Robert Andrew "Bob" Kohler (17 May 1926 – 5 December 2007) was a

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

pioneer. Born and raised in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

, Kohler was a lifelong activist in New York City. He was at the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

, and was a friend to many of the activists in groups like the

Gay Liberation Front Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK and Canada. The GLF provided a ...

and

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was a gay, gender non-conforming and transvestite street activist organization founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, subculturally-famous New York City drag queens of color.Fein ...

Life

Kohler served in the

U. S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

in the South Pacific Theater during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was the manager of the New York gay bathhouse, Club Baths, and was among the first agents to represent previously unknown Black artists. He owned and ran the popular gay store ''The Loft'' on

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...

.Lee, Trymaine
''On West Village Streets, Tears for a Gay Activist ''
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (December 10, 2007). Retrieved July 27, 2011.

Activism

Though Kohler is best known for his role at the

and his early involvement with the

, he was active with many movements and groups, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

Act Up AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...

, Sex Panic, the Neutral Zone, the New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Irish Queers,

Fed Up Queers Fed Up Queers, or FUQ, was a queer activist direct action group that began in New York City. The group was made up mostly of lesbians such as Jennifer Flynn (who later co-founded the New York City AIDS Housing Network as well as Health GAP), tho ...

, animal rights groups, and FIERCE!

Death

Kohler died of lung cancer on December 5, 2007, at the age of 81, in the Charles Street (

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, 14th Street (Manhattan ...

) apartment that he had lived in for 45 years.Schindler, Pau
''Bob Kohler Dead at 81''
Gay City News (December 6, 2007). Retrieved July 27, 2011.

Notes

References

* Carter, David (2004). ''Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution''. St. Martin's Press, New York. . * Duberman, Martin (1993). ''

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

'' New York, Dutton, New York. . * Deitcher, David (1995). '' The Question of Equality: Lesbian and Gay Politics in America Since Stonewall''. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. . * Shepard, Hayduk and Benjamin, Ronald (2002). '' From ACT UP to the WTO: Urban Protest and Community Building in the Era of Globalization''. Verso, London. . * Sycamore, Mattilda Bernstein (2008). ''That's Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation''. Soft Skull Press, Inc., New York City. .

External links

IrishQueers.orgBob's Queers: Dedicated to the life, activism, and legacy of Bob Kohler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler, Bob 1926 births 2007 deaths American LGBT businesspeople LGBT people from New York (state) American LGBT rights activists Activists from New York (state) HIV/AIDS activists Activists for African-American civil rights American anti-racism activists Deaths from lung cancer People from Greenwich Village 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people