Gerry Studds, first openly gay congressman- dies

[Daniel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_re_us/obit_studds

By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 44 minutes ago
BOSTON - Former Rep. Gerry Studds, who became the first openly gay member of Congress when his homosexuality was exposed during a teenage page sex scandal, died early Saturday. He was 69.

Studds died at Boston Medical Center several days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. Doctors determined his loss of consciousness was due to a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said.

Studds regained consciousness and seemed to be improving, but his condition deteriorated Friday because of a second blood clot. The origin of the second clot was not immediately determined, said Hara, who married Studds shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004.

Hara said Studds gave courage to gay people by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging his homosexuality.

[kara speltz]

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I loved the AOL posting on his death where they said according to his husband. What an amazing thing, if someone had told me when I came out 30 years ago that I would read about a congressman who had married his partner legally and that a news agency would report that partner as the "husband," I doubt if I would have believed it was possible in my own lifetime.

We still have such a long way to go, but we also need to acknowledge the awesome change that has taken place over the last years.

kara

[Daniel]

I loved the AOL posting on his death where they said according to his husband.

Kara- I had the same reaction as you- the use of the word husband says it all: when more states (and it looks like NYC and NJ may be next in line to have gay marriage) we are going to be witnesses to a sea change.

What a difference a word makes.

[Jamie McDaniel]

Yeah, I certainly noticed the use of the word "husband" in the mainstream article. That is good because I think sometimes we are reluctant to use that word ourselves, preferring boyfriend (or girlfriend) or partner or spouse if we think the person we are talking to is less than accepting.

Not that I think that "partner" or "spouse" is greatly lacking, I don't. But it does seem that it goes back to the civil unions vs. marriage thing when talking with some heterosexuals. You know, their being ok with it as long as it is not called "marriage." What do you think?

On a side note, it struck me as strange that I didn't even know the name Gerry Studds until the Mark Foley story and then I read that he dies.

[kara speltz]

On a side note, it struck me as strange that I didn't even know the name Gerry Studds until the Mark Foley story and then I read that he dies.

I remember it as I am a lot older than most of the folks who post here. The difference between Studds and Foley was he was honest when confronted with the affair, but also had the courage to continue to serve.

I suspect he must have gone through some very intense struggles. I sincerely hope someone writes his biography. I would love to know more about how he managed to hang in there. Interesting, too, is the fact that he was from Massachusetts the first state, and only state to date, to allow gay marriage. I would imagine there might be some connection there in that Studds being re-elected so many times after coming out must have reflected something, though I'm not exactly sure what. kara