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BiPOC Queer Profiles Involved in AIDS Ministry

This collection of profiles is part of the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network's 
Teaching Resources for BiPOC Religion and AIDS Activism.

Below are selected profiles of BiPOC Queer religious activists whose faith and empathy impelled their work in AIDS ministry.  Download a printable pdf of these profiles.

Archbishop Carl Bean

  • Founder of Unity Fellowship Church movement
  • US singer and activist
  • Started the Minority AIDS Project (MAP) in Los Angeles
  • Profile of Carl Bean

Photo Courtesy of The New York Post

Maria Elena Castellanos

Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje

  • Developed course at Howard Divinity School about how Black leaders ought to respond to PWAs
  • Active member in ACT UP D.C.
  • Founding member of Alliance of Multi-Cultural Bisexuals (AMBi)
  • Founder of Moving Violations, the first group dedicated to bisexual men of color.
  • Profile of Ibrahim Farajaje
  • Oral History

Rev. Yvette Flunder

  • Senior pastor at City of Refuge United Christ Church (UCC) in Oakland, California
  • Founder of several non-profits to aid PWAs in California (Hazard-Ashley House, Walker House and Restoration House)
  • Profile of Yvette Flunder
  • Oral History

Rev. Zachary Jones

  • Senior bishop in Unity Fellowship Church
  • Board member of Gay Men of African Descent
  • Volunteered with the Minority AIDS Project
  • Founding member of New York State’s Black Gay
    Men’s Network
  • Profile of Zachary Jones
  • Oral History

Rev. Bryan Massingale

  • Professor of theological and social ethics at
    Fordham University
  • Ordained in 1983 during the early years of the
    HIV/AIDS epidemic
  • Consultant to the National Catholic AIDS Network
  • Biographical News Article

Photo Courtesy of The Revealer

Rev. Dr. Renee McCoy

  • Involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
  • Chaired MCC Racism Task Force, which eventually became MCC People of African Descent
  • Founding member of National Coalition of Black Gays and Lesbians (NCBLG)
  • Founded Harlem Metropolitan Community Church (Harlem: MCC)
  • Established Healing Ourselves through Prevention Education and Services (HOPES) to help Black queer persons with AIDS.
  • Renee McCoy on her experience with persons with AIDS and activism in the early years
  • Profile of Renee McCoy
  • Oral History

Pernessa Seele

Photo Courtesy of Dan Royles.

Bishop John Selders

  • Served as a minister in the Unity Church of Christ (UCC)
  • Participated of the North Side AIDS Outreach Project, an effort in St. Louis to minister to the Black community
  • Met Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje at Howard University who inspired Selders to intensify his ministry to the LGBTQ+ ministry
  • Profile of John Selders

Rev. Duncan Teague

  • Pastor of Westminster Missionary Baptist Church
  • Active member of Atlanta’s Black and White Men
    Together
  • Formed ADODI Muse, a Black ensemble of three gay men
  • Provided outreach and AIDS education in Atlanta
  • Profile of Duncan Teague
  • Oral History