User:CmdrDan/Jim Owles

DRAFT IN PROGRESS. DRAFT--IN PROGRESS.

Jim Owles (October 6, 1946 – MM DD, 1993) was an American gay rights activist and writer.

JIM OWLES (1946-1993), ACTIVIST Jim Owles was one of the pioneers of the gay rights movement in the 1960s and his influence and spirit can still be felt today. In 1969, Jim was the founding president of the Gay Activists Alliance of New York, the largest militant gay rights organization in the United States, and in 1973 was the nation's first openly gay person to run for public office.

As president of GAA, Owles advocated anti-discrimination bills in Albany and New York City. Known as a man of noticeable calm and civility, a quiet but keen thinker who, when he spoke, commanded almost immediate allegiance from hundreds of GAA members. Owles once said, “Gays must redirect anger that has been largely inward, outward—where it belongs. That doesn’t mean smashing windows. It means confronting people who do have the power and saying, ‘Look here, ours are not ridiculous or frivolous demands—they’re something every American should have!”

In 1974, Jim Owles founded the Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, which was the first gay political club in the city. In 1985, he was one of the seven founding members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which monitors the coverage and depiction of lesbians and gay men in the media. Mr. Owles was a special assistant and liaison to the lesbian and gay community for the State Senate minority leader, Manfred Ohrenstein.

Jim Owles sought "to secure basic human rights, dignity, and freedom for all gay people.” This has become the guiding principle of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club today.

Jim passed to AIDS in 1993 after years of dedicating his life to the causes of the gay community. https://jimowles.org/about/club-history

JIM OWLES: FIRST PRESIDENT AFTER STONEWALL Kay Tobin's Historic Portrait of a Strong Leader

Introduction: "He's the scrappiest little faggot in New York!" spoken in admiration and affection by Marty Robinson http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/people/060297pe.htm