Reverend Carol A. Johnson
Cultural Theologian and Human Rights Advocate
Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame Inductee 1991

For the past decade, Carol Johnson has been an outspoken advocate for the gay and lesbian community and a personal inspiration to many of its individual members.  She has worked tirelessly in the struggle against homophobia, and to increase the visibility and options of lesbian women, particularly women of color, and gay men.

Johnson's personal commitment to eradicating AIDS has been demonstrated professionally through her position as the Service Employees International Union's Midwest AIDS Project coordinator.  This has been further shown through workshops with lesbians on women and HIV and safer sex methods, lobbying for legislative initiatives, and working to institute appropriate public policy. She is active in many capacities, always around gay and lesbian issues. She works within established organizations, she has formed new ones when there is a need, and she challenges homophobia within non gay organizations. These include the Advisory Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues, the Committee to Increase Black Lesbian and Gay Awareness, Within Our Reach, Informed and Connected, United Way of Chicago's Committee on Discrimination, the National Lesbian Conference steering committee, The Literary Exchange, and the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays.

Reverend Carol A. Johnson, recipient of a Master's degree in Theological Studies from Harvard, is a cultural theologian as well as a LGBT and human rights advocate, currently preparing for Unitarian Universalist community ministry. Recipient of many awards, most notably the 1998 recipient of 100 Black Men's "HIV / AIDS Unsung Heroes Award," she was the first African-American woman inducted at the opening of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Reverend Johnson was also the recipient of a graduate degree in Social Welfare Policy Development from the University of Stockholm, and she uses her degrees together with skills honed in the US Army and the House of Labor to create US American and international forums on HIV/AIDS, human rights, public health, healing, and reconciliation. Reverend Johnson was the Coordinator of Inter-religious Dialogue and a Religious Ambassador at the 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions where she facilitated forums addressing HIV/AIDS collaborative community health initiatives and the subject of sexuality as a gift.

Rev. Carol A. Johnson founded both Harvard AIDS Ministries and Harvard's GospelFest in observation of World AIDS Day.  Johnson was a captain in the United States Army Reserve; she served on active duty at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and as a reservist on active duty in Munich. She is also a certified hypnotherapist and a dance band soloist.

She can be reached at reverend_carol@post.harvard.edu. 

Source:  http://www.iglhrc.org/issues/Rome2000/bios.html
http://www.glhalloffame.org/html/cjohnson.html
hglc.org/hglc/whoswho/ index.shtml