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GLBT Historical Society Web Exhibit Presents the History of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual
By Terence Kissack, PhD
Executive Director, GLBT Historical Society
The GLBT Historical Society and the LGBT Religious Archives Network are
proud to present an exhibit on the Council on Religion and the
Homosexual (CRH). Founded in San Francisco in 1964, the CRH brought
together religious leaders, most of whom were heterosexual, and GLBT
rights activists.
The members of the CRH worked, in their words, to "promote
continuing dialogue between the religious community and the
homosexual…and to understand better the broad spectrum of variationho
within human sexuality." Members included Rev. Ted McIlvenna and Rev.
Cecil William of Glide Memorial Church, the Reverend Robert Warren
Cromey of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, Rabbi Al Fine, of Temple
Emanuel, and GLBT activists Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, Rick Stokes, and
Don Lucas.
Facing challenges from within their communities of faith and from
the larger society, CRH members worked to confront the pernicious
effects of homophobia.
The efforts of the CRH were, ironically enough, greatly aided by a
police raid. On New Year's Eve of 1965, the CRH hosted a benefit gala
at California Hall, to help raise awareness and funds. Though the event
organizers had been given assurances by the SFPD that the party would
not be interfered with, the police descended on the partygoers in
force. Paddy wagons were parked across the street from the gala and
police photographed and filmed attendees as they entered and left the
ball.
A number of the partygoers were in drag, in keeping with the spirit
of the New Year's party atmosphere. After repeated inspections of the
premises by police--clearly a form of harassment--CRH lawyers decided
to block entrance to the officers. In retaliation, police arrested four
partygoers.
Unfortunately for the SFPD three of those arrested were CRH lawyers
and the other person arrested was a married woman who was assisting
with check in for guests. Later that evening the police arrested two
men for disorderly conduct after they fell from a chair upon which they
had stood on to better see the floor show.
On the following day CRH ministers called a press conference where,
in the words of the San Francisco Chronicle's headline, they "ripped"
into the police. Having the ministers speak at the press conference
provided the group with what historian Paul Gabriel describes as the
“cloak of the cloth,” giving clerical legitimacy to a marginalized
community.
According to the CRH, the ministers "protested police intimidation,
harassment, and interference with an unpopular minority group, a direct
violation of the civil rights afforded to every citizen under the
Fourteenth Amendment to the American Constitution." The SFPD was not
used to being called to account for the kind of treatment that they
regularly dished out to GLBT people. Nor were they used to losing their
cases in court; the three lawyers and the volunteer arrested at the
party were acquitted though the two men arrested later in the evening
were found guilty.
In response to the police actions at the New Year's gala the CRH
filed a civil suit against the city of San Francisco and the SFPD.
While the CRH did not win the million dollars in damages it sought, the
suit highlighted the very issues--unequal treatment before the law and
discrimination--that GLBT people faced.
The CRH remained active well into the 1970s, publishing pamphlets
with titles like "Churchmen Speak Out on Homosexual Law Reform," and
hosting meetings and annual conferences, which brought together social
workers, GLBT rights activists, and clergy. The vital work of the CRH
had an enormous impact, helping to transform the Bay Area into the
tolerant, diverse community it is today.
Unfortunately, the end of the 1970s witnessed the rise of the
Religious Right, whose leaders very effectively created the impression
that religion and GLBT people were opponents in a war for America's
soul. One of the claims made by these religious fundamentalists is that
toleration--much less valuation--of GLBT life is incompatible with
moral life. The work of the members of the CRH is a direct rebuke of
the false dichotomies put forward by people like Pat Robertson and
Trent Lott. The relationship between communities of faith and GLBT
people--which are not mutually exclusive categories--is far more
complex.
The web exhibit on the CRH, which can be accessed at
www.glbthistory.org, contains photographs and artifacts from the GLBT
Historical Society archives as well as items from private collections.
The GLBT Historical Society houses the largest collection of CRH
related materials of any public institution. The exhibit makes full
advantage of the web's multimedia capacity. Among the more most
interesting features of the exhibit are interviews and video footage
including an audio clip of the Rev. Ted McIlvenna describing the brutal
beating of two gay men by the police.
TERENCE KISSACK,
PhD, Executive Director of the GLBT Historical SocietyDr. Kissack was hired
as ED in June of 2004. Dr. Kissack has held teaching positions at San Francisco
State University and other Bay Area schools and served as Managing Editor
of the Journal of the History of Sexuality. He
currently teaches in the Gender and Women Studies Department at Sonoma State
University. His published work, which includes journal articles, reviews,
and other items, examines the intersection of the politics of the left and
the politics of homosexuality. Dr. Kissack's dissertation, Anarchism and the Politics of Homosexuality,
documents the emergence of a political discourse on the subject of same-sex
desire in the United States in the turn of the century anarchist movement.
Bio & Past Articles
Past Articles
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Betty's List GLBT
Historically Speaking
Columnist Terence Kissack.
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