David Mixner was a gay rights activist and author who cofounded the LGBTQ+ Victory fund and broke ways with President Bill Clinton over his “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
- Died: Match 11, 2024 (Who else died on March 11?)
- Details of death: Died in New York City of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 77.
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David Mixner’s legacy
Mixner grew up in a small, poor town in southern New Jersey, and was fighting unjust systems at an early age. While attending Woodstown High School, he was involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He was also an activist at Arizona State University before dropping out to work with Eugene McCarthy’s (1916– 2005) presidential campaign.
Mixner soon found himself involved in sweeping events. He helped organize protests as part of the 1969 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. In 1976, he formed the country’s first gay and lesbian political action committee, the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA). He also helped successfully lobby then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) to oppose Proposition 6, a measure that would have banned gay people from becoming teachers.
Mixner was part of the nuclear disarmament movement of the 1980s, got involved with AIDS activism around the same time, and worked to support President Bill Clinton, until parting ways with him over Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexual members of the U.S. military.
He was also a writer and playwright, penning several works for the stage, including “Oh Hell No!” “1969,” and “Who Fell into the Outhouse?”
Notable quote
“Values and principles are different from issues. Issues you negotiate and you get as far as you can. Values and principles are who you are as a person.”—from an interview with Jose Abrigo for the City College of New York
Tributes to David Mixner
Full obituary: The New York Times
