Gerry Studds

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Gerry Studds

Gerry Eastman Studds (born May 12, 1937 in Mineola , New York , † October 14, 2006 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American politician and from 1973 to 1997 member of the Democratic Party from Massachusetts in the House of Representatives of the United States . Studds was the first openly gay MP in Congress .

biography

Studds is descended from Elbridge Gerry , the former governor of Massachusetts. His parents were Gerry Eastman Studds, an architect, and Beatrice Murphy. Studds has a brother, Colin, and a sister, Gaynor. He attended Yale University , where he received a bachelor's degree in 1959 and a master's degree in history in 1961 .

In 1983 he publicly stated that in 1973 he had a sexual affair with a 17-year-old page of the House of Representatives and was reprimanded by Congress for this ("Censure"). Studds was re-elected to Congress six more times after the reprimand, most recently in 1994. In 1991, he moved in with Dean T. Hara, whom he later married.

After retiring from Congress in 1997, Studds worked as a lobbyist for the fishing industry in the United States (including the New Bedford Oceanarium ). Studds married Hara on May 24, 2004 in Boston, a week after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts. After his death , Hara was deprived of the survivor's pension due to the spouses of deceased former congressmen under the Defense of Marriage Act . As a result, Hara filed a lawsuit against the federal government.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steve LeBlanc: US denies benefits to Studds' spouse . In: Globe Newspaper Company , Associated Press, October 18, 2006. Retrieved June 22, 2009. 
  2. ↑ http://www.slate.com/id/2212893/

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Studds, Gerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Studds, Gerry Eastman (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician (Democrat)
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Mineola , New York
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 2006
Place of death Boston , Massachusetts