For Father Lee Davis, creating an inclusive church requires more than declaring that everyone is welcome. Someone must keep showing up to hold the door open.
Davis, 56, is the openly gay priest leading St. Mary Magdalene & Martin Episcopal Church in Coral Springs. Under his leadership, the bilingual and multiracial parish has directed nearly $2 million into the community through grants and outreach.
He credits the congregation for embracing that mission, particularly its support for LGBTQ youth in North Broward who may have grown up believing church was the last place they would be accepted.
“I carry the weight of what my own tradition has done to queer people — the rejection dressed up as theology, the harm done in God's name — and I don't take lightly the responsibility of trying to make something different,” Davis said.
Davis served in the Navy before entering seminary. In both settings, he learned the cost of concealing his identity to survive institutions that were not built for him. For years, he said, he preached from behind a version of himself he believed was safer to reveal.
Today, Davis stands in the pulpit openly gay and married to his husband, Daniel. His visibility delivers a message he believes churches owe LGBTQ people: “You were never the mistake.”
That conviction shapes how he leads Sts. Mary Magdalene & Martin. The parish intentionally welcomes LGBTQ people, immigrants and others whom religious institutions have pushed to the margins.
“I know what the side door feels like, so I built a parish without one,” Davis said.
His community work extends beyond the parish. Earlier in his career, Davis helped develop Cain Commons, an affordable senior housing community in Damascus, Maryland. He and Daniel also personally support LGBTQ organizations, though Davis avoids formal affiliations because his role overseeing the parish’s grant program could disqualify those groups from receiving funding.
Davis is especially direct when speaking to LGBTQ youth navigating religious rejection and political attacks.
“You don't owe anyone a coming-out story on their schedule, and you don't owe anyone an explanation for existing,” he said. “Find your people, whoever and wherever they are, and hold onto them.”
If someone invokes religion to tell them they should not exist, Davis wants them to remember that another clergy member firmly disagrees.
“You were made on purpose, exactly as you are,” he said. “I'd stake my collar on it.”
