#melboozer

[nmaahc]

Melvin “Mel” Boozer: National LGBTQ Rights Leader

Photo: Mel Boozer on the floor of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 13, 1980. (Washington Blade archive photo by Lisa M. Keen)

#OnThisDate in 1945, national LBGTQ rights leader Melvin ‘Mel’ Boozer was born. A D.C. native, Boozer led a brief, but brilliant career as an activist following his 1979 graduation from Yale with a Ph.D. in Sociology. In 1979, Boozer became the first African American President of the now Gay & Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington, D.C., serving two one-year terms. During his tenure, GLAA lobbied for the temporary passing of the Sexual Assault Reform Act, which eliminated D.C laws that discriminated against LGBTQ communities. This was later repealed by the U.S. Congress. In addition, Boozer led the GLAA to successfully gain the right to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. This act uplifted the service and memory of both LGBTQ and all others who lost their lives in service to the military.

“The priorities of Black gays cannot be fairly evaluated by the standards of a white agenda.”

Taking advantage of a Democratic Party rule, Boozer addressed the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York as a prospective Vice-Presidential nominee. Using this platform, Boozer gave a moving speech that linked the bigotry against LBGTQ communities to bigotry that threatened the Civil Rights movement. Before dying of an AIDS-related illness, Boozer was honored for his contributions to the LBGTQ community and whole of D.C in 1987 by former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and the D.C. Council.

“I know what it means to be called a nigger and I know what it means to be called a faggot, and I understand the difference in the marrow of my bones.  And I can sum up that difference in one word: NONE.  Bigotry is bigotry.  Discrimination is discrimination. It hurts just as much.”

Read the transcript of Boozer’s 1980 Democratic National Convention speech: bit.ly/2sN8Ve7

[lgbt-history-archive]

“Would you ask me how I’d dare to compare the civil rights struggle with the struggle for lesbian and gay rights? I can compare, and I do compare them. I know what it means to be called a nigger. I know what it means to be called a faggot. And I can sum up the difference in one word: none.” – Melvin “Mel” Boozer (June 21, 1945 – March 6, 1987), Address to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), New York City, August 1980 (pictured on the convention floor). . Mel Boozer, who died thirty years ago today, was an American academic and activist, best-known for his leadership of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) in Washington, D.C., and for addressing the 1980 DNC. . Boozer, who graduated from Dartmouth, received a Ph.D. from Yale, and served as a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, first was elected president of D.C.’s GAA in 1979; he was the first African American to serve in that role. While president, Boozer oversaw the passage of a D.C. ordinance decriminalizing sodomy; under pressure from the Christian right, however, Congress used its authority to repeal the ordinance. Boozer also helped win GAA the right to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery and to place posters reading “Someone You Love is Gay” on local buses. . In 1980, Boozer was nominated for Vice President of the United States by members of the first delegation of lesbians and gays to the DNC; he gave a stirring speech to a nearly-empty Madison Square Garden: “Bigotry is bigotry…Discrimination is discrimination…I believe that there is no power on this earth that can defeat the American people as long as we remain true to the values which have made us great.” Boozer received 49 votes before balloting was suspended and then-Vice President Walter Mondale was re-nominated. . In 1981, Boozer was hired as a district director for the National Gay Task Force; he lost the job in 1983, “leaving the nation’s oldest gay organization even whiter.” In 1982, he co-founded the Langston Hughes-Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club to advocate for Black LGBTQs in D.C. . Mel Boozer died of AIDS-related illness on March 6, 1987; he was forty-one. #HavePrideInHistory #MelBoozer (at New York, New York)

[theaidsmemorial-blog]

. . Melvin "Mel" Boozer (June 21, 1945 – March 6, 1987), you deserve far more recognition that you have ever received. I recall your memorable speech before @thedemocrats Convention in 1980 as you became the first African American and first gay man to be placed in nomination for the Vice Presidency of the US from the floor of the convention. . This photo captures the final reception or salute to Melvin before he died, as I recall it. It took place at Annie's Paramount Steak House, on 17th Street, NW, in Washington D.C. He is being presented with a City Council Resolution by City Council Member Hilda Mason. . Lawrence Washington (standing with arms folded), thank you for taking up the battle against HIV before you succumbed to it. Your leadership made a difference. . We were both activist in Washington in the late 1970s. Melvin was at my home to come to meetings of the DC Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, but he was mostly committed to other efforts, including the #LangstonHughes — #EleanorRoosevelt Democratic Club. I hosted a meeting between at my home between the Black LG community and then National LGBTQ @thetaskforce Executive Director, Virginia Appuzo after he was fired and replaced by Jeff Levy. . In April 1983, Melvin was among those present at my home, when I showed the Black gay men gathered there the @cdcgov ‘Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report’ with information indicating that Black folks were identified as 20% of AIDS cases. And we were only 12% of the United States population. Most of the men gathered there that day, like Melvin, are no longer alive due to AIDS. . Melvin was simply very articulate, really good with words, a good speaker with evident intelligence. There is far much more to be said about Melvin ... somebody should.” — by Gil Gerald @gilgerald3406 . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids #melboozer . (at Washington, District of Columbia)