Former New York Mayor Ed Koch just passed away and the LGBT media jumped at the chance to vilify him before he was even memorialized by his family. The LGBT community needs to take a look at how it treats those that they dislike and what effect that has on the progress of the movement.
Koch was reputedly a closeted gay man. That supposition, coupled with his abysmal record during the AIDS crisis, made him a pariah in the LGBT community. Larry Kramer, AIDS activist and playwright, wrote “Ding dong the witch is dead,” to gaycitynews.com.
While Koch did some good things for the LGBT community in his early career, in fact he was one of the earliest nationally known LGBT rights supporters; they were all overwhelmed by his tepid response to the AIDS crisis and his perceived closeted behavior.
There are those in our community who feel that Koch betrayed us; I get that. But couldn’t we wait until he was effectively memorialized before the knives came out? Couldn’t we give his family a little time to grieve?
Koch detractors respond that his behavior “killed” many LGBT people due to his lack of leadership during the beginning of HIV and AIDS. They are right. Do we now need to act just like him by killing him in the media? The answer may be yes, but can’t we wait until he is in the ground or cremated?
Contrast Koch with Ken Mehlman, former Republican National Committee chair during the George W. Bush years. Mehlman is renowned for helping put more than 20 anti-same-sex marriage initiatives on state ballots, most in 2004. The perfect wedge issue to get his boss re-elected.
All the while, Mehlman was a closeted gay man. A gay man setting our marriage rights back at least a decade. Well Mehlman came out in 2010 and asked for forgiveness. To my shock many were ready to accept him with open arms.
To his credit, Mehlman has done great work and fundraising for LGBT organizations in New York and beyond, but I just can’t get over the damage he caused. Plus Mehlman continues to support Republican candidates that are against LGBT rights. Has the leopard changed his spots or is Mehlman just trying to camouflage himself?
Mehlman is a modern day Strom Thurmond, the senator who railed against African American rights yet he fathered a child with an African American woman.
I can’t begrudge the good work Mehlman is doing today, but it is not that different from Koch doing great work on our behalf before the AIDS crisis. They both created obstacles for the LGBT community. Some argue that Koch was worse because he never came out or apologized for his actions.
The LGBT community does not need to create a misery index to judge those that have hurt our community; we just need to hold those who do accountable. Koch has now passed away and cannot respond or be held accountable; his family is the only one that will suffer because of our assessment of his behavior. Mehlman is the toast of LGBT New York. Does anyone find that strange?
STAMPP CORBIN
Publisher
San Diego LGBT Weekly
