Clinton Jones

Canon Clinton Robert Jones Jr. (November 8, 1916 – June 3, 2006) was an Episcopal priest and gay rights activist based in Hartford, Connecticut.

Early life and education Jones was born in Brookfield, Connecticut, to Clinton Robert Jones and Henriette Elizabeth Jones, née Morehouse; he was the couple's only child to survive infancy. He was raised attending St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brookfield, where his mother was an organist. His father had been a Congregationalist, but was Episcopalian by the time Jones was born.

Activism In the 1960s, Jones was appointed to the Rehabilitation Committee for the Greater Hartford Council of Churches. The committee addressed a variety of issues, including alcoholism, drug addiction, and the care of mental health patients, but Jones became particularly interested in researching homosexuality and the issues surrounding it.

In 1971, Jones and Project H colleague George Higgins founded the Twenty-One Club, which primarily served transgender individuals, providing them with counseling and psychiatric services.

In 1976, Jones was a witness representing Integrity for the Joint Commission on the Church and Human Affairs, an Episcopal commission which was "study[ing] the gay issue".

In 1986, with Jones' retirement, Project H (which had been renamed the Committee on Sexual Minorities in 1980) disbanded, as the presence of other LGBTQ organizations in the area meant the services provided by Project H had become increasingly less vital.

Publications

Books

Source:

What About Homosexuality (1972) Homosexuality and Counseling (1974) Understanding Gay Relatives and Friends (1978)

Personal life and death Jones was known for his manners and his formality. One story goes that when he was temporarily housing a transexual teenager who had been kicked out of her home, the teenager found herself "completely at sea when confronted with the formalized gentility of Jones’s home" and his "formal dinner".

Jones was gay, and was in a domestic partnership with church musician Kenneth Woods for 40 years; however, he was not open about his sexuality during his lifetime. After Jones retired in 1986, the two moved to Manchester, Connecticut.

Jones died of pancreatic cancer in 2006. After his death, Woods inherited his property.

Legacy In 2005, The Friends of Christ Church Cathedral created the Canon Clinton R. Jones Award in honor of Jones' decades of ministry. The award was to be given annually to "a person of faith who works quietly in the community on issues at the cutting edge of change".

Jones' personal papers, which include his correspondence, are held at the GLBTQ Archives at Central Connecticut State’s Elihu Burritt Library.