August 28, 2009

LGBTs remember Ted

Robert Nesti READ TIME: 12 MIN.

Notes from leading community members (locally and nationally) recall the late Senator as a lion-hearted advocate for LGBT issues.

  • "If there ever is a gay Mount Rushmore, Ted Kennedy needs to be chiseled in that stone. He was our champion, our defender, our protector from the moment he went to Washington. But if our bond ran deeper, it was also because of his own flaws and tragic losses. Many of us have also lost loved ones, we've misstepped along the way, we've had regrets because we weren't always honest about who we were.

    "Yet, there was Teddy rising to the floor, bringing us to our feet, reminding us of what we could do and accomplish. That's why his loss is so deep and so wide. He made everything possible, within reach and he embraced all of life. And that was a big part of the connection many of us felt." - Mary Breslauer, longtime Democratic activist and principal, Communication Solutions

  • "For those of us who strive toward a more just and equitable society, the death of Senator Edward Kennedy is devastating, as we begin to accept that the roar of our powerful lion has been silenced-at least as we've known it. My love and affection for the Kennedy's is as old as I am and stems from my southern and black roots.

    "I have vivid memories of handheld 'church & funeral home fans' and 'dime-store-framed-photos' which, on the front, contained images of three men: JFK, RFK, and MLK. The images on those fans, used in every black church across the south and the photos, hung in homes of poor and middle-class black families alike, represented three heroes who died believing in, and fighting for, our very humanity. In the face of such terrible grief over the loss of those men, the rise of Senator Kennedy became our hope!

    "As a Massachusetts resident I had the chance to interact with the Senator a few times. We mostly laughed when we recalled the political passion and Irish wit of our deceased mutual friend, Patrick Francis Murphy, a gay man who grew up with Massachusetts's politics and who cherished his relationship with 'Teddy and Vicky.' When Patrick became ill with HIV, Teddy and Vicky loved and cared for him like a member of their family. That was when I came to realize that these people were not just larger-than-life fantasy figures from childhood, they were genuine.

    "Thank you to the Irish Catholic community, the people of the Commonwealth, and the Kennedy family for sharing Teddy with all of us: black southerners, LBGT folks across the country, people living with HIV, families living without proper healthcare, and all those who experience social injustices. Your guy made this a better society for us all!" - Douglas M. Brooks, M.S.W., vice president of health services, Justice Resource Institute

    A civil rights champion

  • "Kennedy was a champion of civil rights, an absolutely invaluable resource for the GLBT community. His political clout and his personality helped us win many battles in the Senate. Sometimes they were battles to advance the interests of the GLBT community-things like filing ENDA or working on hate crimes legislation or AIDS issues-often, his advocacy was critical in stopping or trying to stop anti-gay measures from passing. For example, fighting against DOMA from the 90's when it first passed; fighting against discrimination in the military; at a lesser-known level, perhaps, fighting against the myriad anti-gay measures that were sponsored over the last twenty years by right-wingers like Jesse Helms.

    "[Kennedy's] influence was enormous. And the GLBT community mourns today. We mourn the loss of an important friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." - Arlene Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus

    Tremendous leadership

  • "I know many people will (justifiably) write about the tremendous leadership that Senator Kennedy showed over the years for LGBT rights and so many other valuable causes. I will remember and honor that legacy too.

    "From a personal perspective, however, what I will remember most about Ted Kennedy is his legacy of reaching out to individuals in their time of need in quiet ways and without publicity or fanfare. Occasionally we heard about these gestures to his colleagues or constituents, but mostly they were done out of the glare of the public eye. I know this because I was the recipient of one of these kind gestures.

    "In the summer of 1991, I was living in New York City and working as an Assistant District Attorney when I was seriously injured in a robbery attempt. As I recovered in the Intensive Care Unit, a note arrived from the Senator. I had not met the man, I had no political connections to the family, and I was no longer even a registered voter in Massachusetts. But Ted Kennedy had heard through his nephew, John, that a colleague had been badly hurt in a shooting and he took the time to make a personal connection and to send his thoughts and prayers.

    "It was a short, simple note -- with some handwritten personal thoughts at the bottom -- but it spoke volumes to me and my family about how deeply he cared when people were hurting." - David J. Breen, clinical associate professor, Boston University School of Law

  • "My earliest contact with the senator actually came in the early 90's as Washington was putting together the Ryan White CARE Act, and that was one of the seminal moments they talk about now that people are reflecting, because he was a co-sponsor of this unbelievable bill that established public health program that would respond to the very forceful emerging HIV epidemic.

    "That was 1990. [Kennedy was] someone who was already engaging issues that Fenway as a community health center was dealing with. And that beginning expanded over these many years into his very, very open and articulate sense of social justice about fairness and equality for all people, which is representative of what community health centers are about. He has been able to articulate his sense of social justice, economic justice, human rights, in such an inclusive way that has captured the heart and the soul of certainly our staff, our board, and the communities we serve.

    "In recent years, in things that have touched us here again, he was an ardent, ardent spokeperson against hate crimes. He's been an ardent spokesperson for equality in employment and inclusion of the transgender community. I think it's a loss that I would actually say is profound. He's the kind of leader that emerged over time and experience and continuing commitment that is frankly, in our experience, rare in history.

    "[Kennedy] took so many of these issues into the broader public arena and was able to articulate the need for equality in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity, and would speak to those issues far beyond an audience that was composed, perhaps, of gay and lesbian and transgender persons. He'd speak about it if he was at a conference with a business group! He knew how to articulate issues in a way people could hear. That kind of depth is not replaceable. His dedication to community heath centers, his dedication to equality, his dedication to public health; all three things that are really profound in the community health center movement. I think it's a tremendous loss to us and we will clearly be working to carry his legacy forward. We will take very seriously that his leadership has left us with a legacy and I hope brings our energy together to be successful in this moment in time." - Henia Handler, director of government affairs, Fenway Health

    Advocate for gay marriage

  • "I only met the Senator once, but as he did with so many others, he made an impression. At that time GLAD had won marriage equality in Massachusetts, but the Massachusetts Legislature had not yet voted to repeal the state's '1913' law-the law prohibiting out-of-state couples from marrying in Massachusetts if they legally could not marry in their home states. I introduced myself as GLAD's Executive Director. Without missing a beat the Senator said, 'We have got to get rid of that 1913 law.'

    "What struck me about this conversation was that he needed no prompting. The Senator knew about the 1913 law and GLAD's work to overturn it because he genuinely cared about our community. His position on marriage equality was driven not by politics but by his sense of what was right. When GLAD advocated for marriage over civil unions, Senator Kennedy understood that true equality means marriage for all.

    "The Senator's vote against DOMA was only one of many markers of his strong support for the full equality of our community. We will miss him as a friend, and ally, and as an inspiration." - Lee Swislow, executive director, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

  • "The remarkable thing about Senator Kennedy's support of LGBT equality was how early in the history of our movement it was extended. He came on board for LGBT civil rights in the 70's, when it took a visionary of rare courage in federal office to see the justice of our cause.

    "He stood tall on every issue affecting LGBT people that came before the Congress of the United States, starting with his early co-sponsorship of non-discrimination legislation. He set a standard of commitment to civil rights to which few political figures dared aspire, and even fewer ever approached." - Attorney Don Gorton, former co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Hate Crime

  • "The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition mourns the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy, who dedicated his life to representing the interests of those less fortunate than himself. The transgender community, which gained his respect and support, has lost a newfound champion. We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife Vickie and the Kennedy family. The citizens of Massachusetts have lost a great legislator, friend, and advocate today.

    "I will not forget his words at the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he spoke out in favor of equality for all "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans." He named the whole LGBT community from the stage, not just one part. - Gunner Scott, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

  • "Sen. Kennedy, a leader who knew so much, was always open to learning more and adjusting his lens when new information made it possible.

    "I volunteered for his elections and efforts even before trans people made it to the top of his awareness list because I believed correctly that if we made our barriers known to him, we would become part of those he passionately protected.

    "While he led in everything from civil, immigration, disability, healthcare including HIV, education to gay and lesbian rights, he also learned about and later embraced transgender inclusion as part of the equation for equality.

    "Several years ago at a fund-raiser at the Westin Copley Hotel in Boston, he welcomed the opportunity to meet with a group of transgender leaders from Massachusetts as part of the VIP reception preceding it. Mary Breslauer and HRC facilitated permitting me to invite other transgender people to meet Ted and Vicki privately before remarks began. Grace, Holly, Gunner, Denise, Joanie, and others dressed to the nines and scored a perfect 10 with Ted.

    "He and Vicki both asked questions, listened with intent and interest and said that they gained a new depth of understanding from the exchange. I was heartened by the prospect, but I could never have imagined his next step.

    "After meeting with us, Sen. Kennedy summoned an aide, asked for a writing instrument and passionately revised his remarks as the moment for his speech approached. When he spoke, the booming baritone vowed that he would fight to include gender identity and transgender people in all civil rights legislation moving forward.

    "It's fitting that the last bill he co-sponsored and introduced in the Senate in July, or at least among the last if not the last, was the fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, complementing and mirroring the inclusive ENDA that my boss Congressman Barney Frank introduced in the House this past Spring.

    "I vow to honor Sen. Kennedy's legacy of asking Americans to fulfill our promise of equality. It's the least we all can do." - Diego Miguel Sanchez, director of Public Relations & External Affairs, AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc.; co-chair of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition; founding Board member of Somos Latino/as LGBT Coalition

    An immeasurable loss

  • "The nation has lost its greatest champion and strongest voice for justice, fairness, and compassion. "The loss to our community is immeasurable. There was no greater hero for advocates of LGBT equality than Senator Ted Kennedy. From the early days of the AIDS epidemic, to our current struggle for marriage equality he has been our protector, our leader, our friend.

    "He has been the core of the unfinished quest for civil rights in this country and there is now a very painful void. Our hearts go out to the Kennedy family." - Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign

  • "Ted Kennedy was an ally to all Americans, but particularly to those forsaken by their peers for any reason. He fought to bring equal opportunity to the poor, and to bring equality under the law to women and racial minorities. And he was an uncompromising champion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

    "It is the last of those that makes him a hero to the LGBT community, but it is all of them together that make him one of the most heroic Senators in our memories.

    "And to all of us who have lost an icon and a champion and a hero today, and fear the consequences of his passing, Kennedy's words from the 1980 Democratic Convention are a comfort:

    "'For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.'" - Shane Larson, Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of National Stonewall Democrats, on behalf of the organization

  • "The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force mourns the loss of Senator Edward Kennedy, a true champion of the people and a dear friend to our community. The senator was a hero to many across the country and around the world. He spent his life fighting for justice for working people, people of color, children, women, LGBT people, immigrants, people with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS and so many others who looked to his leadership for a more just society.

    "Senator Kennedy was unmatched in his compassion and in his willingness to stand with those who often lacked a champion. Even after his death, his vision will inspire generations to work for the health, welfare and equality for all he so doggedly pursued. We offer our deepest and most sincere condolences to his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this difficult time." - Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

  • "Good men serve others, but great men take care to serve the least fortunate. Senator Kennedy was a great man. He made a career of fighting for the poor, for women, for racial minorities, and for basic human rights for LGBT Americans.

    "Senator Kennedy's life was marked by generosity and a legendary tenacity that earned him the respect of his colleagues and the affection of the public he served. But he will always occupy a special place in the hearts of LGBT Americans, who saw in him a fierce champion for their full equality.

    "We mourn the loss of our friend and patron, and we urge good men and women who possess the passion and commitment of people like Senator Kennedy to follow him into public service and emulate his intense dedication to that profession." - Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe

  • "Senator Kennedy was not only a champion for the poor and underserved but was a tireless advocate for those without a voice. His tenacity in fighting for all civil rights was legendary. He will be sorely missed not only here in Boston but also worldwide." - Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino

    by Robert Nesti , EDGE National Arts & Entertainment Editor

    Robert Nesti can be reached at [email protected].

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