Megan Rohrer papers

Title: Megan Rohrer papers

Dates: circa 1980s-2023

Collection Number: 2010-07

Creator/Collector: Rohrer, Megan M.

Extent: 10 linear feet (3 cartons, 1 manuscript box, and 5 oversized boxes)

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

Abstract: Megan Rohrer (born 1980) is a trans theologian, activist, former Bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (2021-2022), and former chaplain with the San Francisco Police Department. This collection documents Rohrer’s childhood, education, and ministry. Materials include journals written from 2004 to 2023; correspondence from Rohrer’s time as Bishop; files related to his work with the San Francisco Police Department; writings and research files from college and graduate school; and a scrapbook and folders containing photographs, report cards, school work, and other materials from his childhood. Also included are documents and artifacts from “Man-I-Fest,” an Outhistory.org exhibit about “FTM mentorship in San Francisco” that Rohrer curated.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research.

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[Identification of item]. Megan Rohrer papers. Collection Number: 2010-07. GLBT Historical Society

Donated by Zander Keig and Patrick Callahan in 2010. Addition by Megan Rohrer in 2023.

Megan Rohrer (born 1980) is a trans theologian, activist, and former Bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). Rohrer grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 2001. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2001, attending the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and then the Pacific School of Religion, from which he earned a Master of Divinity (2005) and Doctor of Ministry (2017). Although Rohrer was first ordained in the ELCA under a special process in 2006, standard ELCA policy prohibited the ordination of openly LGBTQ pastors. In 2010, after a change in ELCA policy, Rohrer’s ordination was formalized. His ministry has centered LGBTQ people and people experiencing homelessness, with Rohrer serving with Welcome, an inter-congregational organization addressing homelessness, from 2002 to 2014; as Assistant Night Minister in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, from 2013 to 2019; and Pastor at the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco from 2014 to 2021. Beginning in 2017, Rohrer also served in a variety of capacities with the San Francisco Police Department’s Chaplaincy. Among his projects was to conduct research that supported the SFPD’s 2019 apology for its actions at the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. In 2021, Rohrer was appointed Bishop of the ELCA’s Sierra Pacific Synod, becoming the Church’s first transgender Bishop. In June 2022, Rohrer resigned amid controversy regarding his removal of Rev. Nelson Rabell-Gonzalez from Mision Latina Luterana in Stockton, California. In March 2023, he sued the Sierra Pacific Synod and the ELCA for damages. In June 2023, Rohrer was removed from service by the ELCA.

This collection documents Megan Rohrer’s childhood, education, and ministry. Materials include journals written from 2004 to 2023; correspondence from Rohrer’s time as Bishop; files related to Rohrer’s work with the San Francisco Police Department; writings and research files from college and graduate school; and a scrapbook and folders containing photographs, report cards, school work, and other materials from Rohrer’s childhood. Also included are documents and artifacts from “Man-I-Fest,” an Outhistory.org exhibit about “FTM mentorship in San Francisco” that Rohrer curated.