Dandridge Featherston Hering (July 24, 1925 – March 30, 2012) was a gay activist mainly involved in supporting the rights of LGBT people serving in the U.S. military.

Early life

Dandridge Featherston Hering was born in

Elizabeth River (Virginia) The Elizabeth River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in sout ...

, on July 24, 1925, the son of Earl Lee Hering (1888-1965) and Elizabeth Lucille Featherston (1892-1983). In 1947 Hering graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, also known as West Point. In 1949 he graduated from the Randolph-Macon College.

Career

Dan Hering served in the US Army for 20 years. In 1953 he was made Captain.

Personal life

Dan Hering and his partner, Joel Paul Leenaars (born April 28, 1935), lived in San Francisco. They were among the first members of the

Society for Individual Rights The homophile movement is a collective term for the main organisations and publications supporting and representing sexual minorities in the 1950s to 1960s around the world. The name comes from the term ''homophile'', which was commonly used by the ...

(SIR), one of the earliest gay rights group founded in 1964. They were also founding members of San Francisco's Barbary Coast Boating Club, the first known gay boat club. Hering was a member of the Service Academy Gay & Lesbian Alumni (SAGLA) and

Knights Out Knights Out is an organization of West Point alumni, staff and faculty who support the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people to serve openly in the U.S. military and who wish to educate young officers about the issues an ...

, the association grouping the gay West Point graduates. Leenaars is also one of the most important private collectors of the works of

H. C. Westermann H. C. Westermann (Horace Clifford "Cliff" Westermann) (December 11, 1922 – November 3, 1981) was an American sculptor and printmaker. His sculptures frequently incorporated traditional carpentry and marquetry techniques. From the late 1950 ...

, from the time the two of them shared an apartment in Chicago, while Westermann was a student at the Chicago Institute and Leenaars at

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Intercolle ...

. Hering and his partner retired to Florida, and Hering died on March 30, 2012, in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. He is buried at

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

, Washington, D.C. His tombstone reads: Dandridge Featherston Hering, 1925~2012 USMA 1947, Gentleman - Warrior - Equestrian, Yachtsman - Bibliophile, Together 44 Years, Joel Leenaars, 1935-, Scholar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hering, Dandridge Featherston 1925 births 2012 deaths Gay men United States Military Academy alumni People from Virginia Burials at the Congressional Cemetery