Black LGBTQ Music History Makers: Carl Bean, the Voice Behind “I Was Born This Way”
Watch the episode above, then read on for the full story.
Today, we spotlight Carl Bean, a Black gay singer, minister, activist, and visionary whose impact reached far beyond music.
Some people change music. Carl Bean changed music, faith, and the fight against AIDS, all in one lifetime.
A Baltimore voice
Carl Bean was born on May 26, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up singing gospel, and his voice eventually brought him to Motown.
I Was Born This Way
In 1977, Motown released Carl Bean's version of “I Was Born This Way,” one of the first openly gay pride anthems in music history. At a time when LGBTQ people faced open discrimination and silence, here was a Black gay man on a major label singing, without apology, that he was made exactly the way he was meant to be.
Decades later, the song inspired Lady Gaga's 2011 album and single, Born This Way. The message traveled a long way from a Motown disco record.
Faith and a home for Black LGBTQ people
Bean didn't stop at music. He founded the Unity Fellowship Church in Los Angeles, a church that welcomed Black LGBTQ worshippers who had been pushed out of other congregations. For many, it was the first time they could be gay and be in church at the same time.
On the front lines of HIV/AIDS
Starting in 1982, Bean worked against AIDS in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. He founded the Minority AIDS Project in Los Angeles, which still operates today, and co-founded the National Minority AIDS Council in 1987. In 1992, an AIDS hospice in South Los Angeles was named after him.
★ Key Moments
1977: Motown releases his “I Was Born This Way”
1982: Begins his HIV/AIDS work
1987: Co-founds the National Minority AIDS Council
2010: Publishes his memoir, I Was Born This Way
2025: A documentary about his life premieres at Tribeca
Carl Bean died on September 7, 2021, at 77.
Why Carl Bean matters to us
Carl Bean understood that visibility is powerful, but community is what saves lives. He sang it, preached it, and lived it. Every Black queer person who has ever felt at home in a song or a sanctuary owes him something.
More History Makers
Big Freedia: the Queen of Bounce
Cakes Da Killa: rewriting who belongs in hip hop
Doechii: making Grammy history
Frankie Knuckles: the Godfather of House Music
Sources: Wikipedia
AmpliPhy | LGBTQ Voices, Black and Out Loud.
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