Julian Rush (1936-2023) One of Colorado's first openly gay preachers, former director of the Colorado AIDS Project

Julian Rush passed away November 28th, 2023, on a beautiful autumn morning in Phoenix, Arizona, with his two sons by his side. The Very Reverend Rush was one of the first openly gay ministers in a large-denomination religion in the United States, a committed advocate for the care of people living with AIDS, and a lifelong supporter of civil rights.

Julian lived an interesting and meaningful life, and was loved deeply by many. He was a kind and gentle man, a caring father, and a good-looking fella to boot – just take a gander at that handsome devil.

A white son of the South, from Meridian, Mississippi, Julian’s all-American early years were full of church, the piano, and Boy Scouts, where he earned his Eagle badge. During his time at Millsaps College he was President of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He also served in the Army Reserve.

Despite the idyllic veneer, the prejudicial injustice that surrounded him in the segregated South, both within his family and in his community, never sat quite right with him. “By junior high school, I knew there was something about that social structure which didn’t make sense to me,” he recounted decades later. At his father’s funeral, he insisted that “the help,” the caring African American domestic workers who had helped raise him from infancy, sit with the rest of the Rush Clan in the front row. Yup, it caused a stir.

After college Julian pursued a career in the priesthood, earning his Master of Sacred Theology at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. During that time, he became more interested in politics, campaigning for John F. Kennedy. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. ignited his interest in civil rights. During seminary he drove from Texas to Alabama to join the third Montgomery march. He didn’t get to meet Dr. King, but did meet John Lewis. Good trouble knows good trouble.

Julian married Margaret House in 1965. He first served as a United Methodist youth pastor in Fort Worth, Texas, then in Colorado Springs, and finally Boulder, Colorado. During all this period, stretching back to high school, Julian composed numerous songs and musicals, which was a lifelong passion. A man ahead of his time, a full generation before the musical television series Glee took America by storm, Julian composed and directed The Man Who Can Save the Day, which reimagined Christ’s disciples, in a modern context, as the unwanted and those discriminated against: a person suffering from substance abuse, people of color, persons with disabilities, commercial sex workers, and a young gay man. With its powerful message of acceptance and inclusion, he took the youth production on the road to churches in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. How ‘bout them apples?

After separating from his wife, he began seeking therapy, and came to acknowledge that he was, and always had been, gay. When the head preacher at First United Methodist Church, who Julian had confided in, outed him in 1981, it came to a surprise to many, including his parishioners and children. Yes, in retrospect there were minor tell-tale signs, including a killer Village People vinyl collection, but it was the early 1980s, people, Reagan’s America, and preachers just simply were not gay.

After a few kangaroo court hearings, and despite the support of many in the congregation, Julian was judged to be unsuitable for the ministry. His employment was terminated on October 31st. Happy freakin’ Halloween. But not everyone was down with the bigotry. After Julian’s ouster, the United Methodist Church’s Rocky Mountain Conference Bishop Melvin E. Wheatley, quickly used his authority to appoint Julian to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Denver, albeit without a salary.

To earn a living on the side, Julian began working at the Chrysalis Project, which conducted outreach to young commercial sex workers to provide them with support. During that time, his ongoing struggles with the church garnered significant publicity, including a January 1982 four-page story in the New Yorker by Calvin Trillin.

In 1983 Denver’s Gay and Lesbian Community Center hired Julian to direct the newly established Colorado AIDS Project (CAP) to support the rising number of people in their community being afflicted with the disease. In 1984 CAP became its own independent nonprofit, which Julian would lead for the next 17 years. It would be the most important ministry of his life.

Julian was CAP’s only staff member when he started, driving the program forward in the early months and years with a group of dedicated volunteers and donations from the community. Their early work focused on AIDS education, and providing financial and other support. At that time AIDS was just starting to make inroads in America, and was not yet widely acknowledged as a devastating public health threat. By the time the U.S. Department of Health decreed AIDS to be a sexually-transmissible, blood-borne virus in 1984, CAP had already established itself as a national leader in providing services to people living with HIV.

By the time Julian left CAP in 2001, he had witnessed a great deal of death and suffering. For the final chapter of his working life, he directed the Caring Friends Program of Hemlock, and then co-directed the Client Services Program of Compassion and Choices. Through these programs he worked to expand options and enhance the quality of life of those experiencing terminal illnesses. He retired in 2007.

In retirement he continued to compose music, including a number of hymns. One of his favorite hymns, In the Midst of New Dimensions, is still sang today in Mennonite, Presbyterian, Unitarian, United Church of Christ, and yes, United Methodist worship services across the country. He composed it during his ouster from the church, the song reflecting his desire to not give in to anger or despair, but rather embrace understanding, tolerance, and acceptance.

Through the flood of starving people, warring factions and despair, Who will lift the olive branches? Who will light the flame of care?

For all those who knew, loved, or otherwise admired Julian, take a moment, pour a finger of two of your favorite top-shelf Bourbon, and join us in toasting him for a life well lived.

Julian is survived by his partner Michael Gebhardt; his son Jason, his wife Thao, and their three children Kimberly, Benjamin, and Olivia; his son Joel and his wife Yumishi; numerous other beloved family members and friends; and his two dogs Otto and Stephan. Donations may be made to Compassion & Choices, Colorado Health Network, or to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Let the Circle Be Unbroken.

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