Thomas Nicholas “Tommy” Platt, a Baltimore native who grew up in Highlandtown and moved to the gay mecca of San Francisco for several decades before returning to his hometown, died of liver cancer on October 12th, 2020. He was 74 years old and had been in declining health for some time. Tommy and childhood friend Stephen Janicki lived next door to each other on East Baltimore Street, about five blocks east of Patterson Park. Stephen said their families were so close that the doors to the two houses were unlocked so that everyone could go back and forth between them […]
In Memory of Milton Lentz, February 18, 1941 – January 20, 2010 – More than a Decade Today and Still Learning to Cope
by Rick Roberts No one will ever tell you that grief feels so much like fear. Losing someone you love can be like losing one half of yourself. The pain, the emptiness, and the grieving processes can go on for months or years. No two people respond to the same situation in the same way. Grief is a day by day, week by week, year by year process. You will have bad days when you feel like you’ll never recover and think that you will never function again from your loss. Each and every one of us changes […]
David Scondras, 1st open Gay Boston City Councilor has died
Boston, MA – David Scondras, who embodied the Boston Gay community’s dream of political power when he was elected to the City Council in 1983 and was later caught up in sex scandals involving young men, died October 21 of polycystic kidney disease, with his partner of 42 years, Bob Krebs, by his side. He was 74. A Harvard graduate, Scondras was the first openly gay person elected to the Boston City Council during a time when LGBTQ people across the country had almost no political representation or legal protections. At that time, AIDS was ravaging the gay communities. […]
Civil Rights and early Gay activist Jon Gee has died
Jon Louis Gee III, lifelong Baltimorean and 1960s civil rights and early Gay activist, died of cardiac arrest at Sinai Hospital on Sunday, June 14, 2020. He was 74 years old and lived his entire life with his sisters in the family home in the Coppin Heights section of West Baltimore. Although his death was sudden, he had been in declining health for the past several years. Jon came out as a teenager and joined the Baltimore Gay Alliance shortly after its founding in 1975. He was a fixture at BGA meetings, social events, and political actions. He joined […]
In Remembrance: Jay Loane
Jabez “Jay” Whitford Loane, V, who worked for a number of years in several capacities for Baltimore OUTloud, died on April 30th, 2020. Although he had been in failing health for some time, he died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Edgewood, where he lived with his longtime friend and companion Michael (Magoo) Serio. He was 57 years old. In 1993, Jay joined the staff of Gay Life as a sales manager. He soon took on other responsibilities, including photographer and occasional columnist, writing a very popular column called “People We Like.” After Baltimore OUTloud launched, he joined […]
Larry Kramer, Pioneering AIDS Provocateur, Dies
Larry Kramer, whose take-no-prisoners rhetoric defined the early period of AIDS activism, died May 27th. He was 84. According to Kramer’s husband, David Webster, he died from pneumonia. Kramer had contended with health problems for much of his adult life, including HIV, liver disease, and a successful liver transplant. “Larry helped keep us focused,” Rob Folan-Johnson of ACT UP told Baltimore OUTloud. “His anger was infectious and damned useful. If he hadn’t been at that meeting at rhe Gay and Lesbian Center that night to declare that an organized political force was needed to fight for our lives and against […]
Remembering A Quiet Persistent Hero – Terrence McNally
Some heroes wear capes. Others march, protest, or pass legislation. Still others work to change people’s hearts and minds. Terrence McNally was the latter. He believed that the theatre’s most important function was to create community and bridge rifts between people caused by differences in gender, race, religion and in particular, sexual orientation and HIV status, and dedicated his life to that work. In an address to members of the League of American Theatres and Producers he said, “I think theatre teaches us who we are, what our society is, where we are going. I don’t think theatre can solve […]
Remembering Ed Jeunette
Edward Jeunette, a longtime attorney for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, community activist, and former aide to City Councilwomen Mary Pat Clark when she was president of the city council, died suddenly on New Year’s Day after developing pneumonia. He was 62 years old and lived in Mount Washington with his spouse and husband of 30 years James “Jeb” King. Ed was the son of Edward R. Jeunette, an attorney, and Margaret Clark Jeunette, who died when Ed was 11. Like his father and two brothers, he attended and graduated from Mount Saint Joseph High School. He then […]
Skip Peacock
On September 16th, Skip Peacock – aka Tia Chambers – passed away from kidney failure. She was a beloved member of our community and our 1991 and 1992 Queen of Pride. At the time of press no other information was available but have been told by family they are working on his celebration of life. As soon as we get it, we will publish it. RIP Skip – we love you.
REMEMBERING Bradley Grant
Bradley Grant Memorial Service and Life Celebration Saturday, November 23, beginning at Noon Memorial Mass: 12 PM—St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, 5401 Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21239 Luncheon Celebration –1:30 PM— Acropolis Restaurant, 4718 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224 (Parking is allowed in the Wells Fargo lot after 1pm). For the lunch please RSVP by November 16th to becker889@aol.com with Bradley Grant Celebration in the reference line because It will be a sit down dinner. Also, please designate your choice of a Chicken or Crab Cake platter. Baltimore native Bradley Grant, who marched for gay rights in Philadelphia with the Washington Mattachine Society on […]