Rev. Troy D. Perry

Rev. Troy D. PerryRev. Troy D. PerryRev. Troy D. Perry

Rev. Troy D. Perry

Rev. Troy D. PerryRev. Troy D. PerryRev. Troy D. Perry
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LGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches

LGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community ChurchesLGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community ChurchesLGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches

In 2009, President Barack Obama became the third American President to invite Rev. Troy Perry to the White House.

LGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches

LGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community ChurchesLGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community ChurchesLGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Founder of Metropolitan Community Churches

In 2009, President Barack Obama became the third American President to invite Rev. Troy Perry to the White House.

Historic . Visionary . Pioneer

Rev. Troy D. Perry is a renown international LGBTQ+ human rights activist and a pioneer in social equality, legal protection and spiritual justice for LGBTQ+ people.  Troy conceived the world's first Gay Pride Parade and co-founded the Christopher Street West organization to launch the first LA PRIDE event in 1970.  From those early days of the 1960's and 70's in the struggle for LGBTQ+ acceptance, Troy has continued to lead the way in building a worldwide movement and played a critical role in paving the way for marriage equality.

Rev. Troy Perry (right) with husband Phillip De Blieck

Rev. Troy Perry ignited a revolution within a revolution one year before the Stonewall Uprising.

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

Rev. Troy Perry's  visionary step in the creation of the first Metropolitan Community Church in 1968 would be historic: the first church to recognize the need to minister to the needs of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.  Despite fire bombings of its sanctuaries and murders of its clergy, Rev. Troy Perry has led this movement and the expansion of the denomination to become one of the world’s largest LGBT organizations with hundreds of churches in countries around the world.

​First Public Same-Sex Marriage ​1969

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

Only two months after founding Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles (now Founders MCC), the 28-year old Rev. Troy Perry performed what Time Magazine described as the first public same-sex wedding ceremony in the USA, marrying two Latino men.

First Gay Pride Parade ​1970

Founded Metropolitan Community Churches 1968

First Gay Pride Parade ​1970

The idea of a Gay Pride Parade came to Rev. Troy Perry as a commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.  Along with Mr. Morris Kight and Rev. Bob Humphries, both community leaders, the three founded the Christopher Street West organization in Los Angeles and held the Gay Pride Parade on June 28, 1970.  As a direct outgrowth of this visionary action, LA PRIDE today is today the oldest gay pride parade in the world with Pride Parades held in cities and towns all over the world.

LA County Commission ​1973

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

First Gay Pride Parade ​1970

Rev. Troy Perry was the first openly gay person to serve on the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

In 1977, Rev. Troy Perry was invited to the White House by the administration of President Jimmy Carter to discuss gay and lesbian civil rights.

16-Day Fast for Gay Teachers ​1978

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

First  LGBT White House Meeting ​1977

As a leading activist and protester , Rev. Troy Perry held a 16-day fast in 1978 on the steps of the Federal Building in Los Angeles in his winning battle against the  Briggs Initiative, which was written to ensure gay and lesbian teachers would be fired or prohibited from working in California public schools. 

ACLU Humanitarian Award ​1978

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

In 1978, Troy was honored by the ACLU (American Civil Rights Union) Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter with its Humanitarian Award.

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

Together with activist Robin Tyler and others, Rev. Troy Perry participated in planning the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979.

Peaceful Resistance for AIDS ​1987

First LGBT March on Washington ​1979

Mass Wedding at IRS Headquarters 1993

As one of the leaders in the AIDS epidemic, Rev. Troy Perry was arrested with other community leaders at a 1987 White House protest of President Reagan’s willful negligence on AIDS.

Mass Wedding at IRS Headquarters 1993

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

Mass Wedding at IRS Headquarters 1993

During the 1993 march weekend, Rev. Troy Perry wed 2600 gay couples at once in front of IRS headquarters after having performed the first public same-gender wedding ceremony in the United States in 1969. 

White House Conferences ​1990s

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

Rev. Troy Perry appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton as an official delegate to White House Conference on Hate Crimes and the White House Conference on AIDS.

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

​First Lawsuit for Marriage Equality 2004

In 2003, Rev. Troy Perry and his spouse, Phillip Ray De Blieck, were married under Canadian law. In 2004, they filed suit against the State of California seeking the state’s recognition of their Canadian marriage.  On June 16, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled in their favor, and then was overridden by Proposition 8. 

​“I believe we can change the world...  So, for me, my legacy, I hope, will be inside and outside of my community...  He was faithful and he was fearless."


Rev. Troy Perry, 2007

TROY PERRY AWARDS 2021

On November 19, 2021, three Troy Perry Awards were presented by the international Charter for Compassion to three recipients: LGBTQ+ Immigrant Rights Activist Edafe Okporo, LGBTQ+ Historian / Archivist / Media Producer August Bernadicou, and San Diego Pride.    VISIT THE TROY PERRY AWARDS


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