Robert Carter (priest)

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix = The Reverend Dr

| honorific_suffix = SJ

| name = Robert Carter

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Robert Earl Carter

| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|7|27}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|2|22|1927|7|27}}

| death_place = The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| parents = Earl and Ila Grace Smith Carter

| known_for = LGBT rights activism, one of the first Roman Catholic priests in the United States to declare himself gay

| occupation = Roman Catholic priest and LGBT rights activist

}}

Robert Earl Carter (July 27, 1927 – February 22, 2010) was an American Roman Catholic priest and LGBT rights activist.

Early life

Carter was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 27, 1927, the son of Earl and Ila Grace Smith Carter. The Carters were Protestants who worshiped in different traditions. Carter grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, and later Park Ridge, Illinois.{{cite web | title=Robert Carter, SJ - Profiles | website=LGBTQ Religious Archives Network | date=March 2010 | url=https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/robert-carter-sj | access-date=23 March 2020}}

Career

Carter graduated from the University of Chicago in June 1946 and the next day was received into the Catholic Church as a convert. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1954 and was subsequently ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1963.{{cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |title=Robert Carter, Priest and Gay Activist, Dies at 82 | work=The New York Times | date=15 March 2010 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/nyregion/15carter.html | access-date=23 March 2020}} He became a scholar on John Chrysostom.{{r|lgbtqreligiousarchives}}

Carter was gay, and became one of the first Roman Catholic priests in the United States to acknowledge this publicly after he became one of the founders of the National Gay Task Force in 1973 (later the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force).{{r|lgbtqreligiousarchives}}

Death

Carter died on February 22, 2010, at his residence at Fordham University in The Bronx, New York City, New York.{{r|Hevesi 2010}}{{r|lgbtqreligiousarchives}}

Robert Carter (priest)

Early life

Career

Death

References

Further reading