As Windy City Times reported two weeks ago, gay icon Jack Nichols passed away May 2 in Cocoa Beach, Fla., after battling leukemia; he was 67.
Nichols' activities as a gay-rights advocate are well documented. He co-founded the Washington, D.C., and Florida Mattachine Societies in 1961 and 1965, respectively. He also helped organize many gay-rights protests, most of which occurred prior to the seminal moment known as Stonewall.
Nichols was also known for his literary accomplishments. From 1969 to 1973, Nichols and his partner, the late Lige Clark, were editors of GAY, America's first gay weekly newspaper. ( Clark was tragically murdered at a mysterious roadblock in 1975. ) In the late 1970s, Nichols' editing stints also included Sexology, then the world's longest-lived sex therapy publication; moreover, between 1997-2004 Nichols edited the e-zine GayToday.com . However, Nichols also wrote many books, including The Gay Agenda: Talking Back to the Fundamentalists, which was published in 1996.
His last book was The Tomcat Chronicles: Erotic Adventures of a Gay Liberation Pioneer, which was published in 2004. In a November 2004 interview with Windy City Times, Nichols said that he wrote the chronicles in 1991 as a series for Florida's nightspot guide, Contax. As a man who reveled in liberation, he balked when asked if he had any problems with how sexually graphic the book is: 'Qualms? Hah! In 1969, I was the very first managing editor of SCREW, the world's most outrageous, mostly straight sexual tabloid. ... In 1977-'78 I was also editor of the then-oldest mass circulation sex therapy magazine, Sexology.'
One person who was fortunate enough to know Nichols is Chicago attorney William B. Kelley, who first met the legendary activist four decades ago. ( Kelley is a gay icon in his own right, having been inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1991. ) He talked to Windy City Times about Nichols's life and his legacy.
Windy City Times: What was it like knowing Jack Nichols?
William B. Kelley: I knew him for a long time, but never well. In fact, I was still finding out things in January [ 2005 ] , when we had our last e-mail exchange. We had been e-mailing each other since 2001 or 2002.
WCT: Such as?
WBK: Well, [ in that last exchange ] he mentioned something about wanting to go into the foreign service when he was young. He explained it in terms of having lived in Washington with the Shah of Iran's aunt and uncle for a while. Their kids were his good friends, he said. He also spent lots of time with Iran's first ambassador to the United States. Of course, he couldn't join because of the homosexuality exclusion.
WCT: When did you first meet Jack?
WBK: Well, I've been trying to figure that out. It was in the late 1960s and it could've been in one of three places: the picket lines in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, Washington's Mattachine Society, or at the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations—which seems most likely. It's quite possible that Jack and I met at one of those meetings.
WCT: What adjectives would you use to describe him?
WBK: He had very varied interests. In that same e-mail, he said that a professor was writing a biography about him and wanted to put a proper focus on what Jack thought was his major work— [ Men's ] Liberation. Of course, some of the things [ Jack ] did had more to do with sexual liberation in general ... . In addition to that, he was really a prolific writer and that writing reflected the breadth of his interests. As for adjectives ... diverse interests, very expressive, very dedicated. He came out to his parents when he was 15, which was 52 years ago; his father was an FBI agent.
WCT: Wow! Jack was very daring.
WBK: Yes, he was daring—but not in an obnoxious, in-your-face way. It was more calm and resonant. He did a 1967 CBS TV interview, which was the first network program I'm aware of that dealt with homosexuality. He shielded himself during the interview out of deference to his father, who still worked with the FBI at the time.
WCT: What do you feel his legacy will be?
WBK: Jack was an early bloomer, so he was there for a lot of firsts. I feel [ linked ] to him because I was an early bloomer myself, though not as early as he was, chronologically. He was there a lot earlier and started more things that have continued. I think his legacy will be the continuation of the liberation efforts that he either started or helped start, such as the Mattachine Society in Washington ( which still exists ) and various activist groups in Florida.
His writings also constitute a legacy. However, even if people are not aware of his participation in institutions he helped to strengthen or form, that will be his legacy—whether [ others ] are aware of it or not.
WCT: Were you surprised at his passing? He was relatively young, although he had been battling cancer for some time.
WBK: Yes. I found out when I was in Philadelphia [ recently ] . [ His death ] surprised me although, in January, he said that ' [ m ] y health is a hassle right now. Radiation, chemotherapy, etc. ... although I'm a 20-year cancer survivor.' So it went in one ear and out the other—although it shouldn't have. That was the last contact I had with him. I didn't realize it had been so long until I talked with some people in Philadelphia—and I didn't realize how bad off he was until they told me.
WCT: Is there anything else you want to say about him?
WBK: As I said, he had a lot of diverse interests, including history. It was fitting that he was remembered at the Philadelphia event I attended. It was also fitting that, in GayToday and print publications, he was recording history and, in some cases, unearthing it and preserving it. He is a historical figure but one of his commitments was preserving our history—and I think he has helped to do that.
Responding to the May 4 Windy City Times coverage of the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia gay-rights protests, Kelley writes: 'I was one of the 'original picketers,' as you reported, but I wasn't one of the original 1965 picketers. I picketed in 1967. I was visiting New York, partly for that reason, and rode to Philadelphia in a bus arranged by the Mattachine Society of New York in order to take part. The holiday was hot, and Independence Square was pretty empty except for the picketers, a few tourists, and law enforcement personnel. When I spotted a photographer while walking the picket, I didn't know whom he represented ( the FBI or the press ) , but I decided to face him for a good view of me and my sign lest I seem timid in the photo. As it turns out, when the shot was unearthed and used last year to illustrate the Philadelphia Gay News review of a local gay history book, I learned he had been an Associated Press photographer. Now I have a print, 38 years later. Assuming we're still around, I look forward to another reunion of old friends during a return visit this July 4 for the dedication of a state historical plaque marking the pickets on the actual 40th anniversary of their inception.'
