Melvin Boozer (June 21, 1945 – March 6, 1987) was an American university professor and activist for African American, LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. He was active in both the Democratic Party and Socialist Party USA.

Biography

Boozer grew up in Washington, D.C., where he graduated as salutatorian of his class at Dunbar High School. Boozer attended Dartmouth College on a scholarship. He entered the university in 1963, one of only three African Americans admitted that year. Following his graduation, he studied for a Ph.D. at Yale University before becoming a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.Clendenin, et al.
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In 1979, Boozer was elected president of the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., in which office he served for two one-year terms. He was the first African American to serve as GAA president and became "a leading moderate voice among black gays nationally".Witt, et al.
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While president of the GAA, the organization won unanimous passage of the Sexual Assault Reform Act by the

D.C. Council The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state ...

, which decriminalized sodomy and repealed solicitation laws for consenting adults. Under pressure from the Moral Majority, a Christian right

lobbying group In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

, Congress exercised its power to overturn DC acts for only the second time to repeal this change. During his leadership, the GAA also saw established the right for the GAA to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery and won a court battle with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for the right to place Metrobus posters reading "Someone in Your Life is Gay." Boozer also wrote for '' BlackLight'', the first national black gay periodical, founded by Sidney Brinkley. Boozer was nominated in 1980 for the office of Vice President of the United States by the Socialist Party USASmith, et al.
p. 193
/ref> and, by petition at the convention, by the Democratic Party. He was the first openly gay person ever nominated for the office. Boozer spoke to the Democratic convention in a speech televised in

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, calling on the party to support equality for LGBT people: Boozer received 49 votes before the balloting was suspended and then-Vice President Walter Mondale was renominated by acclamation. In 1981, Boozer was hired by the National Gay Task Force as district director and a lobbyist. NGTF executive director Virginia Apuzzo fired him in 1983,Smith
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replacing him with then-GAA president Jeff Levi. This had the effect of "leav ngthe nation's oldest gay organization even whiter" and drew protests from other gay African Americans. In 1982, he co-founded the

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

– Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club to advocate for black LGBT people in D.C., leading the club in 1983 and 1984. Boozer died of an

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related illness in March 1987 at the age of 41 in Washington, D.C. Boozer is featured in a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. In June 2019, Boozer was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn. The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history, and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of 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 ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boozer, Mel 1945 births 1987 deaths AIDS-related deaths in Washington, D.C. African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics African-American candidates for Vice President of the United States American sociologists Dartmouth College alumni Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni African-American LGBT people American gay politicians American LGBT rights activists University of Maryland, College Park faculty Washington, D.C., Democrats Socialist Party USA politicians from Washington, D.C. Socialist Party USA vice presidential nominees Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni 20th-century African-American scientists 20th-century American academics 20th-century American LGBT people African-American sociologists