2004 - San Diego LGBTQ Wall of Honor Inductee
Mr. Robert Walsh spent his life fighting for LGBT rights and fighting to improve the lives of those in LGBT communities across the nation. Born in Concordia, Kansas, Mr. Walsh was a talented singer in his youth, and performed nationally with a show called "Up With People." He met his first partner when he was 18, while serving as the director of "Kansas State Sing Out."
As a Sociology major at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Walsh found support, role models and inspiration while studying the history of gay people as a minority group. He began attending the Metropolitan Community Church at this time, and remained a member throughout his life.
In 1980, Mr. Walsh and his partner bought a ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana, eventually meeting a few other LGBT couples. Recognizing their lack of support and need for community, Mr. Walsh started an informal chapter of the MCC in Lafayette, which is now a permanent establishment in Lafayette and a strong leadership organization in the local LGBT community. He also started a newsletter at the time to get information out to the small congregation, which quickly turned into Lafayette's first gay newspaper. Mr. Walsh named the paper TLC and was its editor, reporter, proofreader, typesetter and secretary. He hand-distributed each issue to 68 bars and 18 organizations all over the state.
TLC survived clashes with the Ku Klux Klan and the mafia, and made Mr. Walsh an area spokesperson for LGBT and civil rights political issues. He worked against several pieces of legislation, including Louisiana State Bill 1084, which, similar to California's Briggs Initiative, sought to discriminate against LGBT teachers, and joined Louisiana's chapters of NOW to fight against the Family Protection Act of 1980. His group founded the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus, and held the first Stonewall Pride celebration in 1982.
Mr. Walsh moved to San Francisco in 1983, needing a change from the hectic job of running TLC. While there, he wrote for the California Voice and founded the California Eagles — the Bay Area's largest motorcycle club and the first club to admit women.
Diagnosed with AIDS in February 1988, Mr. Walsh relocated to San Diego and worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hillcrest. Later that year, he sued a local chiropractor who refused to treat him based on his sexual orientation and AIDS status. Though at the time it was not illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in California, Mr. Walsh filed suit based on California disability laws, which include people living with AIDS, and won.
He also started an LGBT self-defense group in 1988 called the Lavender Angels that encouraged members of the community to speak out about LGBT hate crimes. The group stressed nonviolence, distributing whistles for people to use to call for help when threatened or attacked. Mr. Walsh, who estimated there was one LGBT attacked every day in San Diego, dressed up as a clown to draw attention to himself and went into local LGBT bars to educate people about hate crimes.
Mr. Walsh died of AIDS complications in the early 1990s, having hung up his clown suit after an official organization protecting LGBT citizens against violence was finally started. He left behind a legacy of LGBT establishments, including the Lafayette Metropolitan Community Church, TLC, the California Eagles and the Lavender Angels.
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Mr. Robert Walsh spent his life fighting for LGBT rights and fighting to improve the lives of those in LGBT communities across the nation. Born in Concordia, Kansas, Mr. Walsh was a talented singer in his youth, and performed nationally with a show called "Up With People." He met his first partner when he was 18, while serving as the director of "Kansas State Sing Out."
As a Sociology major at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Walsh found support, role models and inspiration while studying the history of gay people as a minority group. He began attending the Metropolitan Community Church at this time, and remained a member throughout his life.
In 1980, Mr. Walsh and his partner bought a ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana, eventually meeting a few other LGBT couples. Recognizing their lack of support and need for community, Mr. Walsh started an informal chapter of the MCC in Lafayette, which is now a permanent establishment in Lafayette and a strong leadership organization in the local LGBT community. He also started a newsletter at the time to get information out to the small congregation, which quickly turned into Lafayette's first gay newspaper. Mr. Walsh named the paper TLC and was its editor, reporter, proofreader, typesetter and secretary. He hand-distributed each issue to 68 bars and 18 organizations all over the state.
TLC survived clashes with the Ku Klux Klan and the mafia, and made Mr. Walsh an area spokesperson for LGBT and civil rights political issues. He worked against several pieces of legislation, including Louisiana State Bill 1084, which, similar to California's Briggs Initiative, sought to discriminate against LGBT teachers, and joined Louisiana's chapters of NOW to fight against the Family Protection Act of 1980. His group founded the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus, and held the first Stonewall Pride celebration in 1982.
Mr. Walsh moved to San Francisco in 1983, needing a change from the hectic job of running TLC. While there, he wrote for the California Voice and founded the California Eagles — the Bay Area's largest motorcycle club and the first club to admit women.
Diagnosed with AIDS in February 1988, Mr. Walsh relocated to San Diego and worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hillcrest. Later that year, he sued a local chiropractor who refused to treat him based on his sexual orientation and AIDS status. Though at the time it was not illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in California, Mr. Walsh filed suit based on California disability laws, which include people living with AIDS, and won.
He also started an LGBT self-defense group in 1988 called the Lavender Angels that encouraged members of the community to speak out about LGBT hate crimes. The group stressed nonviolence, distributing whistles for people to use to call for help when threatened or attacked. Mr. Walsh, who estimated there was one LGBT attacked every day in San Diego, dressed up as a clown to draw attention to himself and went into local LGBT bars to educate people about hate crimes.
Mr. Walsh died of AIDS complications in the early 1990s, having hung up his clown suit after an official organization protecting LGBT citizens against violence was finally started. He left behind a legacy of LGBT establishments, including the Lafayette Metropolitan Community Church, TLC, the California Eagles and the Lavender Angels.
===============================================
2004 - San Diego LGBTQ Wall of Honor Inductee
Mr. Robert Walsh spent his life fighting for LGBT rights and fighting to improve the lives of those in LGBT communities across the nation. Born in Concordia, Kansas, Mr. Walsh was a talented singer in his youth, and performed nationally with a show called "Up With People." He met his first partner when he was 18, while serving as the director of "Kansas State Sing Out."
As a Sociology major at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Walsh found support, role models and inspiration while studying the history of gay people as a minority group. He began attending the Metropolitan Community Church at this time, and remained a member throughout his life.
In 1980, Mr. Walsh and his partner bought a ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana, eventually meeting a few other LGBT couples. Recognizing their lack of support and need for community, Mr. Walsh started an informal chapter of the MCC in Lafayette, which is now a permanent establishment in Lafayette and a strong leadership organization in the local LGBT community. He also started a newsletter at the time to get information out to the small congregation, which quickly turned into Lafayette's first gay newspaper. Mr. Walsh named the paper TLC and was its editor, reporter, proofreader, typesetter and secretary. He hand-distributed each issue to 68 bars and 18 organizations all over the state.
TLC survived clashes with the Ku Klux Klan and the mafia, and made Mr. Walsh an area spokesperson for LGBT and civil rights political issues. He worked against several pieces of legislation, including Louisiana State Bill 1084, which, similar to California's Briggs Initiative, sought to discriminate against LGBT teachers, and joined Louisiana's chapters of NOW to fight against the Family Protection Act of 1980. His group founded the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus, and held the first Stonewall Pride celebration in 1982.
Mr. Walsh moved to San Francisco in 1983, needing a change from the hectic job of running TLC. While there, he wrote for the California Voice and founded the California Eagles — the Bay Area's largest motorcycle club and the first club to admit women.
Diagnosed with AIDS in February 1988, Mr. Walsh relocated to San Diego and worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hillcrest. Later that year, he sued a local chiropractor who refused to treat him based on his sexual orientation and AIDS status. Though at the time it was not illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in California, Mr. Walsh filed suit based on California disability laws, which include people living with AIDS, and won.
He also started an LGBT self-defense group in 1988 called the Lavender Angels that encouraged members of the community to speak out about LGBT hate crimes. The group stressed nonviolence, distributing whistles for people to use to call for help when threatened or attacked. Mr. Walsh, who estimated there was one LGBT attacked every day in San Diego, dressed up as a clown to draw attention to himself and went into local LGBT bars to educate people about hate crimes.
Mr. Walsh died of AIDS complications in the early 1990s, having hung up his clown suit after an official organization protecting LGBT citizens against violence was finally started. He left behind a legacy of LGBT establishments, including the Lafayette Metropolitan Community Church, TLC, the California Eagles and the Lavender Angels.
===============================================
Mr. Robert Walsh spent his life fighting for LGBT rights and fighting to improve the lives of those in LGBT communities across the nation. Born in Concordia, Kansas, Mr. Walsh was a talented singer in his youth, and performed nationally with a show called "Up With People." He met his first partner when he was 18, while serving as the director of "Kansas State Sing Out."
As a Sociology major at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Walsh found support, role models and inspiration while studying the history of gay people as a minority group. He began attending the Metropolitan Community Church at this time, and remained a member throughout his life.
In 1980, Mr. Walsh and his partner bought a ranch in Lafayette, Louisiana, eventually meeting a few other LGBT couples. Recognizing their lack of support and need for community, Mr. Walsh started an informal chapter of the MCC in Lafayette, which is now a permanent establishment in Lafayette and a strong leadership organization in the local LGBT community. He also started a newsletter at the time to get information out to the small congregation, which quickly turned into Lafayette's first gay newspaper. Mr. Walsh named the paper TLC and was its editor, reporter, proofreader, typesetter and secretary. He hand-distributed each issue to 68 bars and 18 organizations all over the state.
TLC survived clashes with the Ku Klux Klan and the mafia, and made Mr. Walsh an area spokesperson for LGBT and civil rights political issues. He worked against several pieces of legislation, including Louisiana State Bill 1084, which, similar to California's Briggs Initiative, sought to discriminate against LGBT teachers, and joined Louisiana's chapters of NOW to fight against the Family Protection Act of 1980. His group founded the Louisiana Gay Political Action Caucus, and held the first Stonewall Pride celebration in 1982.
Mr. Walsh moved to San Francisco in 1983, needing a change from the hectic job of running TLC. While there, he wrote for the California Voice and founded the California Eagles — the Bay Area's largest motorcycle club and the first club to admit women.
Diagnosed with AIDS in February 1988, Mr. Walsh relocated to San Diego and worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hillcrest. Later that year, he sued a local chiropractor who refused to treat him based on his sexual orientation and AIDS status. Though at the time it was not illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in California, Mr. Walsh filed suit based on California disability laws, which include people living with AIDS, and won.
He also started an LGBT self-defense group in 1988 called the Lavender Angels that encouraged members of the community to speak out about LGBT hate crimes. The group stressed nonviolence, distributing whistles for people to use to call for help when threatened or attacked. Mr. Walsh, who estimated there was one LGBT attacked every day in San Diego, dressed up as a clown to draw attention to himself and went into local LGBT bars to educate people about hate crimes.
Mr. Walsh died of AIDS complications in the early 1990s, having hung up his clown suit after an official organization protecting LGBT citizens against violence was finally started. He left behind a legacy of LGBT establishments, including the Lafayette Metropolitan Community Church, TLC, the California Eagles and the Lavender Angels.
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