Bernárd J. Lynch
Bernárd J. Lynch (born 1947, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland), theology and philosophy with the Society of African Missions in Dromantine, near Newry and was ordained in 1971, is a Roman Catholic priest and psychotherapist, based in the United States, renowned for his human rights work with HIV/AIDS and with the LGBTQIA community. Work. Lynch is an "out" gay Irish-born Roman Catholic priest, author, and activist who has worked for the rights of LGBT people for more than forty years starting with his work in Dignity USA (New York Chapter), the LGBT Catholic group, in the  1970s. In 1982, Lynch founded the first AIDS ministry in New York City with Dignity USA (New York Chapter) as documented in the documentary films AIDS: A PRIEST’S TESTAMENT in 1987 and SOUL SURVIVOR in 1990. Lynch publicly campaigned in support of Mayor Ed Koch's Executive Order 50 in 1984, which compels City contractors not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. Lynch publicly testified in favour of New York City’s lesbian and gay rights bill that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in jobs and public accommodations, seeing it through to passage by the New  York City Council in 1986. As documented in the documentary film A PRIEST ON TRIAL in 1990, Lynch's support for LGBT rights brought down on him a false prosecution perpetrated by church and government officials. Lynch won total exoneration from Justice Burton Roberts in Bronx Supreme Court. Lynch's television/radio appearances include the BBC’s interview show HARDtalk in 2013. He was honoured with the Magnus Hirschfeld Award 1988 for outstanding service to the cause of Irish LGBT civil rights. In 2006, Lynch became the first Catholic priest in the world to have a civil partnership. Lynch married  his partner, Billy Desmond, in 2017 in Ireland. In 2012 Lynch he was expelled from the Society of African Missions. In 2017, Lynch received a proclamation from the New York City Council honouring his more than 40 years of service to the LGBT and AIDS communities in the city. Lynch received Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad for 2019, in the Charitable Works category. The awards recognise the contribution of members of the Irish diaspora in the world. Lynch faced a civil lawsuit, filed in 2019, in New York related to the abuse allegations for which he was  acquitted in criminal court in 1989. Once again, he was cleared of the allegations.