Carl Schlegel

Carl Schlegel (March 29, 1863 - July 25, 1922) was a German-American Presbyterian minister and gay rights activist.

Life Schlegel was born in Pfullingen, Germany on March 29, 1863. In 1878, Schlegel moved to the United States. In a 1903 meeting of the group, Schlegel announced his intention to create a New York-based subcommittee and to organize other ministers to advocate for gay rights.

While Schlegel found a new congregation, he was quickly faced with an investigation by the elders of his new church, who accused him of "Uranism" and of promoting "grossly immoral doctrines." This defense backfired, however, as his position that sex laws should be applied equally to all people was interpreted as a defense of "the lawfulness and naturalness" of same-sex relationships.

He was dismissed by his church in 1907 and was also defrocked. After being dismissed, he returned to New York and became a spiritualist. He died on July 25, 1922 and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens.

Legacy Schlegel's life was largely unnoticed by historians until 2019, when historian Jonathan Ned Katz uncovered mention of Schlegel's dismissals in the Presbyterian Historical Society's archives.