZGVjaXNpb25zXC9zZWFyY2gtcmVzdWx0cyIsInNlYXJjaDpkZWNpc2lvbl9udW1iZXIiOiIxMjA4In0)">Decision 524&nbsp;</a>the Judicial Council overruled Morris’s appeal. The documents related to the appeal are available below as an additional resource.</p> <p>The second time the question came up, the involuntary leave was sustained by the clergy session, though by a narrow margin.&nbsp; Thereafter the Bishop agreed to appoint Morris to any position reasonably compatible with the special appointment rules, but not to a local church.&nbsp; Thereafter Morris worked for many years as an executive for a Twin Cities health care corporation.&nbsp; He took the retired relationship to the Annual Conference in 1992, feeling that the Annual Conference relationship was hollow under the Bishop’s terms.</p> <p>In 1983, Bishop Tuell had worked with other bishops and an executive of the UM Board of Higher Education and Ministry to devise the language later approved at the 1984 General Conference that required “fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness” of the clergy, effectively preventing the ordination or appointment of gay and lesbian clergy. In May of 2003, Tuell preached a sermon (<a href="https://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/bishop-tuell-how-i-changed-my-mind/)">https://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/bishop-tuell-how-i-changed-my-mind/)</a><span>&nbsp;</span>describing how he had changed his mind and confessing that he and the others that day were “unconsciously guided” by the need for “institutional protection” over the controversial matter, rather than the Wesleyan “tests of truth” (as the Bishop referred to them in a 2000 sermon called “Doing a New Thing”): “Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason.”</p> <p>Despite their profound disagreement at the time his appointment was in question, Morris remembers his relationship with Bishop Tuell as productive, mutually respectful and friendly.</p> <p>Morris served as a spokesperson for Affirmation through the 1992 General Conference.&nbsp; In subsequent years he became a member of the Reconciling Congregation Program board of directors.&nbsp; Among other contributions, he helped the group to create its initial effort to raise funds through major gifts from “Angels.”&nbsp; In a sermon to the 25^thAnniversary celebration of Affirmation, in 2000, Morris reminded attendees that their status as beloved children of God is not dependent on the approval on the United Methodist church, or any other religious body, and called on them find dignity and worth internally rather than allowing themselves to become victims by continually seeking validation from an institution.</p> <p>By the turn of the 21^stCentury, Morris was distancing himself increasingly from the church, though he says to this day he is an “fascinated observer and commentator” on what he views as the denomination’s gyrations to find a position regarding homosexuality that will be faithful to the Gospel and to Wesleyan standards while also satisfactory to those who insist on a literal reading of Biblical proscriptions.&nbsp; He believes that the struggle is about matters even more profound than human sexuality – the very nature of God, humankind, the rest of creation and the relationship among them, as well as the role of the Bible.&nbsp; He does not think it likely that some sort of political accommodation between deeply opposed factions is likely to produce a resolution satisfactory to anyone.&nbsp; Prior to the General Conference of 2016 he encouraged (<a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer/2016/05/umc/">http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer/2016/05/umc/</a>) progressive United Methodists to forgo allegiance to the denomination and find a home for themselves and their Wesleyan heritage in other denominations.&nbsp; He believes doing could dramatically strengthen the witness and work of groups such as the United Church of Christ without creating the overhead associated with a new Methodist denomination.</p> <p>Morris now considers himself a “recovering Christian.”&nbsp; He says that he can identify with many elements of that faith community’s story, but he has recognized that he cannot honestly make the theological affirmations associated with Christian faith.</p> <p>Morris and his partner of 28 years, Alex Herrera, moved from Minneapolis to Chicago in the fall of 2001, where he served for 2 ½ years as the executive leader for development of the Center on Halsted, an LGBT community center.&nbsp; Thereafter he worked with clients of DST Health Solutions as an account executive, consulting on the implementing the clients’ business strategy through improvements in their technology strategy and infrastructure.&nbsp; After a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer, Morris retired to get well and spend his time in other ways.&nbsp; He considers himself a fortunate survivor, now cancer-free 8 years later.</p> <p>Alex and Morris, fearing that Illinois would not promptly approve legislation supporting marriage equality, were married in 2012 in Toronto in a small ceremony with Alex’s mother, sister and her family as witnesses.&nbsp; They presently live with their pug Niko in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood and have a second home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. &nbsp;While Alex works as a senior development executive for Northwestern University, Morris enjoys volunteering at the National Runaway Safeline, being active in his condominium association and occasional blogging as the "Observant Queer" (<a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer">www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer</a>).</p> <p>(This biographical profile was drafted by Mark Bowman from an interview with Morris Floyd and edited by Floyd.)</p> Biographical Text <p>Morris Floyd, an early leader of LGBT movements in The United Methodist Church, was born in 1946 in Austin, Texas.&nbsp; His father Morris Sr. was studying for an MBA degree at the University of Texas.&nbsp; The family moved to Arizona when Morris was two, living first in Tucson and then in Glendale while his father worked for J.C. Penney.&nbsp; His brother Steve was born before his father’s 1952 death, from an illness contracted while a prisoner of war in Germany. Morris’s mom Buena, almost always shortened to “Boots,” remarried in 1957.&nbsp; Ray was serving in the U.S. Air Force and his assignment took the family, now including Ray’s children from his first marriage and their daughter to Ramstein Air Base in Germany in 1961.</p> <p>Morris attended school at Kaiserslautern High School where he was a member of the Latin Club, the National Honor Society and studied Russian. He was active in the Protestant youth group at the chapel on the base and often led the group in its Sunday evening worship. He also worked as director of the Youth Employment Services on the base during his last two years of high school.&nbsp; There he helped match other teenagers with domestic jobs, such as babysitting and household chores.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris had a sense of his sexual orientation during high school but little opportunity to explore that then.&nbsp; Years later he reconnected with Joe, one of his best high school friends, who was also gay. They had traveled together around Europe together during the last couple of years of high school and became close again before Joe died of AIDS in 1987.&nbsp; Overall Morris thrived during his high school years and graduated in 1964.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris intended to study premed in college and was accepted at the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; However, one of his teachers was a graduate of George Washington University (GWU) in D.C. and encouraged Morris to apply there.&nbsp; So Morris began college at GWU in the fall of 1964.&nbsp; He enjoyed his time in this diverse, urban setting.&nbsp; However, right away he struggled in the classroom with organic chemistry and decided to drop premed studies.&nbsp; When his family moved from Germany to California, Morris transferred to the University of Texas to be closer to them.&nbsp; He was active at the Wesley Foundation on campus and at University U.M. Church.&nbsp; It was during these college years that Morris started to identify himself as a gay man albeit largely in private. He took some summer classes which allowed him to graduate in January 1968 with a double major in philosophy and political science with a minor in anthropology.&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ college years coincided with peak years of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.&nbsp;&nbsp; In the winter of 1965 he traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to participate in a Methodist Student Movement Conference. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was scheduled to be the keynote speaker. On Morris’ connecting flight departing Chicago, Dr. King spotted him reading a book recommended for the conference and struck up a brief conversation.&nbsp; That encounter and his experience at the conference nurtured a commitment to social justice activism.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>As he completed college, he considered options. &nbsp;Although he was accepted for training as a Peace Corps volunteer, Morris perceived that church ministry would provide an opportunity to use his skills to address what was needed in the country and world. &nbsp;He was accepted to enter Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1968.&nbsp; &nbsp;In the interim, he drew on his mother’s past associations with Congressman J.J. Pickle (elected to Lyndon Johnson’s House of Representatives seat when LBJ became a Senator) to get a position working odd jobs in the House of Representatives that spring and summer. &nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ seminary years were again marked by prominent socio-political movements in the U.S. with the anti-Vietnam War protests, the Poor Peoples’ Campaign and the Stonewall Riots.&nbsp; Wesley students and faculty were certainly tuned into these tumultuous events.&nbsp; Morris did student pastoring as a youth minister at a Glen Burnie, Maryland congregation and was then assistant pastor at Marvin Memorial U.M. Church in Silver Spring.&nbsp; He had a good working relationship with the senior pastor Edward Carroll (later elected a bishop) and enjoying numerous opportunities to preach. At Wesley he preached a highly-praised antiwar sermon in chapel, drawing on Simon &amp; Garfunkel’s “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream.”&nbsp; He was also active in student government at Wesley.&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris stayed in seminary a fourth year to work with a cohort of 15 or so top Wesley students who sought to create a more experiential learning experience. They designed a program called “Interact” in which they created their own coursework that would integrate studies with field work.&nbsp; Wesley Dean L. Harold DeWolf supported the venture and educator-activist Parker Palmer was enlisted to lead the group.&nbsp;&nbsp; It was in this group that Morris began to talk with others about being gay.&nbsp; Morris worked with other Wesley students to organize a conference that year, “Politics of Hope,” that brought seminarians and students to D.C. for an intensive urban experience. Dan Rather was the keynote speaker for the conference.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris’ last seminary year coincided with the 1972 United Methodist General Conference. &nbsp;Prior to the General Conference, Morris and leaders of other United Methodist seminary student governments decided to try have voices of seminarians heard at the General Conference.&nbsp; They organized and traveled to the conference in Atlanta with a proposal that they be seated with voice but not vote.&nbsp; Following an affirmative vote by the conference, Morris was able to sit in with other conference delegates.&nbsp; He did get to speak in the historic debate on a Social Principles statement on Homosexuality, which resulted in the “incompatible with Christian teaching” clause being adopted.&nbsp; He was aware of gay activists who were circulating around the edges of the conference—among them Gene Leggett, Ernie Reagh, and Don McGaw.&nbsp; He also met Michael Collins there, beginning a deep friendship built on common commitments as gay men of faith and advocacy for LGBT folk in the church.&nbsp; They worked together closely until Michael’s death in 1984.</p> <p>Morris recalls traveling with Michael one summer to the meeting of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, where Michael’s ministerial relationship was in jeopardy because he was openly gay.&nbsp; On the road trip from Southern California, they spent some time in Gold Beach, OR, where an innkeeper<span>&nbsp;</span><em>insisted</em><span>&nbsp;</span>on giving them a room with two beds even though their reservation had only asked for one.&nbsp; After a couple of times of back and forth with the innkeeper Michael – exasperated – finally said, “You can give us two beds if you must, but we’re still only going to use one!”&nbsp; Walking up the beach for dinner a little later, the two worried half-seriously if they should be on the lookout for bashers.</p> <p>Following seminary graduation, Morris enlisted in the US-2 program, a domestic mission venture for young United Methodist adults.&nbsp; He was assigned to be chaplain at the Robinson School in San Juan, Puerto Rico.&nbsp; The school needed coaching football, so Morris (who was not an athlete) decided to draw on his experience observing touch football on the seminary campus to coach the junior varsity team.&nbsp; He quietly glowed when the team finished with a 4-3 record, as the varsity team had a losing season.&nbsp; Learning that sports provided a great opportunity to connect with students, he became the athletic director at the school.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris developed a close mentoring relationship with a number of students and stays in contact with them decades later. During his time in Puerto Rico, Morris was commissioned as a Home Missionary.</p> <p>Morris pursued membership and ordination in what was then known as the Southern California-Arizona Annual conference of the United Methodist Church.&nbsp; He remembers a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry asking him when he was planning to get married, to which he had no answer.&nbsp; In those days it didn’t raise quite the red flags it would raise today, and his application was successful.&nbsp; Later, the pastor who asked him that question became a strong supporter of LGBT folk in the church.</p> <p>In 1975, Morris returned to Southern California to complete a year of pastoring required to fulfill probationary status.&nbsp; He served that year working with youth at First U.M. Church of El Cajon with a conservative senior pastor.&nbsp; Persons spotted books about homosexuality on his bookshelves and were concerned about this, but he was not overtly challenged.</p> <p>After that year Morris moved to Farmington, New Mexico to become principal at Navajo United Methodist Mission School. The students boarded there during the week and went home on weekends. The objective of Morris’ leadership was to change the school from being an old-style mission school—where, for example, students were not allowed to speak Navajo—to become more of a Navajo School.&nbsp; A Navajo pastor was hired as chaplain.&nbsp; A graduate of the school came back to serve as the guidance counselor.&nbsp; The school superintendent and Morris were building a board of directors that was primarily Navajo.&nbsp; After his second year, another school graduate became principal and Morris became associate superintendent.&nbsp; He spent his last year there largely traveling to raise money for the school.&nbsp;</p> <p>During one of those trips, he connected by coincidence with the young Affirmation group, LGBT United Methodists and allies, at its national meeting at Broadway U.M. Church in Chicago.&nbsp; This was the first opportunity for Morris to have significant interaction with other LGBT United Methodists.&nbsp; The group was considering how to respond to the decision of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary to forbid the graduation of two gay students.</p> <p>Working with Lyle Loder and other friends in the Southern California annual conference, Morris helped to organize a presence for Affirmation in the region.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>In February 1980, Morris moved to New York City to work for the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) helping to resource missions in the U.S. &nbsp;He helped lead training for a new class of US-2 volunteers in the summer 1980 in Boston and the following year in Washington, D.C. He went to the 1980 General Conference in Indianapolis—not as an agency staff but to assist Affirmation in advocating for LGBT concerns.&nbsp;</p> <p>Although ordained, Morris was also commissioned as a Home Missionary and active in the work of Deaconesses and Missionaries, which is a lay office in the UMC. &nbsp;In the period not long after the firing of Deaconess Joan Clark, Morris&nbsp;advocated&nbsp;strongly for an approach inclusive of LGBT folk in the office. &nbsp;This did not make him popular with the woman who provided administrative leadership for Deaconesses and Home Missionaries, but he felt it was especially urgent to do so. &nbsp;During the decades when women could not be ordained and thereafter, the role of Deaconess has been a path by which many lesbians entered the UMC’s ministry of lay service as leaders, advocates for the disadvantaged and staff for church and community ministry and community centers, among other options.</p> <p>He was a member of the board of Diaconal Ministry in his home annual conference and participated in three international conferences. He also advocated strongly for LGBT concerns in that role, including several "energetic" with the then-head of the office at the GBGM. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris had told his boss that he was gay and could see that there were a number of other gay and lesbian persons on the staff.&nbsp; But there was unease around the agency in the aftermath of the 1979 firing of Joan Clark for being a lesbian. Although Morris had no reason to think he would be challenged, he also realized that in the case of a major expose, the support he would get would be limited.&nbsp; So in August 1981, he moved to Minneapolis to become executive director of Gay Community Services (later Lesbian &amp; Gay Community Services – LGCS), a mental health center funded largely by the county and by United Way.&nbsp; During his 20 years in Minneapolis, Morris provided leadership in the LGBT community and beyond by, among other things, being one of the founders of the Minnesota AIDS Project and serving on the state’s AIDS Task Force, as well as the board of directors of the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus.</p> <p>This move freed Morris up to become more actively and publicly involved in Affirmation.&nbsp; He was selected for the Coordinating Committee and helped design plans for advocacy and witness at the 1984 General Conference and to launch a new “welcoming church” program, the Reconciling Congregation Program.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Morris went to the 1984 General Conference in Baltimore as one of Affirmation’s national co-spokespersons, alongside Mary Gaddis.&nbsp; His years of work in United Methodist missions and as a national agency staff positioned him to get an audience with some denominational leaders there. He was invited to dinner by Bishop Finis Crutchfield from Houston (who was outed after his death from AIDS a few years later) in the dining room of the hotel that housed the bishops.&nbsp; Crutchfield made a point of walking Morris around and introducing him to other bishops.&nbsp; He wanted to impress Morris in this way and by relating what he had done for the gay community, previously in New Orleans and now in Houston.&nbsp;&nbsp; Morris also recalls a hallway discussion with a prominent pastor who was seen as an ally but vehemently opposed the strategy of having an openly gay person to speak to the General Conference. &nbsp;This taught him to be skeptical about how far “progressive” leaders would go to advocate for LGBT persons.&nbsp; Affirmation sponsored a dinner for allies and friends at a Baltimore congregation where they honored “saints” who had supported LGBT concerns.&nbsp; Following the dinner, a leading African-American pastor took Morris to task for not being recognized for the risks he had taken to lead his congregation to provide space for a largely-gay Metropolitan Community Church.&nbsp; This brought Morris face-to-face again with how covert racism could thwart the intentions and vision of Affirmation that believed it was espousing social justice.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Morris had also sought an appointment by Bishop Jack Tuell to his position at LGCS.&nbsp; This led to several years of discussion with the Conference leadership about Morris’ status, and initially Morris was placed on an involuntary leave of absence, an action that required a supermajority vote of Annual Conference clergy.</p> <p>At the clergy executive session of the Annual Conference where this occurred, Bishop Tuell made a ruling of church law affirming that such a leave may be initiated and imposed involuntarily. Such decisions are automatically referred to the Judicial Council, the denomination’s Supreme Court.&nbsp; Morris argued in opposition to the Bishop’s action that the decision was contrary to the Constitution of The United Methodist Church and to key due-process rights provided in the United Methodist<span>&nbsp;</span><em>Discipline</em><span>&nbsp;</span>to protect clergy from arbitrary removal of their right to an appointment.&nbsp; In<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.umc.org/decisions/41417/eyJyZXN1bHRfcGFnZSI6IlwvZGVjaXNpb25zXC9zZWFyY2gtcmVzdWx0cyIsInNlYXJjaDpkZWNpc2lvbl9udW1iZXIiOiIxMjA4In0)">Decision 524&nbsp;</a>the Judicial Council overruled Morris’s appeal. The documents related to the appeal are available below as an additional resource.</p> <p>The second time the question came up, the involuntary leave was sustained by the clergy session, though by a narrow margin.&nbsp; Thereafter the Bishop agreed to appoint Morris to any position reasonably compatible with the special appointment rules, but not to a local church.&nbsp; Thereafter Morris worked for many years as an executive for a Twin Cities health care corporation.&nbsp; He took the retired relationship to the Annual Conference in 1992, feeling that the Annual Conference relationship was hollow under the Bishop’s terms.</p> <p>In 1983, Bishop Tuell had worked with other bishops and an executive of the UM Board of Higher Education and Ministry to devise the language later approved at the 1984 General Conference that required “fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness” of the clergy, effectively preventing the ordination or appointment of gay and lesbian clergy. In May of 2003, Tuell preached a sermon (<a href="https://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/bishop-tuell-how-i-changed-my-mind/)">https://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/bishop-tuell-how-i-changed-my-mind/)</a><span>&nbsp;</span>describing how he had changed his mind and confessing that he and the others that day were “unconsciously guided” by the need for “institutional protection” over the controversial matter, rather than the Wesleyan “tests of truth” (as the Bishop referred to them in a 2000 sermon called “Doing a New Thing”): “Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason.”</p> <p>Despite their profound disagreement at the time his appointment was in question, Morris remembers his relationship with Bishop Tuell as productive, mutually respectful and friendly.</p> <p>Morris served as a spokesperson for Affirmation through the 1992 General Conference.&nbsp; In subsequent years he became a member of the Reconciling Congregation Program board of directors.&nbsp; Among other contributions, he helped the group to create its initial effort to raise funds through major gifts from “Angels.”&nbsp; In a sermon to the 25^thAnniversary celebration of Affirmation, in 2000, Morris reminded attendees that their status as beloved children of God is not dependent on the approval on the United Methodist church, or any other religious body, and called on them find dignity and worth internally rather than allowing themselves to become victims by continually seeking validation from an institution.</p> <p>By the turn of the 21^stCentury, Morris was distancing himself increasingly from the church, though he says to this day he is an “fascinated observer and commentator” on what he views as the denomination’s gyrations to find a position regarding homosexuality that will be faithful to the Gospel and to Wesleyan standards while also satisfactory to those who insist on a literal reading of Biblical proscriptions.&nbsp; He believes that the struggle is about matters even more profound than human sexuality – the very nature of God, humankind, the rest of creation and the relationship among them, as well as the role of the Bible.&nbsp; He does not think it likely that some sort of political accommodation between deeply opposed factions is likely to produce a resolution satisfactory to anyone.&nbsp; Prior to the General Conference of 2016 he encouraged (<a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer/2016/05/umc/">http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer/2016/05/umc/</a>) progressive United Methodists to forgo allegiance to the denomination and find a home for themselves and their Wesleyan heritage in other denominations.&nbsp; He believes doing could dramatically strengthen the witness and work of groups such as the United Church of Christ without creating the overhead associated with a new Methodist denomination.</p> <p>Morris now considers himself a “recovering Christian.”&nbsp; He says that he can identify with many elements of that faith community’s story, but he has recognized that he cannot honestly make the theological affirmations associated with Christian faith.</p> <p>Morris and his partner of 28 years, Alex Herrera, moved from Minneapolis to Chicago in the fall of 2001, where he served for 2 ½ years as the executive leader for development of the Center on Halsted, an LGBT community center.&nbsp; Thereafter he worked with clients of DST Health Solutions as an account executive, consulting on the implementing the clients’ business strategy through improvements in their technology strategy and infrastructure.&nbsp; After a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer, Morris retired to get well and spend his time in other ways.&nbsp; He considers himself a fortunate survivor, now cancer-free 8 years later.</p> <p>Alex and Morris, fearing that Illinois would not promptly approve legislation supporting marriage equality, were married in 2012 in Toronto in a small ceremony with Alex’s mother, sister and her family as witnesses.&nbsp; They presently live with their pug Niko in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood and have a second home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. &nbsp;While Alex works as a senior development executive for Northwestern University, Morris enjoys volunteering at the National Runaway Safeline, being active in his condominium association and occasional blogging as the "Observant Queer" (<a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer">www.chicagonow.com/observant-queer</a>).</p> <p>(This biographical profile was drafted by Mark Bowman from an interview with Morris Floyd and edited by Floyd.)</p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Morris Floyd Affirmation LGBT United Methodists Methodist Morris Floyd United Methodist Church https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/98dfb55cee2da8c7f1f347b97f938afa.jpeg d7ec8d33bc00e996fad3cb9c3896a5ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Most transgender people in state prisons are people of color Description An account of the resource Graphic showing percentage of transgender people in state prisons, by race. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Prison Policy Initiative <br />National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, <em>Injustice at Every Turn A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey</em> https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/b913e3cd73377dc578f28f3ab14ee6bf.pdf 40188e01031ef4d04ea97ddb86ab7e19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Sampler of Early Documents Description An account of the resource Artifacts for the A Sampler of Early Documents exhibit Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource motive, Gay Men's issue Description An account of the resource motive magazine, Vol 32 No 2, gay men's issue.&nbsp; Source: <a href="https://rainbowhistory.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainbowhistory.org</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rainbow History Project: <a href="https://rainbowhistory.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainbowhistory.org</a> https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/f91786cb41fc9346369cff9974099241.pdf 8d536fac59f19ff91509ecc39f587456 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Sampler of Early Documents Description An account of the resource Artifacts for the A Sampler of Early Documents exhibit Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource motive, Lesbian Issue Description An account of the resource motive magazine, Vol 32 No 1, lesbian/feminist issue.&nbsp; Source: <a href="https://rainbowhistory.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainbowhistory.org</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Rainbow History Project: <a href="https://rainbowhistory.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainbowhistory.org</a> https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/c04fd0fd8d16dd6ae540019c3f0a982a.jpg 2d1d5b1487f1f19460d1d28d1efcf2ed Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership YouTube Video A video hosted on YouTube. YouTube ID Eleven-character ID assigned by YouTube ObfFAokGlps Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mr. Navaho: Balancing being native American and queer Subject The topic of the resource Mr. Navaho (Zachariah George) is a 25 year old culture keeper. He strives to maintain the old Navaho ways, knows the language, sings the songs, and assumes an educative and ritual role in his community. He knows his value, and yet he capitulates. He suppresses the feminine expression of himself that feels natural to be acceptable to his community. Perhaps Mr. Navaho's role as a performer and soloist opens up an avenue that compensates him for suppressing a more feminine persona he seems more inclined to adopt and project. Mr. Navaho understands the loss of the middle gender that formerly existed in his society. At one point in the film, he spells out on paper the old Diné word, Nádłeehé. He tells the viewer, "This word is very powerful. It identifies me and maybe other people." According to Nowness, a Navajo professor recognizes this word as coming from creation stories and referring to a third gender. Mr. Navajo identifies with this role; he knows that such a person was seen as a good omen, and as he explains: "If you have a gay person in your life, that's in your family, that means your family will never, never fall apart. Ever since Christianity came into our lives, it really changed a lot, not just Native Americans, but a lot of people's lives. That's just sad, you know what I mean?" But is he comfortable performing in his life the role of a gay man? Description An account of the resource Mr. Navaho is accepted by family members and especially his grandparents who say that one's sexual orientation should not matter. His mother observed his girlish ways early in life but warned him not to venture into the feminine gender expression that draws him. He longs for the feminine to the point where he envies the girls' long hair he used to have. In this regard, Mr. Navaho walks the tightrope between the effeminate man he is allowed to be and the female person he is inside that he must keep hidden away. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObfFAokGlps Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Poster Design by Samya Arif Nowness https://www.nowness.com/series/they-call-me/mr-navajo-saila-huusko-jasper-rischen?_branch_match_id=1121012003463969804&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXzzdLN9dLLCjQy8nMy9Y3KHIxcjJMiko0BQAJsykGIAAAAA%3D%3D Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Upstairs Lounge Fire Person An individual. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mrs. Willie Inez Warren Description An account of the resource Mrs. Willie Inez Warren, 59, housekeeper from Monroeville, Alabama, died along with her sons James Curtis Warren, 26, and Eddie Hosea Warren, 24, both from Pensacola, Florida. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Queer Religion Boston Description An account of the resource Items for the Boston Queer Religious History exhibit Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Murray Unitarian Universalist Church Description An account of the resource Location of Murray Unitarian Universalist Church in Attleboro, Massachusetts https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/bcaf3d5c1fdb8586a1424a81c17010b3.jpg 589b1ab5906dbbef55c198e962da4d20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Queer Religion Boston Description An account of the resource Items for the Boston Queer Religious History exhibit Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Murray Unitarian Universalist Church Description An account of the resource The front facade and parking lot of Murray Unitarian Universalist Church, seen behind a tree on a clear day. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Murray Unitarian Universalist Church, Attleboro MA" by John Phelan is licensed under CC BY 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/?ref=openverse. https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/5ed1aeebaec5f586c64b7dfd5e37a4ca.jpg 3692c0fc4bc2e74953708e6c666b5ab0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Muxe https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/38fb19908d73ba9e0f78530fca884a19.pdf bebec2a4e735dcb06fa498646c0220e7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource My Gender Is My Own Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Justyn Grove, Third World Forum, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2013. extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=is&oid=TWF20130401&type=staticpdf&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-gender------- https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/1778e6a8c55a93096699a9be9ac6a730.jpg 11cbd9fcc5f3d9fbb67d7746450cc2b9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership YouTube Video A video hosted on YouTube. YouTube ID Eleven-character ID assigned by YouTube Qktnx8BOdUw Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource My God Too: Black LGBTQ Students Speak Out Description An account of the resource This edition of the Many Voices visibility campaign is raising awareness of the need to foster accepting and welcoming campus environments for black LGBTQ students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qktnx8BOdUw https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/be77cf613842b0c4532f97d1a0e0cb76.jpg 91e544822159f17db6541858ce63181d https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/dfe1b10ea6d66d8cf3d371212714a7af.jpg d6341dbe37f69f36aadfd0c7405eb177 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. My Lesbian Daughter Stole Text <p>This Stole Is Given To Honor My Lesbian Daughter</p> <p>The Rev. B. David Hostetter<br />Newark, New Jersey</p> Denomination Presbyterian Church (USA) Contribution Date 1995 Contribution Story <p></p> <p>This stole was one of the original 80 stoles that were on display on Sept. 16, 1995 when I set aside my ordination before Heartland Presbytery (see stole #1 for details).</p> <p> This stole is generations old. It was given to us by a retired pastor, David Hostetter, to honor his daughter.  Made of heavy black material trimmed with black cord and fringe, its only color being that of a small maltese-style cross of dark gold metal thread woven into the neck area , it stands in stark contrast to the more colorful stoles that surround it at displays.  It is the sort of stole that was worn for funerals up until the early part of the last century.  More than a few parents have commented over the years that it embodies the immense grief and loss so many parents experience over the church's rejection of their children.  It is a precious -- and powerful -- part of this collection.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Martha Juillerat</strong></p> <p>Shower of Stoles Project</p> <p>2006</p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 40 Title A name given to the resource My Lesbian Daughter Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Newark, New Jersey (USA) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rev. B. David Hostetter Ally Hostetter, David New Jersey Presbyterian Presbyterian Church (USA) https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/0704bf14c63683dbdf1f2aa65839e727.jpg eceb08236fcd7fdfb44b971b65bec376 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/f9fcec21004c7844dce1895ec560ee59.jpg 840fa152f4029d99f6bf1bc0eaab649e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. My Lesbian Daughter and Gay Son (Donated by Paul Beeman and the Pacific Northwest Chapter, MFSA) Stole Text <p><strong>HONORING MY LESBIAN DAUGHTER AND GAY SON</strong></p> <p><strong>REV. PAUL BEEMAN<br /></strong>PACIFIC NORTHWEST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH<br />NATIONAL PFLAG PRESIDENT</p> <p>Since I am a United Methodist minister, my four children including a lesbian daughter and gay son grew up in the church.  While Betty and I have totally supported them and loved them unconditionally, the church has abandoned them, condemned their lives, and left them spiritually homeless.  They are among the Exodus of perhaps 600,000 gay and lesbian United Methodists who have silently slipped away.  My son considered becoming a minister and later considered suicide, after he discovered his commitment to Christ was unacceptable for the church's service.</p> <p>After 42 years as a minister, I can no longer wear this stole as a symbol of my profession in the church I have served, never again until people like my son and daughter are recognized by the church as children of God and welcomed for their spiritual worth.</p> <p>Today I serve as national president of PFLAG -- Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays -- an organization of 440 local chapters and nearly a hundred-thousand people united in the commitments of unconditional love.</p> <p>In a demonstration at the United Methodist General Conference in May, 2000, this stole was worn by Amory Peck, whom I had united with her life partner, Linda Lambert, in a Holy Union -- for them an act of Christian commitment, for me an act of pastoral ministry, yet in defiance of the General Conference and Judicial Council's ban of such ceremonies.  I will be happy to be charged and tried for faithfulness to my calling.  I will be thrilled when my church welcomes all its children.</p> Denomination United Methodist Church Contribution Date 2000 Contribution Story <p>Paul Beeman's anger and grief are palpable in this brief narrative.  A man of immense faith and grace, he has chosen to channel all this pain into a commitment to rid the church and society of their homophobia and discriminatory practices.  As National PLFAG President, and as an active volunteer with the Reconciling Ministries Network and Parents' Reconciling Network.</p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">This is one of four stoles (#675-677) given to us by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA).  MFSA was founded in 1907 by several Methodist Episcopal clergy (including Frank Mason North, author of "Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life") to direct church attention to the enormous human suffering among the working class. Immediately the Federation became Methodism's unofficial rallying point for the Social Gospel and achieved in 1908 the adoption of the first denominational social creed.<span>  </span>Today, the Federation unites activist United Methodists to promote action on the liberation issues confronting the church and society and to witness to the transformation of the social order that is intrinsic to the church's entire life, including its evangelism, preaching, counseling, and spirituality.<span>  </span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">As an independent organization, MFSA works primarily through the ministries of the United Methodist Church, supporting and augmenting peace and justice ministries at the local, conference, and national levels, calling the church to expand its understanding of the radical call of the Gospel to be the inclusive, justice-seeking, risk-taking Body of Christ. </span><span style="font-size:7pt;font-family:Arial;"><!--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /--></span></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">These stoles were given to us in advance of the 2000 General Conference of the <!--?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /-->UnitedMethodistChurch in Cleveland, OH.<span>  </span>In 1999, the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) inquired about the possibility of having a display of the Shower of Stoles at the General Conference the following April.<span>  </span>At the time, there were only around twenty United Methodist stoles in the collection.<span>  </span>We decided to introduce the Shower of Stoles to the Reconciling community by bringing the twenty UM stoles and about a hundred others to RMN’s Convocation in Denton, TX over the Labor Day weekend.<span>  </span>Stoles started to trickle in during the fall, and by February they began coming in droves.<span>  </span>In all, we received 220 United Methodist stoles – the vast majority of them arriving within eight weeks of the Conference.<span>  </span>Thanks to a monumental effort by a number of volunteers who pitched in to help record, inventory, sew labels and make last-minute repairs, all of the new stoles were present in Cleveland.<span>  </span>Twenty more people brought stoles directly to Cleveland, bringing the total number on display to 240.</span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Towards the end of the General Conference, twenty eight lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender United Methodists and allies stood on the Conference floor in silent protest over the Conference’s failure to overturn the ban on LGBT ordination – a profound witness and act of defiance for which they were later arrested.<span>  </span>As these twenty eight moved to the front of the room, another 200 supporters stood up around the balcony railing, each wearing one of the new United Methodist stoles.<span>  </span>Hundreds more stood in solidarity as well, in the balcony and on the plenary floor, wearing symbolic “stoles” made from colorful bands of cloth.<span>  </span>A group of young people from Minneapolis, members of a Communicant’s Class, had purchased bolts of cloth the preceding evening and stayed up all night cutting out close to a thousand of these “stoles.”<span>  </span>In less than eight months, a handful of stoles had grown to become a powerful, visible witness to the steadfast faith of LGBT United Methodists nationwide.</span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Martha Juillerat</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;"></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">Founder, Shower of Stoles Project</span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial;">2006</span></p> <p></p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 677 Title A name given to the resource My Lesbian Daughter and Gay Son (Donated by Paul Beeman and the Pacific Northwest Chapter, MFSA) Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Des Moines, Washington (USA) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rev. Paul Beeman, and the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action Ally Beeman, Paul Clergy Activist Marriage Equality Methodist Ordination Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Reconciling Ministries Network (formerly Reconciling Congregation Program) Theology United Methodist Church Washington https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/8e4f8a5d15fa952e95e287e691165118.jpg 30a0aa19ad7161125e642a1df8ff4376 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Historical Development of BIPOC Trans-spiritual Leadership Website A resource comprising of a web page or web pages and all related assets ( such as images, sound and video files, etc. ). URL http://transbodies.com/people/mykal-oneal-slack/ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mykal ONeal Slack Subject The topic of the resource Reverend Slack served as the Director of Spiritual Outreach for the Trans People of Color Coalition. In addition to his ministerial duties and his own publishing agenda, he also served, along with Reverend Moonhawk River Stone and Rabbi Levi Altar, as one of three advisors to the religious section of the historic first edition of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves (2014). https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/9876094bec35e7f37dc2d92efffb7e87.png 76994d149c0039328c528dcb101a146c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Queer Spirit Podcast Description An account of the resource Podcasts from WMPG.org and 90.9 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Myke Johnson Subject The topic of the resource Queer Spirit Podcast Description An account of the resource Myke Johnson, author of 'Finding Our Way Home: A Spiritual Journey into Earth Community,' describes herself as a lesbian mystic, earth activist, and retired Unitarian Universalist minister. Myke lives in Portland Maine with her partner Margy and two cats. She blogs at https://findingourwayhome.blog. Almost two years ago, back in April 2020, Myke wrote this: “I wake in the night with pain in my heart for all that is happening in our country, and I feel utterly powerless. I’ve been an activist most of my life, and I believed and hoped that activism might help to change the world for the better. In some ways, it has. But the dream -- of a whole society rooted in cooperation and mutuality, in care for all of its people -- feels lost in a nightmare of empire that’s re-emerging like a multi-headed dragon from the flames of disaster.” Then, Myke, you posed two questions: “How can we respond to a reign of terror? How can we respond to cruelty after cruelty promulgated by people in power?” And then, at the close of this blog entry, writing as the mystic-activist that you are, you offered this prayer: “O, Holy one, you who are with us in the midst of our powerlessness, help us to let go of what we cannot control. Help us to shift our focus to what is possible, to what really matters. Bless those . . . who are risking their lives right now to look after the sick, to bring food to the hungry. Help us to seek your presence among those considered the ‘least’ among us.” A kindred spirit, feminist mystic and social activist Elly Haney, put it similarly: It all boils down to vision and struggle. In the best of days and the worst of days, hold onto the vision, and stay in the struggle. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Marvin Ellison and Tamara Torres-McGovern Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Myke Johnson https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/e5d513ee3d203ac2c93850cf79c529fc.jpg b54ec7a8bfbb4961b6a717de802148f8 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/69b7bca01b98c20019f437caef45b30b.jpg 516b5c99b682c19d8e791b8ced47387b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. Nancy ("We love you, Nancy") Stole Text <p><strong>We love you, Nancy</strong></p> <p>Love, Mom and Sisters</p> Denomination Presbyterian Church (USA) Contribution Date 1995 Contribution Story <p>Very little is known about this stole, but in its very simplicity it has touched many hearts.  It has brought tears to a few, wondering what story must lay between these two lines.  In that sense, it speaks volumes about the pain of those still in the closet, and the struggle of family members to speak their support even when a certain level of silence must be maintained.  A quote I have shared with many groups from one who saw this stole years ago: "I don't know who Nancy is, but God bless Mom, and God bless her sisters."</p> <p><strong>Martha Juillerat</strong><br />Founder, Shower of Stoles Project<br />2006</p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 92 Title A name given to the resource Nancy ("We love you, Nancy") Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Unknown, American Samoa Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nancy's family (anonymously) Ally Presbyterian Presbyterian Church (USA) United States https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/77611068bddc964883ff279432eb4452.jpg e806f227bb94de9c14b8df0f3a1fede8 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/b8fbc268ecd1a112fe9122d3c4c0e082.jpg 658d35ed915c844f7a03e2ef4054bf37 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. Nancy Brink Stole Text NANCY BRINK DISCIPLES OF CHRIST Omaha, Nebraska I am Nancy Elaine Brink.  I was born and raised in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and was ordained in 1979 in Hereford, TX.  At that time I was married to an ordained man and planned to live out my ministry as part of a clergy couple. As that marriage was ending, I fell in love with a friend – a woman. My coming out was a coming home to myself. I had no doubt that God loved me – but what about the church? I spent the next 9 years in ministry but in the closet. It was only when I felt called to adopt a child in 1996 that I made the leap and came out. I’m so grateful for the loving support of North Side in Omaha, Nebraska where I continue as pastor. I share my life with Maria Perez and our daughter Hannah. This stole was a gift made for me by an artist in the congregation, Bonita Ware. Denomination Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 1047 Title A name given to the resource Nancy Brink Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Nebraska (USA) Brink, Nancy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Marriage Equality Nebraska Ordination Perez, Maria Women and Religion https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/7385188099fc500cc3321fff9f247585.jpg d8efe0946a777694b3430b03522111cb https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/8470904fd964b13141d6670e48761284.jpg d7f4f0e3b633706fede0a5bcfbac476d https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/191801f15ea605b09887777e5d40a1d7.jpg eb6686128c1fdf40dc0c2d341b94631c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. Nancy Krody Stole Text <p>All who are led by the spirit of God are children of God - Romans 8:14</p> <p>Elder Nancy Krody</p> Denomination Presbyterian Church (USA) United Church of Christ Contribution Date 1996 Contribution Story <p>This stole honoring Nancy Krody, an ordained Elder, is one of twelve stoles given to the Shower of Stoles collection by Tabernacle United Church in Philadelphia.  All twelve stoles are similar in size and style.  The three signature stoles are white and the nine individual stoles are purple; most have matching pastel flannel binding on the ends of the panels. </p> <p>Tabernacle United Church, United Church of Christ and Presbyterian union church located adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania campus, has a long history of activism, from its community organizing and support of a school for Black children in the mid-1800's to its more recent history of sanctuary in support of Central American refugees, peace activism, and outspoken advocacy on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.  Tabernacle is both a More Light and Open and Affirming congregation, working for the full inclusion of LGBT people in the life and leadership of the church.</p> <p><strong>Martha Juillerat</strong><br />Founder, Shower of Stoles Project<br />2006<br /><br />Click <a href="https://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?ID=160">here</a> to check out Nancy Krody's biographic profile in the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network's Profiles Gallery. </p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 852 Title A name given to the resource Nancy Krody Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Tabernacle United Church Civil Rights Movement International Human Rights Krody, Nancy More Light Presbyterians for LGBT Concerns Open and Affirming in the UCC (ONA) Pennsylvania Philadelphia Presbyterian Presbyterian Church (USA) Theology United Church of Christ https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/822c8963bebdbe47d559d0393be6fddc.jpg 7eded29281903032d8872cf93d3d8bdd Person An individual. Text Any textual data included in the document <p>Nancy E. Krody was born in 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio.&nbsp; She received a B.A. in political science and sociology from Ohio State University in 1960. She subsequently completed two years of course work toward an M.A. degree in sociology, but did not write the thesis. During this time, Nancy was very active in the Baptist-Disciples Student Fellowship and in a statewide ecumenical student group.</p> <p>In 1962, Krody enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. Martin Luther King, Jr., had graduated from Crozer only a few years earlier. She was the only woman student at Crozer and ranked academically at the top of her second-year class. During Holy Week of 1964, she came out to a faculty-student group that was planning Crozer's upcoming centennial. Following this revelation, Krody was told to move out of student housing and to live off campus. Although she took a couple of courses the following year, she did not complete the academic program at Crozer. She notes that she could not afford to go to probably the only seminary that would have welcomed her at that time--Union&nbsp; Theological Seminary in New York City.</p> <p>Krody then spent nine years working as a secretary in the national setting of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and joined a UCC local congregation in the mid-'60's because of its justice and ecumenical stances; thereby leaving the American Baptist Church of her birth. She was the first woman elder and consistory president of the congregation. She became very involved with racial and economic justice issues through the Philadelphia Association of the UCC and the wider church.</p> <p>Upon hearing of Bill Johnson's ordination in the UCC as an openly gay man, Krody contacted him in 1972. Bill and Nancy, along with a gay layman and a straight woman ally became the public face of the newly formed UCC Gay Caucus at the UCC General Synod in the summer of 1973. Bill and Nancy served as co-coordinators for a time; She handled the newsletter and treasury. Krody preached her "coming out" sermon in her home church. In those early years, She notes that all of the leaders of gay and lesbian Christian groups knew one another, since there were so few persons able to be publicly identified. Krody was often the lesbian invited to speak to other gay religious groups to help them understand why lesbians were not breaking down the doors to get in. Or she was invited to speak to national church meetings because other lesbians and gay men were unable to be publicly visible for fear of losing their jobs.&nbsp;</p> <p>During this time, Krody was also involved in radical gay politics, particularly through the Susan Saxe Defense Fund and her trials. She also published Genesis III, the newsletter of the Philadelphia Task Force on Women in Religion, an interfaith group supporting women's roles in churches and synagogues, and, ultimately, lesbians' roles as well.</p> <p>The UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns subsequently moved on to other leadership, and Krody turned to other pursuits with a partner who did not support her involvement in gay/lesbian movements. Her involvement with the church continued at all levels--local congregation, Association, Conference, and national boards and committees.</p> <p>In recent years Krody has re-engaged in LGBT religious movements. She has been the co-coordinator of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference chapter of the UCC Coalition since its beginning in the 1970s--encouraging congregations to become Open and Affirming and representing LGBT concerns at Conference meetings. Ecumenically, she has been active in the YES! Coalition, which grew out of the first ecumenical LGBT Christian conference (WOW 2000) and which subsequently helped host the second WOW Conference in 2003. She serves on the Council of the YES! Coalition as treasurer. She is also on the planning group for Out and Faithful, an interfaith&nbsp; program of the William Way LGBT Center in Philadelphia.</p> <p>Krody was honored with "pioneer" awards at the 1991 General Synod of the UCC and and at the UCC Coalition's Gathering in 2004. For professional employment, Krody has been the managing editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies at Temple University since 1973. Since 1999, her life partner has been Pat Szabo, M.D., with whom she lives in&nbsp;Springfield, Pennsylvania. They were married on December 27, 2014.</p> <p>(This biographical statement provided by Nancy E. Krody.)</p> Biographical Text <p>Nancy E. Krody was born in 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio.&nbsp; She received a B.A. in political science and sociology from Ohio State University in 1960. She subsequently completed two years of course work toward an M.A. degree in sociology, but did not write the thesis. During this time, Nancy was very active in the Baptist-Disciples Student Fellowship and in a statewide ecumenical student group.</p> <p>In 1962, Krody enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania. Martin Luther King, Jr., had graduated from Crozer only a few years earlier. She was the only woman student at Crozer and ranked academically at the top of her second-year class. During Holy Week of 1964, she came out to a faculty-student group that was planning Crozer's upcoming centennial. Following this revelation, Krody was told to move out of student housing and to live off campus. Although she took a couple of courses the following year, she did not complete the academic program at Crozer. She notes that she could not afford to go to probably the only seminary that would have welcomed her at that time--Union&nbsp; Theological Seminary in New York City.</p> <p>Krody then spent nine years working as a secretary in the national setting of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and joined a UCC local congregation in the mid-'60's because of its justice and ecumenical stances; thereby leaving the American Baptist Church of her birth. She was the first woman elder and consistory president of the congregation. She became very involved with racial and economic justice issues through the Philadelphia Association of the UCC and the wider church.</p> <p>Upon hearing of <a href="http://exhibits.lgbtran.org/exhibits/show/rolling-the-stone-away/item/1403">Bill Johnson's</a> ordination in the UCC as an openly gay man, Krody contacted him in 1972. Bill and Nancy, along with a gay layman and a straight woman ally became the public face of the newly formed UCC Gay Caucus at the UCC General Synod in the summer of 1973. Bill and Nancy served as co-coordinators for a time; She handled the newsletter and treasury. Krody preached her "coming out" sermon in her home church. In those early years, She notes that all of the leaders of gay and lesbian Christian groups knew one another, since there were so few persons able to be publicly identified. Krody was often the lesbian invited to speak to other gay religious groups to help them understand why lesbians were not breaking down the doors to get in. Or she was invited to speak to national church meetings because other lesbians and gay men were unable to be publicly visible for fear of losing their jobs.&nbsp;</p> <p>During this time, Krody was also involved in radical gay politics, particularly through the Susan Saxe Defense Fund and her trials. She also published Genesis III, the newsletter of the Philadelphia Task Force on Women in Religion, an interfaith group supporting women's roles in churches and synagogues, and, ultimately, lesbians' roles as well.</p> <p>The UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns subsequently moved on to other leadership, and Krody turned to other pursuits with a partner who did not support her involvement in gay/lesbian movements. Her involvement with the church continued at all levels--local congregation, Association, Conference, and national boards and committees.</p> <p>In recent years Krody has re-engaged in LGBT religious movements. She has been the co-coordinator of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference chapter of the UCC Coalition since its beginning in the 1970s--encouraging congregations to become Open and Affirming and representing LGBT concerns at Conference meetings. Ecumenically, she has been active in the YES! Coalition, which grew out of the first ecumenical LGBT Christian conference (WOW 2000) and which subsequently helped host the second WOW Conference in 2003. She serves on the Council of the YES! Coalition as treasurer. She is also on the planning group for Out and Faithful, an interfaith&nbsp; program of the William Way LGBT Center in Philadelphia.</p> <p>Krody was honored with "pioneer" awards at the 1991 General Synod of the UCC and and at the UCC Coalition's Gathering in 2004. For professional employment, Krody has been the managing editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies at Temple University since 1973. Since 1999, her life partner has been Pat Szabo, M.D., with whom she lives in&nbsp;Springfield, Pennsylvania. They were married on December 27, 2014.</p> <p>(This biographical statement provided by Nancy E. Krody.)</p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Nancy Krody Nancy Krody ONA Open and Affirming in the UCC UCC United Church of Christ https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/9f3788af9fc9ba339afa42091338f6fa.jpg 34cb83b25a1d937a5d5fdccc04a2bad7 https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/files/original/02d138bd70ba8cfb8012f086e95d5c98.jpg 703ead6c33d46b92a9fecb641ce9b5a3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Shower of Stoles Description An account of the resource Items (stoles) for the Shower of Stoles exhibit Stole A stole in the Shower of Stoles exhibit Honoree The person honored by the creation of thestole. Nancy Lauder Brown Stole Text <p><strong>NANCY LAUDER BROWN<br /></strong><strong>Ordained Elder</strong></p> <p>Downtown United Presbyterian Church<br />Rochester, NY</p> Denomination Presbyterian Church (USA) Contribution Date 1996 Contribution Story <p></p> <p>This is one of about two dozen stoles donated by members of DUPC in early 1996. </p> <p>DUPC was at the center of a pivotal moment in the history of the Welcoming movement in the Presbyterian Church.  In 1978 the General Assembly acted to bar the ordination of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals."  However, an exception was added to the action which exempted those ordained before 1978 from future judicial action.  This clause allowed DUPC in 1991 to call the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr to become a co-pastor of the church; Janie had been ordained prior to 1978.  However, the church broke its trust and in 1991 the denomination's highest judicial body barred Janie from being installed.  In response, DUPC called Janie to be an "Evangelist," an formed That All May Freely Serve to allow Janie to preach, educate and challenge church structures at DUPC and throughout the country.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>Martha Juillerat<br /></strong>Founder, Shower of Stoles Project<br />2006</p> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 188 Title A name given to the resource Nancy Lauder Brown Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Rochester, New York (USA) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Nancy Lauder Brown Brown, Nancy Lauder Clergy Activist New York Ordination Presbyterian Presbyterian Church (USA) Spahr, Janie Adams That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS) Theology Women and Religion