November 2014
By gabriel sayegh
I was more than a little surprised when my friends at VOCAL-NY told me they were recognizing me at their 15th anniversary gala with the 2014 Bob Kohler VOCAL for Justice Award. Initially I didn’t believe it.
Bob Kohler was a giant, a longtime gay organizer and activist, committed to antiracist struggle and queer liberation. He had been part of the Congress of Racial Equality and joined the Freedom Rides in the early 1960s. He’d been at Stonewall and went on to cofound the Gay Liberation Front in New York City. In response to the AIDS crisis, he took part in ACT-UP. When people say someone “fought tirelessly” for justice, it’s usually an exaggeration. Not so with Bob Kohler. For decades he remained an active force for radical change, earning a reputation as someone who refused to leave anyone behind.
And he mentored younger queers. VOCAL’s cofounder, Jennifer Flynn – a longtime organizer herself – once told a reporter from AM New York, that “For a group of radical queers, he was somewhat of a grandfather.”
Bob Kohler died in 2007 in the West Village. Among the many articles written about his life, The Village Voice republished a biography written by his friends, including these telling details about this remarkable man:
In 2001, when the City of New York began illegally denying emergency housing to homeless people with AIDS, Bob became the core volunteer in an activist operation to pressure the city. Bob, who was 75 at the time, stood outside the housing agency for hours each day for a year, supporting PWAs [people with AIDS] and calling on politicians and news media. His work formed the basis of a lawsuit that forced the City into compliance with housing assistance laws hard-won by AIDS activists in the 1990s.
Flynn, who counted herself among a group of younger, mostly lesbian radicals dubbed Bob’s Queers, told The New York Times, “Till the very end he struggled for us, all of us. . . . He could have lived a comfortable life somewhere. He could have ignored everyone.”
VOCAL-NY had named an award as a tribute to the incomparable Bob Kohler. I felt that receiving this award wasn’t a marker of what I’d done, but rather a kind of standard – or even a North Star to follow, someone to try to live up to. It was my honor to accept the assignment.
At the gala, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries presented the award. Years earlier, when he was a state assembly member (and represented the district where I lived), we had worked together with VOCAL-NY on the statewide campaign to end racially biased marijuana arrests. My two younger sisters traveled from rural California to New York City to attend the event. I had never received an award like this – and having them there standing with me was a blessing.
A very short video of the award presentation is available here.
To support VOCAL’s vital organizing work, make a donation here. You can learn more about Bob Kohler by reading about his 80th birthday party and about the celebration of his life.
