Cameron Partridge
{{Short description|American Episcopal priest, chaplain and transgender activist}}
Cameron Partridge (born 1973) is an American Episcopal priest, chaplain, and a transgender activist. He was the first transgender priest to preach at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Biography
Cameron Partridge was born in Berkeley, California, in 1973.{{Cite web|last=Hafiz|first=Yasmine|date=2014-06-06|title=Washington National Cathedral Welcomes First Trans Priest To Preach|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transgender-priest-national-cathedral-pride_n_5459762|access-date=2020-06-14|website=HuffPost|language=en}} Prior to transitioning, he attended Bryn Mawr College as an undergraduate, graduating in 1995.{{Cite news|last=Markoe|first=Lauren|date=July 19, 2013|title=Five questions for transgender chaplain Cameron Partridge|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/five-questions-for-transgender-chaplain-cameron-partridge/2013/07/19/90d2e63e-f0ac-11e2-bc0d-556690a86be2_story.html|access-date=June 14, 2020}} He later enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree program at Harvard Divinity School. While there, he wrestled with gender identity, and made the decision both to transition and to pursue ordination as an Episcopal priest. He notified his bishop, the Right Reverend M. Thomas Shaw, that he was transitioning, and was given support and approval to proceed in the ordination process in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. He was ordained in 2005.{{Cite web|title=Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge {{!}} Many Voices|url=https://www.manyvoices.org/blog/contributor/reverend-dr-cameron-partridge/|access-date=2020-06-14|language=en-US}} He completed a Doctor in Theology at Harvard Divinity School in 2008.{{Cite web|title=Transfaith :: New Orleans Speakers|url=http://www.transfaithonline.org/fstat/new_orleans_speakers|access-date=2020-06-14|website=www.transfaithonline.org|archive-date=2020-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614180314/http://www.transfaithonline.org/fstat/new_orleans_speakers|url-status=dead}} At that time, Partridge served as a parish minister at St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Episcopal church in Allston/Brighton.{{Cite web|title=Category: Allston/Brighton|url=http://www.transepiscopal.org/1/category/allstonbrighton|access-date=2020-06-14|website=TransEpiscopal|language=en}} In 2011, he became the first openly transgender chaplain at Boston University, serving as the Episcopal chaplain on campus.{{Cite web|title=New Episcopal Chaplain a Role Model {{!}} BU Today|url=http://www.bu.edu/articles/2011/new-episcopal-chaplain-a-role-model/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Boston University|date=18 November 2011 |language=en}} He also lectured at Harvard Divinity School.{{Cite web|date=2014-06-25|title=National Cathedral "Comes Out" With Transgender Preacher|url=https://juicyecumenism.com/2014/06/25/national-cathedral-comes-out-with-transgender-preacher/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Juicy Ecumenism|language=en}}
Partridge has been an outspoken advocate for the full inclusion of queer and transgender people in the Episcopal Church and within Christianity more broadly.{{Cite web|date=2014-06-17|title=A milestone of faith {{!}} Cameron Partridge {{!}} gay news {{!}} Washington Blade|url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/06/17/milestone-faith/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights|language=en-US}} Partridge has regularly participated in the Transgender Day of Remembrance held annually in the Boston area. He advocated for the Episcopal Church to include gender identity and expression as part of their non-discrimination policies, as part of a grassroots effort that led to the successful change in canon law in 2012.{{Cite web|last=Kaleem|first=Jaweed|date=2012-07-09|title=Episcopal Church Takes Bold Step On Transgender Priests|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/episcopal-church-transgender-ordination_n_1660465|access-date=2020-06-14|website=HuffPost|language=en}} On June 22, 2014, Partridge was the guest preacher at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., at a Sunday morning service in celebration of Pride month. He was the first transgender priest to preach at the cathedral.{{Cite web|title=First Openly Transgender Priest to Preach at Washington National Cathedral|url=https://cathedral.org/press-room/first-openly-transgender-priest-preach-washington-national-cathedral/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Washington National Cathedral|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614180315/https://cathedral.org/press-room/first-openly-transgender-priest-preach-washington-national-cathedral/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Transgender Priest Preaches at National Cathedral|url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transgender-priest-to-preach-at-national-cathedral/59513/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=NBC4 Washington|date=21 June 2014 |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:American transgender men
Category:Transgender rights activists
Category:LGBTQ Anglican clergy
Category:LGBTQ people from California
Category:People from Berkeley, California
Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people