1. Gerry Eastman Studds was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997.
20 Facts About Gerry Studds
1. 2.
Gerry Studds was the first member of Congress to be openly gay.
3.
Gerry Studds was born in Mineola, New York to Elbridge Gerry Eastman Studds and the former Beatrice Murphy.
4.
Gerry Studds had a brother, Colin Studds, and a sister, Gaynor Stewart.
5.
Gerry Studds obtained a full scholarship to Yale University, receiving a bachelor's degree in history in 1959 and a master's degree in 1961.
6.
From 1965 to 1969, Gerry Studds taught history and politics at St Paul's School, a prep school in New Hampshire.
7.
However, in 1969, the school encouraged Gerry Studds to leave under unclear circumstances, sweetening the deal by paying for him to attend the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
8.
In 1968, during the Vietnam War, Gerry Studds persuaded anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy to challenge incumbent president Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire presidential primary.
9.
Gerry Studds ran McCarthy's New Hampshire campaign operation, even though St Paul's refused McCarthy's request to grant Studds a leave of absence so he could focus on defeating Johnson.
10.
Gerry Studds made his first run for Congress in 1970, seeking election in Massachusetts' 12th congressional district.
11.
Gerry Studds narrowly lost to the Republican incumbent Hastings Keith.
12.
Redistricting forced Keith to retire before the 1972 election, and Studds edged out the Republican William D Weeks by just 1,118 votes.
13.
Gerry Studds was dogged by rumors of homosexuality in the 1978 campaign, but nonetheless won re-election.
14.
In 1983, Gerry Studds was transferred to the 10th congressional district after another round of redistricting, serving until 1997.
15.
Gerry Studds was re-elected to the House six more times after the 1983 censure and became chairman of the full Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee in 1992.
16.
Gerry Studds was an outspoken opponent of the Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense system.
17.
Gerry Studds criticized the United States government's secretive support for the Contra fighters in Nicaragua.
18.
Gerry Studds served as the executive director of the New Bedford Aquarium.
19.
On October 14,2006, Gerry Studds died at age 69 following a pulmonary embolism.
20.
When Gerry Studds retired from Congress, Don Young sponsored a bill to name the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary after Gerry Studds.