Long-time LA Democrat and environmental activist Bob Hattoy has left us. For those who knew him, no obituary can do him justice, for those who didn’t, no obituary can describe him.

Suffice it to say that Bob was among the sharpest wits our Party has ever possessed. He had no fear in speaking truth to power, even at the risk of great personal expense. His was a passionate, sharp-witted honesty that made us all proud, if at times a bit uncomfortable. Bob was a truly committed Democrat, the ultimate environmentalist, a fearless advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS and an uncompromising activist for equality for LGBT Americans.

Here is a portion of what author/activist David Mixner (www.davidmixner.com) had to say this morning:

Bob Hattoy passed away Saturday night and with his passing another giant of the LGBT and AIDS community has died. Bob was a charismatic and exciting leader who was almost impossible to describe. I once said to Bob that he was “the best outsider on the inside” that I knew.

Bob was an avid environmentalist, an advocate for the LGBT community, a powerful activist who lived with HIV/AIDS and a member of the Clinton Administration. Those who loved him cherished his cutting wit and his ability to make our enemies - and even weak allies - look like fools within a sentence or two.

But history, most of all, will remember Bob for being the first person with HIV/AIDS to ever address a national political convention in 1992. For those at Madison Square Garden or watching on television, it was a moment that we will never forget. I wrote in my journal and later in my book Stranger Among Friends what that night was like:

Finally Congressperson Pat Schroeder came to the microphone and began the introduction of the two AIDS speeches. The hall was in the usual hubbub that passes for normal even while speakers are addressing the convention. But as Bob Hattoy mounted the podium, stillness fell over the entire place. One by one, the delegates stood up, until all five thousand people were on their feet in respect. The hush was palpable. When he paused, and said as he looked out over the crowd, “This is difficult,” he won the hearts of a nation.

‘I am a gay man with AIDS. If there is any honor in having this disease, it is the honor of being part of the gay and lesbian community in America. We have watched our friends and lovers die but we have not given up. Gay men and lesbians created community health clinics, provided education materials, opened food kitchens, and held the hands of the dying in hospices. The gay and lesbian community is a family in the best sense of the word.’

There was not a dry eye in the nation that night. Those of us in the hall had black arm bands to honor those we knew who had died of AIDS and held unto each other as he spoke. It was as if at last we were finally being heard after a decade of horror, death and abandonment. Bob did us all proud that night.

Bob was viewed by many on the inside of the Clinton Administration as reckless and by those of us on the outside as fearless. He walked a fine line between representing President Clinton and advocating the truth for the LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities. He knew that the Clinton Administration had help create his visibility for political reasons and that he could get away with more than others. He did not hesitate to use that advantage for the good of the community.

Click here to read the full post