# James Stoll

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**James Lewis Stoll** (January 18, 1936 – December 8, 1994) was a [Unitarian Universalist](/source/Unitarian_Universalist_Association) [minister](/source/Minister_of_religion) who became the first [ordained](/source/Ordination) minister of an established denomination in the [United States](/source/United_States) or [Canada](/source/Canada) to [come out](/source/Coming_out) as [gay](/source/Gay). He did so at the annual Continental Conference of [Student Religious Liberals](/source/Student_Religious_Liberals) on September 5, 1969, at the La Foret Conference Center near [Colorado Springs, Colorado](/source/Colorado_Springs,_Colorado).[1][2][3]

He led the effort that convinced the [Unitarian Universalist Association](/source/Unitarian_Universalist_Association) to pass the first-ever [gay rights](/source/Gay_rights_in_the_United_States) resolution in 1970. He founded the first counseling center for gays and [lesbians](/source/Lesbian) in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco). In the 1970s, he established the first [hospice](/source/Palliative_care) on [Maui](/source/Maui). He was president of the San Francisco chapter of the [American Civil Liberties Union](/source/American_Civil_Liberties_Union) in 1990s. He died at the age of 58 from complications of [heart](/source/Heart_disease) and [lung disease](/source/Chronic_obstructive_pulmonary_disease), exacerbated by [obesity](/source/Obesity) and a lifelong [smoking habit](/source/Smoking#Health_effects_and_regulation).[4]

## See also

- [Homosexuality and Unitarian Universalism](/source/Homosexuality_and_Unitarian_Universalism)
- [Troy Perry](/source/Troy_Perry)

## References

1. Mark Oppenheimer (2010-09-18). ["Beliefs - Recalling a Haunted Cleric and Neglected Gay Rights Pioneer"](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/18/us/18beliefs.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 2012-07-25.

1. Oppenheimer, Mark (July 1996), "The Inherent Worth and Dignity": Gay Unitarians and the Birth of Sexual Tolerance in Liberal Religion", *Journal of the History of Sexuality*. **7** (1): 73–101, University of Texas Press, [JSTOR 3840443](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3840443)

1. Oppenheimer, Mark (2003), [*Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture*](https://archive.org/details/knockingonheaven0000oppe/page/30), Yale University Press, p. [30](https://archive.org/details/knockingonheaven0000oppe/page/30), ISBN 0-300-10024-8

1. Bond-Upson, Leland (2005-01-09), ["My Greatly Human Hometown Minister—James Lewis Stoll, 1936-1994"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050217204501/http://www.uupetaluma.org/sermons/sermon09jan05.html), archived from [the original](http://www.uupetaluma.org/sermons/sermon09jan05.html) on February 17, 2005, retrieved 2007-09-24 ()

## External links

- [Discrimination Against Homosexuals and Bisexuals](https://web.archive.org/web/20060308232333/http://www.uua.org/actions/bglt/70discrimination.html) - 1970 General Resolution of the [Unitarian Universalist Association](/source/Unitarian_Universalist_Association)

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