Last week famous New York mayor Ed Koch died at age 88. The high profile, often controversial mayor is being lauded and condemned in obituaries everywhere.
Koch was a lifetime “Confirmed Bachelor” who never confirmed he was gay, although it was pretty much public knowledge. And he was not beloved by the gay community.
The three-term mayor, who served from 1978-1989, leaves behind a complicated legacy: While his unbridled enthusiasm helped New Yorkers during some of the city’s darkest days, his inaction in the face of the dawning AIDS epidemic earned him the antagonism of many in the gay community.
A WWII veteran, Koch never married and frequently dodged rumors about being gay. Playwright Larry Kramer ripped Koch and his inaction on AIDS in the award-winning The Normal Heart. “He was a closeted gay man, and he did not want in any way to be associated with this,” Kramer told New York magazine.
The AIDS documentary How To Survive A Plague — up this month for an Academy Award — and which I have not yet seen (it hasn’t come to Canada) is apparently not kind to Koch, although he recently praised the film.
So yes Koch’s legacy with the gay community is a complicated one… like a certain Oscar-winning actress who chooses wealth and privacy over activism and saving lives. So yes it was Koch’s choice to stay private, but it wasn’t the brave choice or the best choice.
Damon Rallis
02/05/2013
Although I am not a resident of New York City, I am a neighbor and frequent visitor… so, I kinda know about Mayor Ed Koch.
I think that his decision to ignore the AIDS crisis (as well as other glaring problems in the city) was his downfall… BUT he made great strides in pushing forward in the effort to clean up the city and he had a hand in making it the magical place it is today.
brahm (alfred lives here)
02/07/2013
Granted, it is a mixed legacy with a lot of good there as well…
Kath
02/06/2013
Familiarity breeds contempt and that is never more true than with a three term mayor. Think Ed Koch or present NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. While not defending Koch in his stance during the early AIDS crisis, he was by far not the only politician who wanted to stay as far away from it as possible. With the assumption that he was a closeted gay man, he knew his political career would be on tenuous ground if he was too closely associated with the gay community. Was it morally right…no. But the city and the world for that matter were terrified about AIDS, so he and many others stayed away.
In balance, he did a lot for NYC, got it out of the fiscal crisis, cleaned it up and put a happy face on the town back when people thought you would automatically be murdered if you walked through Central Park a minute after sundown.
He always asked the question’ How am I doing?” Well, if you look at the big picture, he did pretty damn good.
brahm (alfred lives here)
02/07/2013
Interesting, and yes you make some good points, and it was a mixed legacy with a lot of good there. And yes many people were too tepid in AIDS reaction — but leaders are supposed to lead, and he chose not to (as did many others).
Angie Uncovered
02/07/2013
I would find it harder to understand if I could look at today’s politicians and say that so much has changed since the dawning of the AIDS epidemic. Homosexuality is still something countless politicians feel they must hide in order to maintain their offices. Some feel the only way to address the concerns and needs of their constituents is to keep their private lives private. Fear is a powerful thing.
Sadly, while Koch was weak in the face of AIDS, the amt of gay politicians who still closet themselves or deny their sexuality when confronted with it is a sign that there is so much left to be changed.