Rev. Cecil Williams | LGBTQ+ History Month
“Reverend Williams brought a vision of “radical inclusion,” which he defined as ending suffering and poverty.”
- Andy Wells
The greatest source of love and comfort in San Francisco’s troubled Tenderloin District is a queer affirming church, and we have Reverend Cecil Williams to admire for that.
Cecil Williams knew he wanted to be a pastor early on. His secret dream as a Black child growing up in 1930s segregated Texas was to be the pastor of a white church. Cecil got his license to preach at 19. He was one of the first Black graduates from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.
Reverend Williams pastored his first integrated church in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved to San Francisco in 1963 to pastor GLIDE Memorial Church, where his inclusive vision challenged the small, white congregation.
Reverend Williams brought a vision of “radical inclusion,” which he defined as ending suffering and poverty. GLIDE quickly became a place for gays, hippies, sex workers, transgender youth and the struggling people in the Tenderloin.
A year after his arrival, Reverend Williams co-founded the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, which united gay activists and religious leaders. He became one of the first pastors in the country to officiate same-sex weddings.
Reverend Williams mentored and hosted Vanguard, a gay liberation youth organization whose protests led to America’s first gay uprising, the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria riot. The riot spurred radical improvements in how transgender people were treated in San Francisco.
The church Cecil Williams built is a light to the Tenderloin. GLIDE is now 10,000 members and serves more than 654,000 meals each year. They help people make shelter reservations and distribute hygiene products and clothing. They have programs for trauma survivors and a host of other services for a neighborhood full of desperate people.
Cecil Williams passed away in April this year at the age of 94, after serving at GLIDE for more than sixty years.
“Love is the legacy. It is the highest truth, and the foundation on which GLIDE was built. It leads to liberation, justice and freedom. It is radical and revolutionary, rooted in our commitment to persistent struggle. Love is creating community, inviting all to the table, strangers uniting, never giving up, enduring and thriving. Love is the bottom line and the top line, the answer to all things, the medicine. Some have accused me of speaking of love too much, but it will never be enough. Love liberates all of us.” – Cecil Williams, February, 2023
LGBTQ+ History Month: Connected
This month, as our community highlights stories of LGBTQ+ ancestors who inspire us to be more faithful; we’re inviting you to be a part of the next generation of LGBTQ+ history by making a donation to QCF.
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