Longtime LGBTQ+ advocate and former presidential advisor David Mixner died in his New York City home on Monday, March 11. His death was due to complications from long-term COVID, according to his close friend Steven Guy.
“David was a trailblazer in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who also identifies as LGBTQ+, said. “His moral clarity never wavered, which is why he became such an invaluable confidant for so many, including presidential hopefuls, elected leaders and voices of the movement for LGBTQ+ equality. Perhaps most importantly, he was deeply dedicated to mentoring the next generation of LGBTQ+ leaders fighting to create a better world. Those of us doing this work today, including myself, owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Mixner’s name gained notoriety through his friendship with former president Bill Clinton, but his activism started way before the Clinton administration. He grew up in poverty, even noting he lived in a home with no indoor plumbing. His involvement in politics began when he volunteered for the John F. Kennedy campaign, but shortly thereafter, he went to the southern United States to fight for Civil Rights.
“I went down to Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia and Louisiana and went to jail a number of times in those states working on the efforts,” Mixner recalled in a 2010 interview with the Advocate. “Most of my focus was political, on working hard to register African-Americans to vote, getting rid of the poll tax.”
Mixner was also very involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, where he recounted how he was brutally beaten by Chicago law enforcement during the Democratic National Convention protests. Mixner even said the beating “gave me a bad leg and forced me to walk on a cane most of my life,” leaving him permanently disabled.
Mixner went on to be instrumental in the fight for LGBTQ+rights after he came out in the 1970s in response to anti-gay campaigns, including one in California that sought to bar gays and lesbians from teaching in state schools. Mixner convinced former Gov. Ronald Reagan to speak out against the policy, and voters rejected the measure in part because of Mixner’s advocacy efforts.
After that, Mixner worked in AIDS awareness and advocacy during the height of the epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. He was arrested — along with 64 others — at one of the first AIDS protests at the White House. He went on to found what is now known as the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund in 1991 to elect out candidates to office and establish the Victory Fund’s Presidential Appointments Project.
Later Mixner became an advisor for former President Bill Clinton and was the first out gay person to have a public-facing role for a presidential campaign or staff. Mixner urged Clinton to repeal the ban on military service preventing LGBTQ+ people from serving, but ultimately, Clinton “compromised” by implementing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which forbade people from coming out, but also made it so the military couldn’t ask people about their sexual orientation. Mixner came out against the policy, which resulted in his departure from the Clinton administration.
“They made it impossible for me to work for four years,” Mixner told Variety in 2015. “I was banned from the White House, but interestingly enough, I didn’t get much support from the [LGBTQ+] community. But that is OK, because I had to do what I thought was right.” He did reconcile with Clinton long after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Many people have honored Mixner and his legacy, including current LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President Annise Parker. As the leader of the organization Mixner helped to found, Parker said it’s important to carry on his legacy and remember just how much he did for queer Americans.
“David gave his time, energy and money to building a new political reality in America – having the foresight and dedication to see it through even in the most difficult of times,” Parker said. “[Mixner’s] legacy is the thousands of out LGBTQ+ people who now serve in elected and appointed positions all across the nation – and the tens of thousands more to come.
“David embodied the spirit of activism and resistance in everything he did – and always with humor and a smile. He has changed not just America, but the world. We love you David. And we thank you.”.