Troy Perry founded the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches as an outlet for gay and lesbian individuals who wanted to maintain and expand their faith.
The first, 12-member congregation of the MCC met in Perry’s Los Angeles living room in 1968, expanding to over 300 congregations across the world today with a message of unconditional salvation.
The church addresses the needs of LGBT Christians and has served as a beacon for Perry to become one of the world’s leading gay activists.
A religious individual all his life, Perry felt that despite being excommunicated from the Church of God and other Pentecostal denominations due to his sexuality, God still loved him.
He became inspired to start his own sect after a rejuvenation period of his faith, including divorce, estrangement, and a failed suicide attempt.
The unique idea of gays and lesbians sharing their religious faith has been covered by a plethora of media outlets across the world, launching Perry as a spiritual leader in the 16 countries with MCC congregations.
Along with leading the church, he served as an official delegate to the White House Conference on Hate Crimes and the White House Conference on AIDS during Bill Clinton's administration, and was among the first group of individuals to be invited to the White House to discuss LGBT civil rights in 1977 under Jimmy Carter.
He also protested against the Los Angeles Police Department harassment of gays, and helped organize marches on Washington in 1979 and 1987.
The 1987 march called upon President Reagan to change his lackluster response to the AIDS epidemic, which had caused the deaths of many church members.
Perry retired as moderator of the church in 2005, but continues to speak on the gay rights movement, HIV/AIDS and equality, all the while maintaining his faith and encouraging others to embrace their own.
He has written three books, including his autobiography The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay.
*By Jason Villemez, 365gay.com
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