Rod McKuen, Poet and Lyricist With Vast Following, Dies at 81
"The New York Times maintains its record of erasing all mention of homosexuality from the lives of celebrated figures featured in its obituaries. Today's example: Poet, songwriter and singer Rod McKuen, who never announced that he was gay or bisexual, but who described himself as "an adult who practices several kinds of sex and will do so until he gets one right." McKuen was an active supporter of the gay rights movement from the time he joined fellow Bay Area poet Jack Spicer as a delegate to the Mattachine Society convention in Los Angeles in 1953. He went on to write a song attacking the anti-gay campaign of singer Anita Bryant in 1977 and to raise funds for AIDS charities. Not a peep about any of this in The Times, which does, however, hint at heterosexuality by quoting a McKuen poem in which the narrator is erotically involved with someone wearing a dress. A shameful performance by The New York Times obits staff, now in the running for the title of America's biggest builder of closets." - Gerard Koskovich
