Joseph Doucé

Joseph Doucé, gay Baptist pastor and pyschologist who ran the Centre du Christ Libérateur in Paris, was born into a poor, Catholic peasant family on April 13, 1945, in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. He demonstrated passions for religious studies and languages (French, German, English and Italian, as well as Dutch) in his youth. After serving in the military, he settled in France in 1964. In 1967, he converted to the Baptist faith and, after studies in Switzerland, became a pastor. From 1970 to 1974 he served parishes in Lens and Bethune.

Long aware of his homosexuality, Doucé began studies in psychology and sexology with the goal of founding a center to serve sexual minorities. From 1974 to 1976 he studied pastoral and psychological needs of sexual minorities at the Free University of Amsterdam, partially supported by a grant from the World Council of Churches.

In 1976, Doucé moved to Paris and opened the Centre du Christ Libérateur (CCL), reportedly in a pornographic theater. It was apparently the only space he could find to do this ministry at that repressive time in France. Doucé soon developed a network of supporters from the professional classes in many different countries and was able to relocate the CCL to rue Clairaut.

The CCL held meetings for transsexuals, transvestites, gays, lesbians and pedophiles. It published a small magazine ILIA, meaning Il Libère, Il Aime ("He Liberates, He Loves"). Doucé performed blessing ceremonies for couples--homosexual as well as heterosexual. The CCL's publishing arm, Lumière et Justice, published Doucé's diverse works on topics such as transsexuality, gay & lesbian couples, pedophilia, and sadomasochism. Because CCL and Doucé reached out to a broad spectrum of sexual minorities, his work was often controversial. He did become a French citizen in 1982.

Doucé and CCL were founding members of the International Gay Association (later the International Lesbian and Gay Association). Through his IGA contacts, Doucé became aware of the AIDs outbreak and was one of the early educators about this disease and epidemic in Paris.

In the late 1980s Doucé and his partner Guy Bondar opened a bookstore, Autres Cultures ("Different Cultures"), on rue Sauffroy, in the heart of Paris. Colleague Andrej Koymasky noted that "the shop offered a lot of interesting sexological literature in various languages that could not be obtained elsewhere. I clearly remember the time when a large stone had been flung through the windowpane in the door..it was a warning."

Bondar reported that on the evening of July 19, 1990, two men in plainclothes knocked on their door, showed badges indicating they were police and asked Doucé to accompany them for questioning. He never returned and on October 24, 1990, his badly decomposed body was discovered in the forest of Fontainebleau, southwest of Paris. It has been claimed that Doucé was the target of the Rensignements Generaux (RG), a branch of the French national police that investigated political subjects. The RG had a reputation for illegal and corrupt activities. The French interior minister disbanded the RG, partly as a result of the controversy over Doucé's disappearance and murder. His murder has never been solved.

(Information for this biographical sketch taken from:
Transidentite, the website of Tom Reucher at http://syndromedebenjamin.free.fr
The Memorial Hall at http://andrejkoymasky.com
The Guide magazine, December 1995 issue, found at http://www.paedosexualitaet.de/lib/GuideDec1995.html)

Biography Date: March, 2007

“Ich habe mit der internationalen christlichen Friedensdienst Organisation EIRENE  in den 80iger Jahren im Zentrum CCL(Centre du Christ Liberateur) Zivildienst geleistet. Das Zentrum befand sich an der 3bis Rue Clairot 75017 Paris. Allein schon das  Gebäude hatte eine sehr bewegte Geschichte hinter sich,  wie ich anhand von diversen Funden in Keller machen konnte. Es muss wohl mal eine Polizei Station gewesen sein, dann eine NS Station während der Occupation, danach ein Esoterik Zentrum bis schließlich Pasteur Douce hier sein Zentrum erreicht hat. Er war ein autoritärer aber auch einfühlsamer  Mensch, der sich mit vollem Einsatz für die Anerkennung von Menschen einsetzt hat,  speziell für sexuelle Minderheiten. Einerseits hatte er im Untergeschoss sein Büro in dem er sich als Psychologe und Seelsorger für die Nöte und Belange von Einzelpersonen eingesetzt hat und andererseits hatte er verschiedene Gruppen gegründet in denen sich Betroffene austauschen konnten, wie so eine Art von Gruppen Therapie.   

So gab es eine Gruppe von  Lesben, Homosexuellen Taubstummen, eine Gruppe von Sado Masochisten, Trans Personen,  Travestie und andere Personen wie Pädophile, die versuchen ihre Vorlieben in der Pornographie aber nicht an Kindern auszuleben. Ich habe die Abende vorbereitet und war auch für die Menus zuständig. Sonntag war immer Gottesdienst für alle. Darüber hinaus kümmerte ich mich um Menschen sexueller Minderheiten die im Gefängnis saßen und sprach auch einmal mit dem Justiz Minister über die Freigabe von Kondomen, da mir immer wieder von Vergewaltigungen berichtet wurde und damals die Zeit der Aids Epidemie war.  Kontakte pflegten wir auch zu den damaligen ersten Aida Hilfsorganisationen, die damals immer noch versuchten das Thema Aids und Homosexuelle strikt zu trennen und sich noch weigerten Hilfsprogramme für die Präsentation speziell von Schwulen zu machen. 

Besonders möchte ich auch seine unermüdliche Arbeit als Autor verschiedener Bücher zum Thema der verschiedenen Sexuellen Minderheiten erwähnen. Er hat auch zwei Verlage aufgebaut um die Bücher zu veröffentlichen. Von seiner tragischen Ermordung habe ich von seinem Partner erfahren was mich sehr erschüttert hat. 

Er ist zweifellos ein Pionier, der seiner Zeit weit voraus war und ich hoffe, dass sein Werk und sein Leben noch viele Menschen inspirieren wird die verstanden haben, dass wir alle Menschen sind, unabhängig von Religion, Hautfarbe oder sexueller Orientierung. ”
 – as remembered by Andreas Korte on July 28, 2025

“I knew Joseph in the 1980’s and visited him also in his Centre de Christ Liberateur in Paris, where so much great work was done. I admired his books which unfortunately were only published in French. He was a compassionate, larger-than-life man and stood up for  himself. He made no excuse for being a Baptist minister beside the (then) negative attitude of the Baptist church towards him and gay and lesbian people in general. He had a bit an evangelical outlook  and outspokenness, which was not always welcomed by secular gays and lesbians and for some he was a bit controversial. I arranged that he was in 1986 one of the speakers in an LGB Christian conference in the conference centre Leuenberg of the Reformed church Switzerland.  I also remember him at conferences of European Forum of Gay and Lesbian Christians in Amsterdam in Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. I still have a photo of Joseph and Revd. Jean White, who is also honoured by your LGBT religious archive.

Like many I was shocked by his unexpected murder by the French police. How could something like this happen in France in 1990?! It was clearly a coverup, as not much was done to find and convict the murderers. An then rather anti-gay press did not help. Clearly it was about an aspect of his LGBT ministry.  He also cared for victims of sexual abuse and one theory is, he knew too much about some cases that involved French political leaders.  He always impressed me by his strong faith in Christ in all adversities. While we missed out decades of  his  service for the LGBT community, I trust he is safe in heavenly peace.”
 – as remembered by Urs Mattmann on June 16, 2025

“I studied with Joseph at the Rueschlikon Baptist Seminary in Switzerland and, as a family we stayed with Joseph in Bethune in 1971 where I preached in the two churches of which he was pastor. Joseph told me of his sexual orientation and I recommended he contact the World Council of Churches to apply for support for his further studies, which he did. When I again travelled to Europe in 1990 I planned to visit Joseph but, tragically, he was murdered just before I arrived. A man before his time. Courageous. Such integrity. ”
 – as remembered by Harold Pidwell on September 5, 2017

Know Joseph Doucé? Tell us your experience.
(All entries are reviewed by the LGBT-RAN office before posting.)