Gerry Studds

Gerry Studds
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 10th district
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Hastings Keith
Succeeded by	Bill Delahunt
Born	May 12, 1937(1937-05-12) Mineola, New York
Died	October 14, 2006 (aged 69) Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dean T. Hara
Alma mater	Yale University

Gerry Eastman Studds (May 12, 1937 – October 14, 2006) (pronounced /ˈɡɛri/) was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay national politician in the U.S. In 1983 he was censured by the House of Representatives after he admitted to having had an affair with a 17-year-old page in 1973.

Early life and career

Studds was born in Mineola, New York. He was a descendant of Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts who is commemorated in the word 'gerrymander'. He was the son of (Gerry) Eastman Studds (an architect who helped design the FDR Drive in New York City) and his wife, the former Beatrice Murphy. He had a brother, Colin Studds, and a sister, Gaynor Studds (Stewart).

He attended Yale University, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall, and from which he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1959 and a master's degree in 1961. Following graduation, Studds was a foreign service officer in the State Department and then an assistant in the Kennedy White House, where he worked to establish a domestic Peace Corps. Later, he became a teacher at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1968, he played a key role in U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy's campaign in the New Hampshire presidential primary.^[1]

Career in the United States Congress

Studds made his first run for Congress in 1970, but lost to the incumbent Republican representative, Hastings Keith, in a close election. In 1972, with Keith not running for re-election, Studds won the 12th congressional district seat. He moved to the 10th district seat after redistricting in 1983.

Studds was a central figure in the 1983 Congressional page sex scandal, when he and Representative Dan Crane were censured by the House of Representatives for separate sexual relationships with minors — in Studds' case, a 1973 sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male congressional page.

During the course of the House Ethics Committee's investigation, Studds publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, a disclosure that, according to a Washington Post article, "apparently was not news to many of his constituents." Studds stated in an address to the House, "It is not a simple task for any of us to meet adequately the obligations of either public or private life, let alone both, but these challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as I am, both an elected public official and gay." He acknowledged that it had been inappropriate to engage in a relationship with a subordinate, and said his actions represented "a very serious error in judgment."^[2]

The House voted to censure Studds, on July 20, 1983, by a vote of 420-3. Studds faced the Speaker who was actually reading the motion, with his back to the other members.^[3] In addition to the censure, the Democratic leadership stripped Studds of his chairmanship of the House Merchant Marine Subcommittee. Studds was later appointed chair of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. Studds received two standing ovations from supporters in his home district at his first town meeting following his congressional censure.^[4]

Studds defended his sexual relationship with the minor as a "consensual relationship with a young adult." Dean Hara, whom Studds married in 2004, said after Studds' death in 2006 that Studds had never been ashamed of the relationship with the page. "This young man knew what he was doing," Hara said.^[5] In testimony to investigators, the page described the relationship as consensual and not intimidating.^[6]

Although Studds said he disagreed with the Committee's findings of improper sexual conduct, he waived his right to public hearings on the allegations in order to protect the privacy of those involved:

"...I have foremost in my mind the need to protect, to the extent it is still possible given the committee's action, the privacy of other individuals affected by these allegations," said Studds. "Those individuals have a right to personal privacy that would be inevitably and irremediably shattered if I were to insist on public hearings...."

Studds said that deciding not to have a hearing "presented me with the most difficult choice I have had to make in my life."^[7]

Studds was re-elected to the House six more times after the 1983 censure. He fought for many issues, including environmental and maritime issues, same-sex marriage, AIDS funding, and civil rights, particularly for gay men and lesbians. Studds was an outspoken opponent of the Strategic Defense Initiative missile defense system, which he considered wasteful and ineffective, and he criticized the United States government's secretive support for the Contra fighters in Nicaragua.^[8]

Studds was an ardent opponent, at the urging of gay rights groups and the ACLU,^{[citation needed]} of the bill passed in the House known as "Megan's Law" (HR 95-2137), which created a national sex-offender registry. HR2137 was passed in the House by a vote of 418-0. Studds did not cast a vote.

Later years and death

After retiring from Congress in 1997, Studds worked as a lobbyist for the fishing industry. Studds previously worked for two years as executive director of the New Bedford Oceanarium, a facility still under development.

Studds and partner Dean T. Hara (his companion since 1991) were married in Boston on May 24, 2004, one week after same-sex marriages became legal in Massachusetts.^[8]

The Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which sits at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, is named for Studds.

In 2006, the Mark Foley page scandal brought Studds's name into prominence again, as media pundits compared the actions of Foley and Congress in 2006 to Studds and Congress in 1983.^[8]

Studds died on October 14, 2006 in Boston, at age 69, several days after suffering a pulmonary embolism.^[9] Due to the federal ban on same-sex marriage, Hara was not eligible, upon Studds' death, to receive the pension provided to surviving spouses of former members of Congress.^[10]

References

Further reading

• Johansson, Warren, & Percy, William A. Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. Harrington Park Press, 1994. pp. 156–7

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• GLBTQ Encyclopedia
• NNDB profile
• "Page Program Has Seen Scandal Before", Liz Marlantes, ABC News, Sept. 29, 2006
• Contributors to Studds' campaigns
• His 'leadership changed Mass. forever' — The Boston Globe, October 15, 2006
• Gerry Studds; Gay Pioneer in Congress — The Washington Post, October 15, 2006
• Annoy.com Profile: Gerry Studds Video Interview