Pride Month Spotlight: Otis Charles
Throughout June, we’re celebrating LGBTQIA+ people who have shaped our church and our world – trailblazers, advocates, saints, and quietly persistent troublemakers who got us here. Today we remember a bishop who waited until retirement to tell the truth – and then never stopped.
Otis Charles served as Bishop of Utah from 1971 to 1985. In 1993, several years into retirement, he came out publicly as a gay man, becoming one of the first Episcopal bishops to do so. The timing of his disclosure speaks to what it cost, even at the top of the church hierarchy, to be honest about who he was. Following his announcement, Charles remained an active and visible advocate for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the Episcopal Church for the remainder of his life. His story is a reminder that courage doesn’t have an expiration date, even when it arrives later than we might wish.