Openly gay Minnesota Senator Allan Spear is dead

[Rick336]

Allan Spear was one of America's first openly gay Senators. He came out of the closet back in 1974 in an interview in the Minneapolis Star. He was one of only two openly gay legislators in the US at that time. Today there are over 300.

I volunteered and worked along side of Allan Spear during the campaign to stop the repeal St. Paul's gay rights ordinance in 1978. At a campaign rally on the steps of the capitol in St. Paul on April 19th, 1978, Allan gave a rousing speech in support of the city's gay rights ordinance that stirred the crowd of 1,500.

Barack Obama said yesterday, "I join with all Minnesotans who mourn the loss of Allan Spear."

Allan was a pioneer in the fight for gay equality in Minnesota. He died Saturday of complications from heart surgery. He was 71.

Below is a photo I took of Allan Spear on the Minnesota capitol steps in St. Paul during a gay rights rally in the spring of 1981. Also is a link to the story in today's Advocate and the story from Yahoo News.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2178/2940897088_b70d4dff50.jpg?v=0
Allan Spear in St. Paul in 1981



Advocate story: http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid63630.asp

Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081013/ap_on_re_us/obit_allan_spear


Rick

[keltic63]

Rick,

I hope you're cataloging your photos and documenting these things. I'm really impressed with what you've witnessed. Thanks for being there. Your work back then has made it easier for all of us to be who we are now.

[Daniel]

Thanks for posting this. Very sad to lose a major gay rights hero.

As Keltic has mentioned, I am glad you were there to capture the moment. And like him, I hope this material (I bet you have a lot!) makes its way into an archive. I know there is a gay rights history archive at the Public Library here in NYC. It's a major deal from what I have read.

[tdogg]

Another hero, gone but never forgotten. Thanks for letting us know about Senator Spear's passing (and works). We have so many to thank for all that we are blessed with now. There will be more in the future. Some will be people we know.

Rick, you are one of my heros. :love::)

[Rick336]

Thanks guys for your kind words.:) I do have a collection of photos, newspapers, pamphlets, buttons, fliers, and other memorabilia from the Minnesota gay rights movement from the Seventies and early Eighties. I have a huge poster announcing a protest demonstration outside Jerry Falwell's God and Country Rally at the Minneapolis Auditorium in April, 1982. I have a collection from three of the National marches and some stuff from the "No on 6" fight against the California Briggs Initiative from 1978.

I know that the Minnesota Historical Society Museum's Collections Department has around 200 LGBT related artifacts. Some of this stuff would be a good addition to that collection. I will eventually contact them and offer to donate some of it.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/2944155899_b356015cc5.jpg?v=0
This is my car bumper in 1978


Rick

[BruceChris]

She, a representative, and he a state senator, were the only two openly gay elected officials in the state, at least for many years. He will be missed.

Bruce Chris

[tdogg]

BruceChris, you also are one of my heros. :love:
Your words always manage to touch me.

[BruceChris]

You're pretty good yourself

BC