Carl Bean was born in 1944 in Baltimore. As a youth, Carl spent summers at Virginia Union College where he was mentored by Rev. Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor. Bean’s world collapsed when a friend from Providence Baptist outed him. At age fourteen Carl was confronted and condemned by church leaders and family, leading to a suicide attempt and a lengthy forced hospitalization. Carl started performing in the gospel music world. He moved to New York City at age 16 to pursue a career in gospel music. Bean joined Christian Tabernacle, a spiritualist church in Harlem, and sang with the Gospel Souls.
He was part of the initial creation of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity. He began touring and singing in prominent churches and theaters around the eastern U.S. Bean participated in a series of workshops that led to the opening of Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope on Broadway in 1972. Despite his success in music and theater, he felt a call to ministry. He found Troy Perry and his nascent Metropolitan Community Church that taught of God’s radical love for all people. Bean sang on the 1974 Gospel album Gotta Be Some Change and was offered a MoTown recording contract–to sing a song by Bunny Jones, “I Was Born This Way.”
The experience of recording this gay anthem in 1977 affirmed his call to ministry. The song hit number 14 on the Billboard charts. He was finally able to publicly affirm being gay as a God-given gift. Bean enrolled in MCC’s Samaritan College to study for ministry. Archbishop William Morris O’Neill of the Christian Tabernacle Church ordained him in 1982. Bean began his ministry–which he called “Unity Fellowship of Christ Church”–in south central L.A. The beginning of Bean’s ministry coincided with the outbreak of AIDS. Bean responded, in particular, to the needs of African American gay men with AIDS.
Rooted in Liberation Theology, Archbishop Carl Bean’s Unity Fellowship Church Movement proclaims, “God is Love and Love is for Everyone.” The Archbishop died in 2021 but is fondly remembered by the Queer God Squad.
