Imam Daayiee Abdullah (he/him) was a leading human rights and sexuality activist within Muslim and interfaith communities. He passed away on August 3, 2025, shortly after LGBTQ-RAN chose him as one of this year's "holy troublemakers." As an openly gay imam, he spent more than 20 years championing inclusive Islamic theology around the world. He was baptized as a Southern Baptist, but it was a visit to a mosque in Beijing that led to his conversion to Islam in 1985. He earned a law degree, and later taught in Saudi Arabia, where he researched LGBTQ-inclusive interpretations of the Quran. In 2014, he founded the MECCA Institute to promote inclusive Islamic education. In 2021, he published Progressive Islam: The Rich Liberal Ideas of the Muslim Faith.

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Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes C.M. (he/him), a stalwart movement leader and pastor in Canada, is executive director of Rainbow Faith and Freedom, which he founded in 2018 to eliminate religious-based discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons worldwide. He previously served as senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto from 1977-2017. In that role, he was a consistent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights as he ministered to the needs of the queer population in and around Toronto. He was instrumental in sexual orientation being included in both the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act. He also officiated the first legal same-sex wedding in 2001.

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Nancy Krody (she/her) was a founder of the United Church of Christ Gay Caucus (now the Open and Affirming Coalition of the UCC) in 1973. She has also served as the co-coordinator of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference chapter of the ONA Coalition, a leader in the Philadelphia Task Force on Women in Religion, and the longtime editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies at Temple University. Thanks in part to her vision and courage, the Open and Affirming movement is thriving, with nearly 2,000 UCC churches since 1985 adopting a commitment to intentional LGBTQ+ inclusion and welcome. Today she continues to serve several organizations supporting inclusion of LGBTQ+ people of faith.

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Rev. Rhina Ramos (she/her) is the founder of Ministerio Latino, the first Spanish-speaking LGBTQ+ UCC congregation. Ordained in 2012 with a background as a labor attorney and a nonprofit manager, she has changed countless lives and hearts. Ministerio Latino is a haven for many, especially LGBTQ+ Latinx immigrants who have been condemned or ostracized by other churches. She is currently the associate conference minister of justice and witness and anti-racism for the Northern California Nevada Conference of the UCC and has served as the national coordinator for Encuentros Latinx, where she was a co-editor of the Transvisibility Toolkit, a vital resource for UCC congregations.

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Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson (she/her) became a trailblazer in the Presbyterian Church (USA) when, after over two decades of ministry, she came out as transgender and transitioned publicly as female. The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta voted in 1996 to sustain her ordination, making her the first mainstream pastor to gender transition while in active ministerial standing. With a long background in pastoral clinical psychotherapy, she co-founded the Southern Association for Gender Education (SAGE) in 1999, which provides interfaith gender education for colleges and faith communities. She has also been an active leader in More Light Presbyterians, including serving as co-moderator from 2000-2002.

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