Husband Gary Nixon
Queer Places:
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90007, Stati Uniti
Fuller Theological Seminary, 135 N Oakland Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101, Stati Uniti
University of Portland, 5000 N Willamette Blvd, Portland, OR 97203, Stati Uniti
Warner Pacific College, 2219 SE 68th Ave, Portland, OR 97215, Stati Uniti
James Melville "Mel" White (born July 26, 1940) is an American clergyman
and author. White was a behind-the-scenes member of the Evangelical Protestant
movement through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, writing film and television
specials and ghostwriting auto-biographies for televangelists such as Jerry
Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham. After years of writing for the
Christian right, he came out as gay in 1994[2]
and devoted himself full-time to minister to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and
transgender people, also writing extensively on the subject of gay Christians.
White was born in Santa Clara, California. In 1962, White graduated from
Warner Pacific College. That same year, he married his wife, Lyla Lee Loehr.
They had two children, one of whom is the actor/comedian and screenwriter Mike
White.
After receiving his BA from Warner Pacific College, then graduating with an
MA in communications from the University of Portland, White followed with
graduate work in communications and film at University of Southern California,
UCLA, and Harvard. He received his Doctorate of Ministry from, and was a
professor of communications and preaching for over a decade at Fuller
Theological Seminary. During this time he also worked as an evangelical
pastor.
After their marriage, White admitted to his wife that he had always been
attracted to men. He embarked on a long process of attempted cures for his
homosexuality, including psychotherapy, prayer, electroconvulsive therapy, and
exorcism. None of these techniques changed his attraction to men, and after he
attempted suicide, he and his wife agreed to an amicable divorce. His son Mike
is bisexual.[3]
IIn 1984, White began dating Gary Nixon. In
1994, White wrote his autobiography, Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay And
Christian In America,,
which detailed his former career in the Religious Right and his struggle
coming to terms with his sexuality. His ex-wife wrote the foreword to this
book. His latest book, Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tells To Deny
Gay Equality was
released in hardback as Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the
Christian Right.
AAfter coming out, White transferred his clergy credentials to the
gay-affirming Metropolitan Community Church.
In 1997, White was awarded the American Civil Liberties Union's National
Civil Liberties Award for his efforts to apply the "soul force" principles of
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. to the struggle for justice for
sexual minorities. He founded Soulfource, a gay advocacy group, in 1998.
On June 18, 2008, White and Nixon were the first same-sex couple legally
married at
All Saints Episcopal Church (Pasadena, California) following the May 16,
2008 action of the
Supreme Court of California overturning the state's ban on same-sex
marriage.[4]
They currently reside in Long Beach, California.
My published books:
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_White