Gay icon and former Motown singer Carl Bean has died. He was 77.
The Unity Fellowship Church Movement, the church Bean founded for LGBTQ congregants, confirmed his death Tuesday, saying Bean’s “transition to eternal life” came on Sept. 7, “after a lengthy illness.”
“Archbishop Bean worked tirelessly for the liberation of the underserved and for LGBTQ people of faith and in doing so, helped many around the world find their way back to spirituality and religion,” said the Unity Fellowship Church Movement in a statement. as reported by the New York Post.
Bean is best known in Los Angeles for establishing the Minority AIDS Project (MAP) in the ’80s. He’s also behind the disco hit “I Was Born This Way,” which influenced Lady Gaga’s 2011 hit song. The singer directly credited Bean during the 10-year anniversary of her second studio album in May.
“Born This Way, my song and album, were inspired by Carl Bean, a gay black religious activist who preached, sung and wrote about being ‘Born This Way,’” Gaga tweeted after the ceremony. “Notably, his early work was in 1975, 11 years before I was born.
Source: LGBT Icon Carl Bean Dead ‘After Lengthy Illness’ at Age 77
