Remembering Jack Nichols

WASHINGTON (U.S. Newswire) -- Executive director of Equality Forum Malcolm Lazin came with the following statement Wednesday in remembrance of late gay activist pioneer Jack Nichols:

Within hours after tens of thousands gathered in Philadelphia to commemorate the National Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the first annual gay and lesbian civil rights demonstration, Gay Pioneer Jack Nichols, who helped organize that demonstration, passed away.

Jack Nichols, a seminal figure in the history of the GLBT rights movement, was a special leader with a brilliant mind. His journey to activism led him across our country's highways and into the annals American civil rights history.

Jack's story is eminently American. He was the child of Scottish immigrants. His conservative father was an FBI agent. In his early teens, Jack read broadly in philosophy, poetry and religion. As a young man, he co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., one of the first "homophile" organizations.

In 1963, Jack participated in the African-American civil rights demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial, heard Dr. King's words, and dreamed of the day when gays would have a similar demonstration. Two years later, in April 1965, he organized the first gay and lesbian demonstration at a federal building. Ten people participated.

On July 4, 1965, Jack joined Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, Lilli Vincenz, and 36 other activists from New York, Washington, and Philadelphia in organizing and participating in the first Annual Reminder at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. These Annual Reminders continued in all three cities until the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

In the 1970s, Jack helped lead the successful campaign to have the American Psychiatric Association declassify homosexuality as a mental illness. As an early activist, he lost his job when he appeared on the first television documentary about homosexuals. For years, Jack was one of the most visible gay men in American public life.

Throughout his life, Jack Nichols published extensively on gay liberation. He wrote four books, starting with 1972's I Have More Fun with You Than Anybody, and wrote continuously, including recent journalism for several gay online news web sites.

Jack died from complications of cancer, which he had fought for 20 years. His death was taken in stride by his comrades. Gay Pioneer Lilli Vincenz wrote, "I can feel his presence, his humor, and his love... He always chose love over fear, had a wonderful sense of humor, was enormously creative, spoke fearlessly for truth, and did great justice to his role model Walt Whitman in pursuing joy and celebrating life!"

Jack Nichols spent his life voicing a message of liberation - from society's strictures, and from internalized stereotypes. He lived for what he called "immortal moments in our experiences, moments spent in a seeming eternity; in which we passionately connect with the immediate present."

Equality Forum co-produced the documentary Gay Pioneers about the seminal efforts of Jack and the other brave leaders who stepped forward to protest discrimination against gays and lesbians during an oppressively homophobic time.

On Sunday, May 1, 2005, the day before Jack's death, Equality Forum held the National Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Movement to commemorate the first annual and organized protest for gay equality. The National Celebration was about teaching our history -- about the struggles and strength of leaders like Jack Nichols.

Throughout his life, Jack was an honorable, able and committed role model. He helped crack the cocoon of invisibility and enabled gays and lesbians to step out of a debilitating closet.

Jack wrote, "Love, Freedom, Passion, Humor, Drama... If any such qualities are to reincarnate, I'd say, then they must be lived openly and be thereby noticed and passed to some future generation."

We cherish Jack's memory. By living his values, Jack left an invaluable legacy. In the 1960s, he helped us take the first steps; and in his remaining years he continued working toward a world where not one more life is diminished by homophobia, and a nation where gays and lesbians can fully participate in the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Malcolm Lazin
Executive Director
Equality Forum