Marc Rubin, dead at 74

I was sad to find out that legendary gay rights activist Marc Rubin (second from right next to Vito Russo, Jim Owles and Pete Fisher) had passed away on February 28th at the age of 74.

I met Marc in 1994, as a recent arrival to New York City, when he was a volunteer coordinator for that summer's celebration of the 25 years since the Stonewall Riots that marked the birth of the United States gay right movement. It was among my first forays into gay rights advocacy and I could not have been luckier than to have Marc as a mentor during that amazing summer.

Gay City News has an obituary that shines a light on Marc's amazing life which included stints in the Gay Activist Alliance in the early 1970's and his creation of the Gay Teachers Association in 1974. He is survived by his partner of 35 years, Pete Fisher (also pictured above on the right).