As we enter LGBTQ Pride month 2025, there are a number of gay activist icons who are often noted in mainstream discourse to varying degrees. This usually includes James Baldwin, Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson, Harry Hay, Audre Lorde, and others. Yet, there is one that many may not be aware of, despite this person’s significant impact not only in music but also in the fight against homophobia and bigotry here in the United States, who incorporated and influenced many well-known names in popular culture.
Carl Bean was an unapologetic gay Black trailblazer with his resounding message, “love is for everyone.” The new documentary I Was Born This Way, making its world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, wants you to know more about him, his legacy, and his impact on us all. Bean is the Black gay archbishop who sang the hit 1970s gay anthem you may never have known about—until now.
Directed by Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard, I Was Born This Way tells the life story of activist and singer Carl Bean. Viewers are taken on a journey through various stages in Bean’s lifetime. This includes him surviving childhood abuse during his upbringing in Baltimore, recording his hit disco gay anthem “I Was Born This Way,” to becoming Archbishop Bean and founding the Unity Fellowship Church Movement. The liberal Protestant denomination welcomes all members of the LGBTQ community.
Each stage touches on the theme of resilience in the face of racism, homophobia, and other forms of bigotry. Bean is given space to tell his story with passion and thoughtful, raw reflection. This is coupled with innovative rotoscope animation for various re-enactments and interviews with Lady Gaga, Billy Porter, Questlove, Dionne Warwick, Rep. Maxine Waters, and others, who speak to his impact on their lives and works. The result is a powerful, nearly 2-hour dive into Bean’s history, the movement for human rights, and his role within it. Oh, and some fantastic music to listen to along the way.
While the film uses the power of the song “I Was Born This Way” as the foundation to tell Bean’s story, it serves as only one (albeit big) puzzle piece to the broader picture of the activist’s life work. The song itself symbolizes the kind of groundbreaking work Bean would do in his lifetime, and the collaborative efforts with others that would help him achieve as much as he did. For while Bean was the bombastic voice and spirit of the track, how it came to be—and who was involved in making it—also has significance.
As DJ, author, filmmaker, and cultural curator, Questlove explains in the film, “I Was Born This Way,” was Motown’s “most revolutionary single since ‘What’s Going On’ by Marvin Gaye.” While 1971’s “What’s Going On” was a song regarding police brutality and anti-war sentiments, “I Was Born This Way,” which debuted in 1975, was a celebration of being gay in a time when it was stigmatized and not regularly talked about. The revolutionary act was to be out and proud in the face of persecution and hate. The following bold and clear lyrics about being gay were unheard of in mainstream music during this time:
I′m walking through life in nature’s disguise
You laugh at me and you criticize ′cause I’m happy, carefree and gay—Yes, I’m gay
It ain′t a fault it′s a fact
I was born this way.
Now I won’t judge you
Don′t you judge me
We’re all the way nature meant us to be
The film does a fine job of showcasing why Bean was the perfect singer for the track, not just because of his sexuality, but due to his conscious choice of being a messenger for change, and the early childhood struggles that brought him to that mindset. This recurring theme of resilience is interwoven throughout much of the film, as exemplified by Bean. And while the directors could have just focused on Bean being the singer, they made it a point to put a spotlight on how the song was created even before he was involved.
This is where songwriter Bunny Jones is rightly given her flowers. She was a Black woman who worked as a beautician, and she eventually found a passion for music making. Her son, Chris Jones, explains that his mother understood the power of music on society. “I make women beautiful [as a beautician], but music makes everyone beautiful,” he notes her saying to him at one time.
And although Jones was a heterosexual woman, she felt it was essential to give a voice to the gay community, thus her writing “I Was Born This Way.” She would bring together several talented musicians—including music legend Stevie Wonder—and composers to create the first version of the song that would eventually find its way to Motown. This showcases the role of community, a frequent theme in the film as well.
I Was Born This Way also places much of Bean’s journey in a broader historical context. Or rather, Bean makes sure to do so during his interview in the film. Thus, viewers are treated to some history lessons regarding the musical and political landscape. One lesson is how the Disco music genre came to be and how it was greatly influenced by Black talent, including those in the gay community.
Disco’s growing popularity in the 70s allowed for Bean’s version of “I Was Born This Way” to become the mega-hit that it did. Bean also takes the time to explain why there was such a backlash to Disco, as white supremacists and conservatives didn’t care for music so heavily influenced by Black (and gay) talent becoming so mainstream. This perspective puts the “Disco Sucks” movement we’ve heard about in a whole new light.
And while Bean could have gone on to continue his mainstream music career with the legendary Black record label Motown, he was dedicated to his role as a change agent. Once again, his life decisions are connected to broader societal issues, as we are shown how Bean came to be a preacher and eventual archbishop through his work in advocating for victims of HIV/AIDS, which took the lives of so many from the 1980s onward.
HIV/AIDS was closely associated with gay men and was deemed the “gay plague” during that time. The film doesn’t shy away from archival footage of hateful demonstrators with signs that displayed gay slurs, claiming that the death of many in the LGBTQ community due to HIV/AIDS was “God’s plan.” This footage shows the hate that Bean stood up to, and what made him decide to combat it with love. This opens up an interesting discussion on the role of the church—the Black church in particular—when it comes to advocating for liberation, the types of liberation it has centered, and the ones it has shied away from. There’s a lot to unpack there, and it’s not entirely clear-cut, but the film is willing to start the conversation.
Perhaps the most potent aspect of the documentary is how it shows how much Bean following his calling inspired so many around him to follow their own. We see this through the growth of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, the figures he worked with directly who went on to do their advocacy work, and those who came after him whom he also inspired. As pop icon and activist Lady Gaga explains in the film, when talking about her hit song “Born This Way,” which is about self-acceptance and celebration of diversity and individuality, “I never would have written the song if it weren’t for Carl Bean.”
I Was Born This Way is a wild, emotional, and powerful ride through impactful moments in history through the lens of an equally impactful life of a man who picked love over hate and activism over mainstream fame and fortune. Bean left our mortal plane some years ago, but his spirit of resistance and love still resonates. As Lady Gaga notes, “the movement never stops. We have so much work to do.” And while Bean may be resting now, his music and legacy live on. As Questlove put it best when speaking to “I Was Born This Way,” and its influence: “It’s an anthem, and anthems never die.”
For more information on upcoming screenings of the film go here.
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