San Diego Pride recognizes Metropolitan Community Church Pastor Dan Koeshall

The Metropolitan Community Church is one of the oldest running LGBTQ+ organizations in the nation. It was founded in 1968, prior to Stonewall, to be an affirming, safe spiritual home for LGBTQ+ people. The Metropolitan Community Church San Diego, known locally as The Met, was founded in 1970 as a church by queer people for queer people. It became the first LGBTQ+ organization in the region to own property.  Today, it meets weekly in Bay Park under the leadership of Pastor Dan Koeshall, who has served in various capacities at the church for 26 years.  This year, Koeshall was named the 2025 Light of Pride recipient. The award coincides with the 10th anniversary of Light up the Cathedral, the interfaith Pride service hosted by St. Paul’s Cathedral in Bankers Hill where the award is handed out.  As Koeshall prepares to retire in a few months, receiving the Light of Pride award — which is given out to a spiritual leader who advocates for the LGBTQ+ community — is a sweet sendoff to his life’s work.  “I hope that our light, my light, has helped others through the years,” Koeshall said in a phone call. “When we are ourselves, we can shine.” Beyond his work at the church, he has served on the LGBT Advisory Board to the Sheriff’s Department and San Diego Police Department.  Before trans women were integrated into the general population, they were housed in the medical wing of the jail where Koeshall learned the pastors visiting them were not affirming.  “The spiritual people that were coming to them were giving them services like, ‘God loves you, but you got to change.’ And we just said, ‘That is harmful,’” Koeshall said.  He began organizing his own congregation to host weekly services for transgender prisoners where they could have their proper names and pronouns used while being treated with respect.  Koehsall knows the damage non-affirming religious teachings can do. Twice, he went through a 22-week course at Exodus International, a defunct Christian conversion therapy program. A year of their program left damage that took a decade to heal.  Following his failed conversion therapy, he came out and got kicked out from his longtime faith community. After he was excommunicated, he found out about MCC in a book. Afraid of being tracked, he drove to a car wash phone booth to call them and find out how to get connected. At The Met, he found a community that accepted him.  “I’m just so grateful to be my authentic self. Because I’ve gone through that experience, it’s really important for me for people to, no matter what they’ve gone through, to realize that they are wonderfully created. There is no mistake. They are God’s children… I really strive for people to be comfortable in their authentic self,” Koeshall said.  The late nights, phone banks, sweat, and work as a pastor have all been worth it to him because this award shows he made a difference.  He described being part of San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community as “the joy of a lifetime.”