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Gay Movement Loses Leader
(New York) Dr. Howard J. Brown, founder of the National Gay Task Force, died February I of a heart ailment at his home in Greenwich Village. In October 1973, Dr.
Brown made the front page of the New York Times when he announced that he was
a homosexual. The former Health Service Administrator in Mayor John Lindsey's administration made the announcement in an attempt to end the prejudices that homosexuals face in obtaining jobs. In the same month he helped found and became board
chairman of the National Gay Task Force, a civil rights clearing house for gay groups
and individuals.
When Dr. Brown announced that he was
a homosexual, he expressed the hope that
others in high positions would follow his
example.
Dr. Brown's background and reputation
lent a legitimacy to the new National Gay
Task Force that it otherwise would have
had to develop on its own. The Task
Force has since gone on to attract most
of the well-known names in the movement to its support.
Born in Peoria, Illinois, on April 15,
1924, Dr. Brown served as an enlisted
man during World War II and received his
M.D. from Western Reserve Medical
School in 1954. He came to New York
that year to serve as director of professional services for the Health Insurance
Plan. Seven years later he took over the
ambulatory care unit at Grouverneur.
In 1966 he was chosen by Mayor John
Lindsay to serve as New York's first
REPEAL EFFORT IS LAUNCHED
(Dallas) At its winter meeting in Dallas,
the Texas Gay Task Force launched its
drive to have Section 21.06 of the Texas
Penal Code repealed by the Legislature.
Acting in the belief that the repeal of
21.06 is the most important concern for
gay people in Texas, the Coordinating
Council of TGTF established its Legal
Committee whose current sole purpose is
to organize a statewide campaign against
21.06.
Section 21.06 ofthe Penal Code reads:
§21.06. Homosexual Conduct
(a) A person commits an offense if
he engages in deviate sexual intercourse
with another individual ofthe same
sex.
(b) An offense under this section is a
Class C misdemeanor.
This law makes private consensual sex
between gays illegal. It is the basis of
Health Services Administrator. He envisioned a complete reordering of public
health care, putting the patients' interests
first.
Ill health was a factor in Brown's resignation from the City Health Service. In
1968 he became director of community
medicine at Fordham Hospital and later
taught full-time at New York University's
School of Public Administration and
School of Medicine. He held professorships at both schools at the time of his
death.
Mrs. John Sibley, his sister and only surviving relative, has requested that any
memorials be in the form of contributions
to the newly created Fund for Human
Dignity/Howard Brown Memorial Fund.
Robert L. Livingston, chairman ofthe
fund, asks that donations be mailed to
Room 506, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York,
New York 10011. The fund will be used
to carry on the work which Dr. Brown in
his lifetime began.
much of the harassment and legal discrimination against gay people. Private consensual sex acts between adults of the opposite sex is legal.
Randy Beitel of Dallas and Neil Parker
of Austin were appointed co-chairpersons
ofthe Legal Committee. More information may be obtained by writing the Texas
Gay Task Force, P.O. Box 7318, Fort
Worth, TX 76111, or by calling (817)
838-2095.
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2 / COMMUNITY NEWS / FEBRUAR Y 75
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