After 40 years, Anniston native Louie Crew Clay finds acceptance

[The Anniston Star] Some people spend their entire lives running away from the person they were supposed to be. For Anniston native Louie Crew Clay, that identity was rooted in the church. But as a man who found himself attracted to other men, it was hard for him to find a place in a world that seemed programmed to follow another doctrine.

Instead, Clay has spent the past 40 years working to change the doctrine. Last year, he was recognized by the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies for his decades of work in pushing the church to be more inclusive of LGBT people. He was awarded a medal for "distinguished, creative, courageous, persistent, prophetic service and witness to the Episcopal Church that you love so dearly."