A recent New York Tim article asks whether the fact that Ed Koch was gay and closeted kept him om rpondg to the AIDS crisis timely fashn.
Contents:
- NEW YORK TIM FALLY ADMS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH WAS GAY NE YEARS AFTER HIS ATH
- ED KOCH DI: WAS FORMER NYC MAYOR GAY? BS MYERSON CAMPAIGN APPEARANC, RICHARD NATHAN FUELED RUMORS OF HOMOSEXUALY
- NEW YORK TIM ADMS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH WAS GAY NE YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
- WAS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH GAY?
- ED KOCH, THE AMBIGUOLY GAY MAYOR
- A PORTRA OF ED KOCH’S SECRET GAY LIFE
NEW YORK TIM FALLY ADMS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH WAS GAY NE YEARS AFTER HIS ATH
Ed Koch’s unwillgns to speak about his personal life led to mors that the former three-term New York Cy mayor was gay. * is mayor koch gay *
Ne years after his ath, The New York Tim has fally gotten around to admtg that former New York Cy Mayor Ed Koch was gay.
ED KOCH DI: WAS FORMER NYC MAYOR GAY? BS MYERSON CAMPAIGN APPEARANC, RICHARD NATHAN FUELED RUMORS OF HOMOSEXUALY
* is mayor koch gay *
Ined, Mar Cuomo, his rival the electn, nied was behd mpaign signs that read “Vote for Cuomo, not the homo. Still, at the time, Koch was a ngrsman for the Wt Village, one of the gayt districts the natn. He surround himself wh a llectn of younger gay iends who tried to play matchmaker for him and enuraged him to e out.
One of Koch’s clost gay iends at the time of his ath was a former Tim reporter who would later out Koch a book 2019. But as open as Koch uld be, my lleagu Matt Flegenheimer and Rosa Golnsohn wrote a new profile of him, he straed to nceal one aspect of his life: He was gay.
But when they did, Leonard Bloom, who was on the board of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, told that Koch was credibly unfortable. Even though nobody the room asked, Koch felt pelled to say to his senr team, “I am not a homosexual.
NEW YORK TIM ADMS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH WAS GAY NE YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH
Ne years after his ath, The New York Tim has fally gotten around to admtg that former New York Cy Mayor Ed Koch was gay. * is mayor koch gay *
Gettg outed seemed like an existential threat to belonged to maybe the last generatn of New York policians for whom beg openly gay was polilly had a mpaign nsultant who ma homophobic remarks and mand to know if the mors were te.
WAS FORMER MAYOR ED KOCH GAY?
It would have ma a world of difference to a whole generatn of young people—young aspirg gay and lbian polil people—for there to have been a… * is mayor koch gay *
But when gay iends of his would nudge him and then enurage him to e out later life, Koch would jt say, “I don’t want to. As a gay man, I appreciated seeg what people like me went through for gay rights — mak me regnize what I ’s a real sadns to .
Yet, there was one area volvg his personal life that Koch never discsed: his ’s unwillgns to speak about this aspect of his personal life led to mors that the three-term mayor was gay. Koch never then-ngrsman Koch ran agast New York Secretary of State Mar Cuomo for mayor, anonymo lerature flood the streets of the cy, urgg New Yorkers to “Vote for Cuomo, not the Homo. ” Cuomo nied beg behd the offensive an effort to fe the gay mors, Koch had Bs Myerson, a former Miss Ameri, by his si durg mpaign events 1977.
ED KOCH, THE AMBIGUOLY GAY MAYOR
Most mastream papers were y about a fact that almost everyone knew—that Koch was gay—while some noted that he had remaed a bachelor his whole life * is mayor koch gay *
Later, Koch said that he and Myerson were not romantilly volved, Rters reported, and he nied beg gay. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the urage to say so, ” he said at the time, a New York Daily News article. "When Koch was asked years later about his sexualy, he would not nfirm whether he was straight or gay.
“Listen, there’s no qutn that some New Yorkers thk I’m gay, and voted for me neverthels. ”Koch was among the policians featured “Outrage, ” a 2009 documentary, about closeted gay elected the film, Koch was said to have had a boyiend, Richard Nathan, who left the cy when Koch was first elected mayor; however, Koch nied havg a romantic relatnship wh Nathan, who later died of AIDS, the New York Daily News said on Friday. Based on terviews wh Koch iends and sympathizers, the article scribed how the oime New York mayor publicly nied his own homosexualy, while admtg to timat, a fact that is long faiar to theatergoers who saw Larry Kramer’s 1985 play “The Normal Heart” or Tony Khner’s “Angels Ameri” (1991).
Kramer and Khner, both gay Jewish wrers, exriated Koch their works for havg been slow to react to the outbreak of AIDS when he served as mayor the 1980s. One theory is that Koch did not wish to appear to favor the sexual mory he belonged to, sce AIDS at the time was rrectly intified as maly affectg gay men and traveno dg ers. The Tim article spired more ire the form of a petn signed by a number of gay Jewish journalists and lleagu, cludg Lawrence Mass, -founr of Gay Men’s Health Crisis; journalist Donna Mkowz; activist Allen Roskoff; publisher Mark Segal; and historian Sarah Schulman.
A PORTRA OF ED KOCH’S SECRET GAY LIFE
He wanted to avoid beg associated wh an fect disease that was killg gay men and IV dg ers.
So even had Koch not been gay, Jewish tradn would argue that passn was required of him. In 1981, New York’s gay muny lled on Koch to do somethg about AIDS, but only 21 months later the Gay Men’s Health Crisis was granted an nclive meetg wh the mayor, who waed until 1988 to take any real actn agast the panmic, which by then had already killed several thoand New Yorkers.
Koch, who had started his reer polics as a progrsive, sponsorg gay rights legislatn, turned to a different kd of polician when he aspired to occupy Gracie Mansn. Instead, Koch privately ogled gay art films like “Come Undone” (2000), directed by Sébastien Lifshz and starrg Jérémie Elkaïm, of Morocn Jewish orig, likened to “soft-re pornography” by the Jewish journalist Maer Roshan, a iend of Koch. While Koch dulged himself, gay Jewish policians able to w electns Ameri remaed srce, lackg role mols after the retirement of Rep.