Carl Bean
Acting
Biography
Carl Bean (May 26, 1944 – September 7, 2021) was an openly gay African-American singer and activist who was the founding prelate of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, a liberal Protestant denomination particularly welcoming of lesbians, gay and bisexual African Americans. Bean was born on May 26, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland. Before founding the first church of the denomination, the Unity Fellowship Church, Los Angeles, in 1975, Bean was a Motown and disco singer, noted particularly for his version of the early gay liberation song "I Was Born This Way", which inspired Lady Gaga's Grammy-nominated 2011 album and song of the same name. In 1982, Bean became an activist, working on behalf of people with AIDS in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, coinciding with the rise of the AIDS epidemic. He was involved with several organizations, including the National Minority AIDS Council, co-founded in 1987 alongside fellow activists Gilberto Gerald, Craig G. Harris, Paul Kawata, Calu Lester, Don Edwards, Suki Ports, Timm Offutt, Norm Nickens, Marie St.-Cyr, and Sandra McDonald. Bean founded the Minority AIDS Project in Los Angeles with the goal of supporting people with AIDS, especially young African-American men. It is still in operation. In 1992, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation named an AIDS hospice center in South Los Angeles after him. It was in operation until 2006. Bean's autobiography, I Was Born This Way, released in 2010. He died at the age of 77 on September 7, 2021.
Known For
Against a rich Hollywood backdrop, "Commitment to Life" documents the true story of the fight against HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles - and how an intrepid group of people living with HIV/AIDS, doctors, movie stars, studio moguls and activists changed the course of the epidemic.
Commitment to Life
Surviving childhood abuse during his upbringing in Baltimore, Archbishop Carl Bean forged a path to New York and Hollywood to do the one thing he knew he was put on earth to do: sing. Making his mark first as a gospel singer, Bean got the break of his life when Motown tapped him in 1977 to record the disco song “I Was Born This Way,” which quickly became the first gay anthem at a time when it was uncommon to be out and proud. When the AIDS crisis hit, however, Bean soon found himself drawn to a different calling: compassionate activism. Instead of pursuing the momentum of his promising music career, he founded the Minority AIDS Project and the Unity Fellowship Church — the first LGBTQ+ church for people of color.