A Timeline of the Moments in the Gay Rights Movement that were Helped by Religious Involvement
By histproj
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The Unitarian Universalists Formally Accept Gay Marriage
The Unitarian Universalists were the first major American Church to officially announce their approval of and willingness to perform homosexual unions on June 29, 1984. -
Members of ACT UP stage a Protest in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
The organization ACT UP protesed the work of Cardinal O'Connor after his sermon at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Between 4500 and 5000 people came to demonstrate their anger about the Cardinal's influence over Presidential AIDS Policy as "AIDS is not a religous issue" and the Cardinal was openly homophobic. The multitude of people who came to protest attracted attention to the general movement. -
Peter Gomes Announces He's Gay
After homophobic articles came out in a Harvard newspaper, the Reverend Peter Gomes announced in a sermon at Harvard that he was gay and would begin to devote the rest of his life to aiding the Gay Rights Movement. He attacked homophobic religoius people as using religion to justify their homophobia. He is also an important link between the Civil Rights Movement and Gay Rights Movement because he was African-American and gay, and acted as an advocate for both communities. -
Michelangelo Signorile writes A Queer Manifesto
Signorile wrote a Manifesto specifically attacking the religious right in the name of religion. He said, "we are your queer children. God--your God, our God--made us that way." -
Rabbis Announce Approval of Same-Sex Marriages
The Central Conference of American Rabbis announced that gay couples were being accepted for Jewish marriage rituals on March 30, 2000. The Conference belongs to the Reform Jewish movement and at the time became the largest American set of clergy to conduct same-sex marriages. -
First Church- and State-Sanctioned Gay Marriage
The Arlington Street Church conducted the first American same-sex marriage in May of 2004. Since the site of this marriage was a Unitarian Church, it affirmed the Church's stance on same-sex marriage and encouraged more religious involvement from the gay community. -
The Presbyterian Church Acknowledges Same-Sex Marriage
Although not as overt an endorsement as needed by the Gay Rights Movement in order to gain power, the PCUSA voted in favor of a policy change that allows Presbyterians to view same-sex couples in the same vein as heterosexual couples; that is to say, that same-sex couples are not outrightly sinful. -
The United Church of Christ Announces Support for Gay Marriage
The UCC was the first mainstream Church to announce support for gay marriage, in its General Synod Resolution in 2005. The Church declared that they were in full support of "equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender." -
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Allows Non-Celibate Gays to Become Ordained Ministers
The largest Lutheran Church in America voted 559 to 451 in favor of allowing homosexuals to become ordained ministers in August 2009. It is the only Lutheran Church to date to have done so. Particularly since the Church had previously voted in 2005 against the same proposition, this was a very big victory for religious homosexuals. -
The Presbyterian Church Removed the Restriction on the Ordination of Homosexuals
The biggest Presbyterian Church in the U.S. voted to approve the ordination of homosexuals despite some division within the Church about the sinfulness of homosexuality. Despite its general acceptance of homosexuality, the Church does not officially approve same-sex marriages.