Carl Bean

{{Short description|American Protestant clergy and HIV/AIDS activist (1944–2021)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Carl Bean

| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|05|26}}

| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|09|07|1944|05|}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Minister, singer, and HIV/AIDS activist

| organization = Minority AIDS Project

| known_for = HIV/AIDS activism

| notable_works = I Was Born This Way

| title = Reverend

}}

Carl Bean (May 26, 1944 – September 7, 2021) was an African-American singer and activist who was the founding prelate of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement,{{citation |last=Rapp |first=Linda |title=Bean, Carl |periodical=glbtq.com |year=2004 |url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/bean_c.html |accessdate=April 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318050826/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/bean_c.html |archivedate=March 18, 2010 }}{{Cite web |title=Unity Fellowship Church Movement |url=https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/exhibits/show/bipoc-trans-spiritual/item/1948 |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=LGBTQ Religious Archives Network}} a liberal Protestant denomination that is particularly welcoming of lesbians, gay and bisexual African Americans.

Life and activism

Bean was born on May 26, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland. Before founding the first church of the denomination, the Unity Fellowship Church, Los Angeles, in 1975, Bean was a Motown and disco singer, noted particularly for his version of the early gay liberation song "I Was Born This Way". It inspired Lady Gaga's 2011 album and song of the same name.{{Cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/meet-carl-bean-who-inspired-lady-gaga-s-born-way-t219293|title = Lady Gaga celebrates 10 years of 'Born This Way' and the gay Black preacher who inspired it| date=May 24, 2021 | work=Today |publisher=NBC Universal }} He was openly gay.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Harrison |date=2021-09-08 |title=Carl Bean, minister and AIDS activist who sang 'I Was Born This Way,' dies at 77 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/carl-bean-dead/2021/09/08/3a16ea1a-10bb-11ec-882f-2dd15a067dc4_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2024-05-03}}

In 1982, Bean became an activist, working on behalf of people with AIDS in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, coinciding with the rise of the AIDS epidemic. He was involved with several activist organizations, including the National Minority AIDS Council, which he co-founded alongside activists like Gilberto Gerald, Craig G. Harris, Paul Kawata, Calu Lester, Don Edwards, Suki Ports, Timm Offutt, Norm Nickens, Marie St.-Cyr, and Sandra McDonald in 1987.{{Cite web |title=Timeline: 30 Years of AIDS in Black America |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/timeline-30-years-of-aids-in-black-america/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=Frontline|publisher=PBS |language=en-US}}

Bean founded the Minority AIDS Project in Los Angeles with the goal of supporting people with AIDS, especially young African-American men. It is still in operation.{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Carl Bean {{!}} Profile |url=https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/carl-bean |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=LGBT Religious Archives Network}}

In 1992, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation named an AIDS hospice center in South Los Angeles after him. It was in operation from 1992 to 2006.{{Cite web |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |date=2021-09-10 |title=Carl Bean, Gay Singer Who Turned to Preaching, Dies at 77 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/us/carl-bean-dead.html |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=The New York TImes}}{{Cite web |last=Kenslea |first=Ged |date=2021-09-09 |title=AHF Mourns Passing of Archbishop Carl Bean |url=https://www.aidshealth.org/2021/09/ahf-mourns-passing-of-archbishop-carl-bean/ |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=AIDS Healthcare Foundation |language=en-US}}

Bean's autobiography, I Was Born This Way, came out in 2010. He died at the age of 77 on September 7, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://lasentinel.net/archbishop-carl-bean-has-passed-away.html |title=Archbishop Carl Bean has passed away|work=Los Angeles Sentinel|date=September 7, 2021|last=Jackson-Fossett|first=Cora|access-date=June 4, 2024}}

References

Books

{{cite book |isbn=978-1-4165-9282-2 |last=Bean |first=Reverend Carl |authorlink=Carl Bean |publisher=Simon & Schuster |title=I Was Born This Way |date=June 1, 2010 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/iwasbornthiswayg0000bean }} – Bean's autobiography