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Community Corner

Capital Pride Honors Kensington Activist

Rev. Jill McCrory welcomes LGBT community members into her church.

Long-time Kensington resident and ally of the LGBT community, Reverend Jill McCrory, has been named one of this year’s Capital Pride Heroes. 

McCrory was honored for her advocacy work in churches, as well as her attempt to “bridge the gaps" between the LGBT and straight communities in the DC Metropolitan area.

''The award is designed around individuals who have made a significant and or lasting impact to the community,'' said Michael Lutz, president of Capital Pride. ''They've done some work… to continually better and improve the life of LGBT individuals.

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"I'm so honored to have been selected," said McCrory, who's lived in Kensington for 20 years.

This year’s Capital Pride Heroes were featured in Saturday's Pride parade, where they walked wearing their Pride Heroes medallions. They were also honored at a gala event at the House of Sweden earlier in the week.

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A straight, married Baptist minister, McCrory is currently Interim Pastor of Open Door Metropolitan Community Church in Boyds, MD. She has worked to include LGBT individuals in this and other churches where she has ministered, welcoming them to her congregations and creating a "haven" for those rejected from other churches.

McCrory has marched for the full inclusion of LGBT individuals, leading a large Baptist contingent in the DC Pride Parade for the last seven years.  She has officiated at several same sex marriages in DC, and also testified before the DC Council in support of the DC marriage bill (now law).  She is currently working on the effort towards marriage equality in Maryland.

Earlier this year, McCrory became Board Chair of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB), a national association of churches that support the inclusion of LGBT members.  Through this postion she hopes to see that all Baptist churches become more welcoming of LGBT individuals seeking to openly practice their faith.

AWAB is headquartered in Kensington and is made up of 76 member churches advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transenger people within and outside of the Baptist church.  For more information, visit www.awab.org or call 240- 242-9220.

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