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 Troy Perry has devoted his life to help others discover the loving and
caring God to whom he has committed his life. As the founder of Metropolitan
Community Churches (MCC), he has watched the membership grow from 12
to over 43,000 in the past 35 years.MCC was the first church to recognize the necessity of ministering to
the needs of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons throughout
the world. It is through that ministry that Perry has become a leading
activist for gay and lesbian rights.
Rev. Perry began his vocation in Florida at the age of 13 and was licensed
as a Baptist minister two years later. During this period, he became
aware of his sexual orientation and felt -- as many gays did in rural
America -- that he must certainly be the only one in the world who felt
that way.
In 1959 he married his pastor's daughter, and a year later Rev. Perry,
his wife and newborn son moved to Illinois where Rev. Perry planned to
attend Midwest Bible College. While studying at Midwest, Rev. Perry worked
for a plastics company that asked him to move to Southern California
to open a new plant. Rev. Perry, with his wife and two sons, made the
move in 1962.
Once in California Rev. Perry was assigned to pastor the Church of God
of Prophecy in Santa Ana. It was there that Rev. Perry experienced an "uneasy" coming
out and came to terms with his gayness. He and his wife separated after
five years of marriage and later were divorced.
When Rev. Perry returned to Los Angeles after a two-year stint in the
army, he was set on the historical course his life was to take.
"The Lord was dealing with me. My previous church taught that you
couldn't be a Christian and a gay person, too. I kept this up until one
day God got a word in edgewise and said, ‘Don't tell me what I
can do. I love you, Troy, and I don't have any stepsons or stepdaughters.
Reread my Word.' And reread God's word I did."
It was following a close friend's arrest that Rev. Perry realized that "God
cares," precipitating the birth of MCC in Los Angeles, and ultimately
leading to the birth of Metropolitan Community Churches, which has grown
to 300 congregations in 23 countries.
Rev. Perry's activism has taken many turns during the past 35 years,
including positions on a number of boards of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered organizations. He held a seat on the Los Angeles County
Commission on Human Relations. In 1978 he was honored by the American
Civil Liberties Union Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter with its Humanitarian
Award. He holds honorary doctorates from Episcopal Divinity School (Boston),
Samaritan College (Los Angeles), and Sierra University (Santa Monica),
California for his work in civil rights, and was recently lauded by the
Gay Press Association with its Humanitarian Award. Rev. Perry was invited
to the White House in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter to discuss the gay
and lesbian civil rights, and was a guest of President Bill Clinton at
the 1997 White House Conference on Hate Crimes.
In addition to his work as a gay religious leader and human rights activist,
Rev. Perry has found time to write an autobiography, "The Lord is
My Shepherd and He Knows I'm Gay." Rev. Perry also completed a sequel
to this book, titled "Don't Be Afraid Anymore," published by
St. Martin's Press. He is a contributing editor for the book "Is
Gay Good?" and the subject of another book, "Our God Too." In
2003, he completed the text of his latest book, "10 Spiritual Truths
For Gays and Lesbians* (*and everyone else!).
Rev. Perry has represented MCC and the gay and lesbian rights movement
on international, regional and local television shows and networks, including
the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News, CNBC, the Phil Donahue Show, NBC's Tomorrow
with Tom Snyder, The Mike Douglas Show, The Virginia Graham Show, and
Thicke of the Night. Virtually every major magazine and newspaper in
the world has covered the story of the founding of MCC. It was Rev. Perry
who led the movement for MCC's membership in the National Council of
churches starting in September 1981. MCC was given Official Observer
status to the 7th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches,
which was held in Canberra, Australia in February 1991.
In 1984, Rev. Perry completed a one-hour video on Metropolitan Community
Churches, titled "God Gays & The Gospel: This Is Our Story" which
is available for broadcast on local public access stations.
While Rev. Perry realizes the oppression still facing gays and lesbians,
he stands at the vanguard of the movement, telling his flock and the
rest of the world, "We're Not Afraid Anymore."
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