Gwen Hall, 56, pastoral backer of gay rights

When she couldn't find a church where she felt welcomed as an African American and a lesbian, the Rev. Gwen Hall started her own.

From civil rights through gay rights, the Rev. Hall was driven by one social-justice cause after another. When AIDS became epidemic in the black community, she found herself alone among Seattle's African-American pastors, counseling and educating.

The pastor of Sojourner Truth Ministries on Beacon Hill was an early voice for gay rights and in recent years stood alongside local clergy calling for marriage equality for lesbians and gays.

"Gwen always said she didn't have the luxury of standing on the sidelines and watching things happen," said her longtime friend Trina Banks. "Wherever the call came, she was there, always there — even until the end."

The Rev. Hall died Aug. 24 from complications related to heart failure. She was 56.

Her family, her friends and those in the religious community who knew her describe her unwavering commitment to the causes she believed in. She was an outspoken advocate for workers' rights and spoke out against injustices of all kinds, they said.

The Rev. Hall married young, had a son, divorced and later struggled, her friend Constance Miller said, with how to come out as a lesbian to her family and those in the African-American community, where homosexuality remains a thorny subject.

The Rev. Hall received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and a master's degree from Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry.

In 1995, she founded Sojourner Truth, named for the American abolitionist and women's-rights activist, as a welcoming place for African-American gays and victims of AIDS who she believed had been abandoned by their community.

"Gwen was very visible as a religious lesbian in the African-American community," said David Strong, a longtime ministry colleague of the Rev. Hall's who's African American and gay.

"She would often take a stand that not a lot of clergy were willing to take. She had no fear of telling people just how she felt about anything."

George Bakan, editor of the Seattle Gay News and a longtime friend of the Rev. Hall's, was at her bedside hours before she died.

In the 1970s the two worked together planning Seattle Pride festivities. The Rev. Hall was a member of the Black Lesbian Forum seeking to ensure issues of race were included in the celebration. In 1979 and again in 1993 the two co-chaired Marches on Washington in support of gay rights.

"Gwen was never one to back away from the hardest challenges," Bakan said. "Because of her unique personality, she managed to take down barriers and connect people."

The Rev. Hall's son, 33-year-old M. Gwynn DeQuincy Hall, said it wasn't until he got older that he came to appreciate all that his mother had done.

"There were times when I wished I had more of her to myself," he said of his years growing up.

"As I grew older and I learned more about what my mother was doing, it made me proud to say that I'm the son of Rev. Gwen Hall."

The Rev. Hall is survived by her son; brothers Michael Hall, of Seattle, Jerome Hall, of Spain, J.D. Hall, of Des Moines, Iowa; and a sister, Alice Williams, of Saginaw, Mich.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. next Saturday at Southwest Funeral Home, 9021 Rainier Ave. S. A reception will follow at El Centro De La Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S.

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com