Derek Rawcliffe, Church Of England’s First Openly Gay Bishop, Dies At 89

Derek Rawcliffe, who came out in 1995 during a television interview, and became the first Church of England bishop be openly gay, died Feb. 1. He was 89. He married Susan Speight in 1977 after witnessing her “miraculous healing,” where she healed from a disease that forced her into a wheelchair, and after asking God, “Do you want me to marry her?” A year after coming out, Rawcliffe was pushed out of the church for blessing gay couples.