Ed Gallagher was so distraught about his sexuality that he attempted suicide. He transformed himself into a gay-rights activist.
Win against Proposition 8 is ‘victory on every battlefront.’
Cyclers raise record $400,000 for LGBT Center’s HIV/AIDS services.
But club still backs 2 lawmakers who voted against marriage equality.
New Yorkers are prominent in 31 Icons for GLBT History Month. Sign up to watch their bios (free) online.
For the fifth year, advocates marched across Brooklyn Bridge for Marriage Equality. Yet this event was different.
Majority Leader Dean Skelos attended Log Cabin’s fall fundraiser, where he backed the first openly gay Senate hopeful, John Chromczak.
advertisement
advertisement
|
Friday, May 13, 2005
Ed Gallagher, who turned suicide attempt to activism, dies
Outsports.com reported that activist Ed Gallagher died on May 4 at his home
in New Rochelle of
a heart condition. Gallagher, who was the author of three books, was a starting
tackle at the
University of Pittsburgh. He was so ashamed of being gay that, at age 27, he
tried to kill himself
by rolling off the edge of the Kensico Dam in Westchester County. His attempt
was unsuccessful, but he did sustain a spinal cord injury and was
confined to a wheelchair. He went on to create a nonprofit
organization and Web site called “Alive to
Thrive,” which was dedicated to “promoting suicide
prevention, emotional and sexual health, creativity
and potential, and the free expression and rights of
all individuals.” In 1994, Gallagher wrote “Johnny in
the Spot,” a novel that looks at the experiences of a
gay man named Johnny Spokain who also suffers a
spinal injury. His other works are “Will I Live
Another Day Before I Die: Thoughts on Suicide and
Life” and “Roller Coaster Release: A Collection of
Organized Chaos.” “Mr. Ed’s Corral” was the name
of a cable television talk show hosted by Gallagher,
which began in 1986; it covered a number of disability
related topics. “The show was an extension of Ed
and committed to the issues he took to heart,”wrote
Cyd Zeigler on Outsports.com. “While he was the
shortest guy in the room, sitting in his wheelchair,
from the moment I met him, he was always the
biggest person in the room.”
Philip A. Campanella, an actor and musical director died on May 5 in New York
City. He was 56. According to a press release from Andrew Decker Communications,
Campanella was the executive director of the New York Vocal Academy at the Singer’s
Forum and was the musical director of the Roundabout Theater Company in the
1970s and 1980s. Born in Jersey City, Campanella earned degrees in music and
theater from St. Peters College. In 1970, he started working for the Roundabout
Theater and was its musical director and composer-in-residence. In 1978, the
Roundabout’s production of Harold’s Rome’s “Pins and
Needles” ran for 225 performances and was later produced as a CBSTV special.
Campanella became the musical director of Harold Pinter’s “Old Times,”
which featured Jane Alexander, Anthony Hopkins, and Marsha Mason. In 1989, he
worked on the production of “Privates on Parade,” by Peter Nichols,
and worked with Jim Dale, Simon Jones and John Curry. Campanella also wrote
the lyrics and score for the acclaimed “James Joyce’s The Dubliners,”
and composed original music for productions of “Hamlet,” “The
Master Builder,” “All My Sons” and “Misalliance.”
While at the Roundabout, Campanella worked with Geraldine Fitzgerald’s
onewoman show “Streetsongs,” which ran from 1980 to 1981. When Maxene
Andrews, of the Andrews Sister, began a solo career in 1979, Campanella worked
with her. He served as her musical director in 1994 when she performed to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of D-Day. A memorial service was held on May 11 at Our
Lady of Mercy Church in Jersey City. Contributions can be made to the Singers
Forum.
On May 11 the New York City Council passed Introduction 543, the HASA Tracking
Act and Introduction 535, the HASA Housing Application Act. According to the
New York City AIDS Housing Network, the two bills are part of a package that
will require the City to move homeless people living with AIDS into permanent,
medically appropriate housing. The bills also require the City Council to be
given regular reports on how well the housing program is going. Mayor Michael
Bloomberg is expected to sign the bills into law. “Finally, the city has
created a process for moving homeless people living with AIDS, struggling to
survive the horrible conditions in the emergency housing system into the permanent
housing that our tax dollars are used to build,” said Amos Hough, a former
resident of one of the single room occupancy hotels that the city uses for emergency
housing and a board member of NYCAHN.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Fifty-five percent of New Jersey voters favor
allowing same-sex couples to marry and oppose any attempts by lawmakers to constitutionally
ban gay marriage, according to a poll commissioned by a gay rights group and
released last week. Forty percent of those surveyed were opposed to gay marriage.
The Garden State Equality-Zogby International poll also suggests a comeback
is possible for former Gov. James E. McGreevey, whose political career was dashed
by his announcement last year that he is gay and had engaged in an extramarital
affair. Forty-nine percent of the respondents said they would consider voting
for McGreevey if he ran for office again; 6 percent said his sexual orientation
is a reason they would never vote for him. An additional 43 percent said he
has forever lost their vote but that his being gay didn’t contribute to
their decision. The Garden State Equality-Zogby telephone poll of 804 voters
was conducted April 12-14 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.5
percentage points.
From staff and wire reports
|
