Darlene Onita Garner is an American minister and LGBT activist, and a co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (NCBLG). [1] She was the first African-American elder in the Metropolitan Community Church [2] [3] and she helped create (and now leads) the denomination's biannual Conference for People of African Descent (PAD). [4] [5] [6] [7] In 2008 and 2009, she served as MCC Vice-Moderator. [8] She is a nationally recognized speaker on LGBT religious issues; for instance, she was invited to join several other nationally known speakers to announce the "American Prayer Hour", a gay-affirming alternative to the "National Prayer Breakfast". [9] For her work in the LGBT community, Garner was credited in The African American Almanac as "contributing to the visible image of gays in society" [10] and in 2010 was named a "Capital Pride Hero" by Capital Pride. [6]
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Garner was brought up in the National Baptist Convention; [11] she later attended the Episcopal Church [7] and eventually joined the Metropolitan Community Church in 1976. [11]
Before entering the professional ministry, Garner worked as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mayor's Commission on Sexual Minorities, beginning in 1987. [12] She has served as the chaplain for an AIDS hospice and as President of the Board of Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry. Darlene has also served as a member of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (hearing complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and national origin) and the West Hollywood Business License Commission. [13]
From 1977 to 1980, Garner worked to help found the NCBLG, then known as the National Coalition of Black Gays (NCBG). [14] She has described that experience as follows:
At that point in LGBT history, the needs and points of view of African Americans were not reflected in the agendas of other national organizations. We created the National Coalition of Black Gays and Lesbians (NCBGL, originally NCBG), organizing several chapters and transforming those chapters into a national organization. We knew that we were making history. What we were doing had the capacity to change the face of history. Our youth and naiveté helped us do it with a boldness. If we had been seasoned activists, we might not have taken it on. We know that if it was not us, there might be no one. So we took it on. [15]
Garner was ordained in the Metropolitan Community Church in 1988. She has served as an associate pastor in the MCC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and as an MCC pastor in Baltimore, MD, and northern Virginia [13] from 1991 to 1998, [16] during which time she was used as a source by U.S. News & World Report for stories on LGBT issues. [17] Garner served MCCDC as Church Treasurer and Lay Delegate and later served MCC's former Mid-Atlantic District as assistant district coordinator. [18] She now presides over MCC Region 6, which covers Latin America and southwestern United States. [18]
Garner also sits on the Diversity & Inclusion Council and on the Religion Council of the Human Rights Campaign. [7] [19]
On 3 March 2010, Garner and her partner, Candy Holmes, were one of the first same-sex couples to apply for a marriage license in the District of Columbia. [20] On March 9, 2010, Garner and Holmes were married along with two other couples at the Human Rights Campaign building. [21] [22] [23]
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged through its interpretation and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 37 countries, and the fellowship has a specific outreach to members of the LGBTQ community.
Linda Ann Bellos is a British businesswoman, radical feminist and gay-rights activist. In 1981 she became the first woman of African descent to join the Spare Rib collective. She was elected to Lambeth Borough Council in London in 1985 and was the leader of the council from 1986 to 1988.
Nancy L. Wilson is an American cleric who served as the moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. Under Wilson's leadership, the denomination became known as "The Human Rights Church" in many parts of the world for its commitment to same-sex marriage, employment and housing non-discrimination laws.
Metropolitan Community Church London was the first Metropolitan Community Church congregation in Europe and the first one chartered out of the United States. The congregation was founded in 1972 as the Fellowship of Christ Liberator and at least a year later a majority indicated that they wished to affiliate with the MCC. The then minister, the Revd Tony Cross, resigned and Peter Embrey did not wish to continue to host the congregation. The name was changed and they went on to occupy a location on Sistova Road, in the Balham neighbourhood of South London. MCC London no longer exists as a congregation, but was the source of three other congregations: MCC North London, MCC East London, and MCC South London. MCC churches have a "primary ministry in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, providing a safe-space environment of an accepting congregation where people can find God's salvation, personal support, spiritual growth and guidance toward health and wholeness." The churches have been active in efforts to support marriage for LGBTQ people and specifically reach out to LGBTQ families. They have also supported efforts to educate and combat violence against LGBTQ people.
Chris Glaser has been an activist in the movement for full inclusion of LGBT Christians in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), or PCUSA, for over 30 years. He is currently a minister in the Metropolitan Community Church, or MCC.
Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Kenya face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Sodomy is a felony per Section 162 of the Kenyan Penal Code, punishable by 21 years' imprisonment, and any sexual practices are a felony under section 165 of the same statute, punishable by five years' imprisonment. On 24 May 2019, the High Court of Kenya refused an order to declare sections 162 and 165 unconstitutional. The state does not recognise any relationships between persons of the same sex; same-sex marriage is banned under the Kenyan Constitution since 2010. There are no explicit protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Adoption is restricted to heterosexual couples only.
The National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays was the United States' first national organization for African American and Third World gay rights.
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The Houston GLBT Community Center was a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies in the Houston metropolitan area and southeast Texas. Its last location was in the Dow School building in the Sixth Ward of Houston.
Darlene Nipper is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist and the deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force since 2008. She has previously worked for the city government of Washington, DC, the BET Foundation, the National Mental Health Association, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - where she served as chief operating officer. She has been an "out and active lesbian who has been in a committed relationship [since 1996]."
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This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of African ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally specific identities. This timeline includes events both in Africa, the Americas and Europe and in the global African diaspora, as the histories are very deeply linked.
Mary Alfreda Smith is an American political and LGBT activist, working in the areas of women's and minority rights. She worked on the Robert F. Kennedy election campaign in 1968, and helped overturn laws that criminalized homosexual activity in California. In 1972, she became the first ordained female minister of the Metropolitan Community Church.
The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) history in the 20th century.
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