The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian
Center's senior prom brought back a lifetime of memories for one man.
In a profile for the Los
Angeles Times, Robert Clement, an 88-year-old World War II
veteran, relived meeting his partner of 44 years in 1959 while
vacationing in London. John Darcy Noble struck up a conversation
with Clement as he waited for a bus.
“He was fantastic,” Clement said.
“He had that thing that I was almost jealous of. People were
enchanted by him. You were the total focus of his attention, every
person he met.”
After meeting Noble, Clement left the
Catholic Church where he was a closeted priest, and in 1970 founded
the Church of the Beloved Disciple, an independent church which
welcomed gay people. Arm in arm, Clement and Noble marched in New
York's first gay pride parade that year. The following year, they
entered a holy union.
The prom took place the day after
same-sex marriage returned to California.
Noble died in 2003 of complications
from diabetes.
Clement said the prom was like “living
in old times with old friends.”
“The whole place just came together,” he said.