LGBTQ Collections

Over the past 30 years, Special Collections and Archives developed significant resources on the religious activities of LGBTQ clergy and organizations.

Our most noteworthy collections are owned by The Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS), Pacific School of Religion,  and managed by the GTU library. These include John McNeil, Mel White, Janie Spahr, Chris Glaser and Virginia Mollenkott, as well as organizations such as Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. Many of the collections connect with the Metropolitan Community Church.

In addition, the GTU has a combination of early 1990s manuscript and a small group of other collections that track LGBTQ religious activities on Holy Hill and elsewhere.

Collections managed by Graduate Theological Union for The Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion

John J. McNeill and Charles Ghirardelli Gay and Lesbian Liberation Collection, GTU 2001-11-01. This collection includes personal papers, correspondence, speeches, articles both about and by McNeill, typed manuscripts of three books, Maurice Blondel research and thesis, video and audio cassettes, engagement calendars, books and computer discs.

Chris Glaser Collection, GTU 2007-1-01. Chris Glaser (1950 - ) is an activist for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights, especially within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). As writer and speaker, his topics include the church, the Bible and homosexuality: the spiritual gifts of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community; same-gender marriage: men’s spirituality; Henri Nouwen; death; and the wisdom of dogs. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, along with periods as pastor of various congregations, he served as Director of the Lazarus Project, a ministry of reconciliation between the church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Los Angeles, funded by the Presbyterian Church.

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, GTU 2007-7-01. The collection contains the working, task, project, and correspondence files and materials concerning the career and ministry of Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (1932 - ), an English professor and advocate of women's and gay and lesbian rights. Raised a fundamentalist Christian, she became active in progressive evangelical organizations.

Jane Adams Spahr Collection, GTU 2008-2-02. Jane Adams Spahr (1942- ) is a Presbyterian minister who has fought for justice for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community. She suffered several rebukes from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)for being an open lesbian minister and for officiating same sex marriages. She served as a countrywide evangelist for the rights of oppressed people and helped found the organization That All May Freely Serve.

Mark Thompson Collection, GTU 2011-11-01. Mark Thompson (1952-August 9, 2016) wrote and edited several influential queer books, including the trilogy Gay Spirit, Gay Soul, and Gay Body. His other books include The Fire in the Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries; Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice; and Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement. The collection consists of photographs and working files for Mark Thompson’s book Gay Soul, publicity and drafts of Gay Spirit and an oral history.

Mel White and Daryl Lach Collection, 2015-08-02. James Melville "Mel" White is an influential author, film maker, spokesman and clergyman raised as an Evangelical Christian. In his fifties, he became an effective and outspoken advocate for gay rights, openly confronting Evangelical leaders for their anti-homosexual rhetoric. Daryl Lach has extensively collected in the area of "Voices of the Christian Right in American Politics and Culture at the Turn of the 21st Century."

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries Collection, GTU 2017-11-02. The Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) represent the efforts of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Lutherans to support the theology of their denomination and support like oriented ministers. The ELM represents a 2007 merger of two organizations, Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries, originally founded in 1990, and the Extraordinary Candidacy Project, originally founded in 1993.

Collections owned by Graduate Theological Union

Roy Birchard: Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches Collection, GTU 91-12-01. This collection contains materials from the life of Roy Birchard, who was a leader in the early years of the Metropolitan Community Church. He served in a number of leadership roles in various locations, including New York and San Francisco. The materials include working files, personal papers, correspondence, news clippings, periodicals, audiotapes, videotapes, photographs, and computer disks.

Aubrey Richard Weatherly Collection, GTU 91-12-02. Aubrey Richard (Rick) Weatherly (1952-1991) was a pastor in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches and served in Oakland, California. The collection contains personal and professional files, photographs, slides, negatives, and buttons relating to his personal and professional life.

GTU small collections

GTU 97-8-6, Office of the Dean. Troubling the Waters: An Ecumenical Alliance of Lesbigay and Transsexual Christians, a joint committee of the Bay Area Lesbian Gay Ecumenical Alliance (BALGEA) and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), 1994 – 1996.

GTU 93-10-03, GTU Gay Caucus, 1974.

GTU 95-9-01, God and My Gay Soul, 1970.

GTU 98-9-01, Rocky Horror Superstar, ca. 1996-97, video of a broad parody of “Jesus Christ Superstar” and the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performed in drag. Written and directed by Ruby Toosday, produced by Terrance Alan.

GTU 2008-6-01, Keeping the Faith Newsletter: Inter-Faith Working Group, 1995 – 2005, an inter-religious coalition in Philadelphia.

GTU 2011-8-01, Radical Suspicion and Fundamental Trust: Reshaping Catholic Sexual Ethics, 1992, unpublished manuscript with writings from 14 scholars including Mary Hunt, Kevin Gordon, and John Boswell.

GTU 2012-2-01, Lesbian and Gay Theology Panel discussion, PSR, 12/1/88, DVD of panel discussion moderated by Kittredge Cherry featuring Rev. Jane Spahr, Presbyterian minister; Rev. Jim Mitulski, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco; Rev. Coni Staff, also of MCC; and Rabbi Yoel Kahn, of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav in San Francisco.

For more information, please email GTU Archives.