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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