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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