Passionate fighter for LGBTQ community dies at 81

Richard Rhodes broke one of many barriers in 1988 when he and Gil Robison became the first openly gay men to run for the state House of Representatives.

He finished fifth out of seven candidates, but his cameo stab at political office captures only a fraction of the pioneering, idiosyncratic marvel that was his long life.

From fleeing Florida in the face of state persecution in the 1950s to a recent Georgia House resolution honoring him, Rhodes not only lived through the age when fights to change laws and mores on behalf of the LGBTQ community were taking place, he took an active part in shaping the battles.

Richard Grover Rhodes, 81, died July 21 from complications from a stroke. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta, 3107 Clairmont Road, Suite A. There will be a celebration of life following the service at the Hideaway Bar in Ansley Mall, 1544 Piedmont Ave. NE.

He remained engaged until the end, appearing several months ago before the Brookhaven City Council to plead that they adopt a nondiscrimination statement. Then in early July, just days before his stroke, he returned to his old hometown of Tampa, Fla., to visit Larry Lucas, a high school friend. Among other things he was pleased to discover, Tampa, once a haven for a state committee to root out communist and those with “homosexual” tendencies, had elected a mayor who is a lesbian.

“We drove around town,” Lucas said. “We even went to a high school reunion. He was still passionate about all his causes, including still hating high school. But he was also more feeble than I’d seen him. He’d had some near-death experiences, like triple bypass surgery a few years back, and always came through. I figured, the man’s a fighter, right?”

Rhodes was born Aug. 14, 1937, in Lake Wales, Fla. His family moved to Tampa several years later.

He graduated from Hillsborough High and later spent time at Florida State University, but at some point in the late 1950s he disappeared from the state without a trace. For a decade beginning in the mid-1950s, the state John’s Committee harassed suspected communists and LGBTQ people.

Rhodes’ longtime friend, the LGBTQ historian Dave Hayward, believes Rhodes was outed to authorities. Rhodes immediately took off, landing in Rochester, N.Y. Though an only child, he cut off contact with his parents or other family to protect them.

“They didn’t know if he were alive or dead,” Hayward said.

In the mid-1960s he moved to Athens, Ga., and then to Atlanta in the early 1970s. For years he managed men’s clothing stores. He also worked in the food and beverage hospitality industries, and he was a purchasing director for the Capital City Club.

In 1988, he was the first openly gay delegate to the Democratic National Convention held in Atlanta. It was during that week, after observing and listening to all the political balderdash, he decided, “Damn, I’m as smart as they are,” and ran for the House seat.

In 1993 he became the first openly LGBTQ chair of the DeKalb Democratic Party. He was later a founding member of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders) in Atlanta and the Atlanta Prime Timers, a social group for age 40 and older gay and bisexual men. He also co-founded the LGBTQ Archives and Special Collections Committee.

In the past decade Rhodes concentrated on the rights of aging LGBTQ members, particularly those in nursing homes.

Richard Rhodes