Exhibit Introduction 
The LGBT Religious Archives Network and the GLBT Historical
Society present this special exhibit on
the Council on Religion and the Homosexual founded in San
Francisco in 1964. In this exhibit you will see a wide array of
artifacts-organizational documents, correspondence, newspaper
and magazine articles, publications, brochures and photos, as
well as audio and video clips-that portray the early years
(1964-1968) of this ground-breaking coalition of religious and
homosexual activists. Our intent is to allow you to make
historical discovery through exploring the artifacts with only
minimal commentary to weave them together.
The origins of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual
(CRH) lie in the interaction of clergy from the Glide
Urban Center and homosexual persons they encountered on the
streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. A weekend
retreat for dialogue between religious and gay/lesbian leaders
in the early summer of 1964 led to the formation of CRH. A
police raid on a CRH-sponsored dance at California Hall on
January 1, 1965, thrust CRH into the public spotlight. In the
immediate years following, CRH was on the forefront of educating
religious groups and leaders about homosexuality and generating
religious support for legal and social reforms for homosexual
persons.
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