Broshears, Raymond

found: Gay pride, winter '72/'73 ed.:masthead (Reverend Raymond Broshears) p. 4 (Reverend Father Raymond C. Broshears) p. 6 (Reverend Ray Broshears)

found: NUCMC data from Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Hist. Soc. for His Papers, 1965-1984(Raymond Broshears, one of San Francisco's most controversial gay citizens, was a community activist and ordained minister in the Orthodox Episcopal Catholic Church. Broshears was born Earl Raymond Allen in Centreville Station, Ill. in 1935 [no publs. in LC database]. When his mother later remarried, she gave him her new husband's name, though he was raised primarily by his grandmother and his three aunts. He served in the U.S. Navy and received a medical discharge in 1955. Broshears, who preferred to be called "Reverend Ray," formed the Gay Activists Alliance in 1971, the Lavender Panthers in 1973, and was one of the founders of San Francisco's first gay pride parade in 1972. In addition to his work for gay and lesbian rights, he was also a strong advocate for the poor and elderly communities in the Tenderloin. He founded the Old Folks Defense League and the Helping Hands Community Center to serve this population and also helped produce an annual Christmas Show at Fort Miley Hospital. Broshears was a polarizing figure in San Francisco's LGBT community as evidenced by the many lawsuits and charges brought against him in his lifetime. He regularly used his newspaper the Gay Crusader to attack and criticize individuals and organizations that disagreed with him. Broshears died at home of a cerebral hemorrhage on Jan. 10, 1982)