Dec 06, 2007Quickie Link: Bob Kohler, Gay Rights Pioneer, 1926-2007
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - Bob Kohler, Gay activist, former owner of the Loft on Christopher Street, Stonewall veteran, founder member of the Gay Liberation Front, ACT UP member, and longtime fixture of Charles Street, died on Wednesday at the age of 81. The cause of death was cancer, according to family friends. A Queens native who lost a kidney in World War II, Kolher was remembered as tireless fighter for Gay rights, Transsexual rights, Queer youth, and people with HIV/AIDS who never gave up the struggle even as he battled illness and advancing years. "At at an age when most people were doing nothing much more than using a remote control Bob was out of the street fighting for what he believed in and often committing civil disobedience," said Bill Dobbs, a friend. "He inspired many younger activists and helped shaped the modern Gay rights movement."
