Archbishop Carl Bean, the gay disco singer turned Los Angeles preacher who inspired Lady Gaga’s LGBTIQ+ anthem Born This Way, is being remembered as a queer pioneer. According to a statement from his Unity Fellowship Church (UFCM), Bean passed away on the 7th of September at the age of 77 after a long illness.
Born in Baltimore in 1944, he survived a suicide attempt as a teenager after his foster family rejected him for being gay. “Archbishop Bean worked tirelessly for the liberation of the underserved and for LGBTQ people of faith and in doing so, helped many around the world find their way back to spirituality and religion,” said the church.