United Methodist civil rights activist Gil Caldwell dies at 86
(RNS Photo / Travis Long)
Gil Caldwell, a civil rights activist who later in life stood up for gay rights in the United Methodist Church, died September 4 at the age of 86.
The native of Greensboro, North Carolina, struggled with cancer, his son said on Twitter. The United Methodist News Service reported he had been in hospice care in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
As a student at Boston University’s school of theology, Caldwell worked with Martin Luther King Jr., who led him to rally for jobs at the 1963 March on Washington and for voting rights in the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama. Caldwell also protested against school segregation in Boston.
