David mixner biography

David Benjamin Mixner (August 16, 1946 – March 11, 2024) was an.
David Benjamin Mixner was an American political activist and author.
Mixner's life story is an inspiration to tenacity and the unwavering pursuit of justice, from his childhood in a remote New Jersey community to counseling.

•

Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality

This evening, we mourn the passing of David Benjamin Mixner, a giant in the global struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and a man of tenacity and heart. Mixner's death was announced earlier on his Facebook page. From his early days campaigning for John F. Kennedy to his final acts of courage, Mixner’s legacy shaped a nation at great cost to himself. Here are some thoughts on a life driven by principle and an unyielding pursuit of justice

David’s most significant accomplishment as an activist was that he retained his moral authority through thick and thin. That’s why, until the end, his endorsement and advice remained valuable to political candidates and LGBTQ+ organizations alike, who made the pilgrimage to Hell’s Kitchen to obtain his blessing.

“You live your principles, and there’s a price sometimes. And sometimes there’s a great price,” he once said about the consequences of his stance on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell(DADT).

Long before DADT in 1978, Mixner and his partner Peter Scott convinced then-Governor Ronald Reagan to oppo

•

DM: The first thing that I actually did was as a freshman at Arizona State. It was on behalf of the garbage workers in Tempe, Arizona, who were mostly getting 25 cents per hour back then and were almost, at that time, totally Hispanic in this small college community. They went on strike, and no one was paying any attention to them, and I went to the picket line with them, and I said, you should get some students down here, and they said, no, the students will never join us.

So, I went back and got four or five of us to plot something – we were going to stage a rally on the campus, and it was the first march I ever organized on my own.We did interviews, and we did everything, and it’s ironic because when we got there the day of the march on the campus to go picket that line with the garbage workers, maybe there were 30 or 40 there, and it was kind of disappointing, but,you know, 30 or 40 is something to build on.

And then the university overreacted, having seen all of this publicity that we were going to march and they went nuts and suddenly a quarter of the way into the rall

•

David Benjamin Mixner papers

Collection

Call Number: MS 1862

Scope and Contents

The papers consist of personal materials, correspondence, compiled family letters, clippings, subject and writing files, photographs,Vietnam protest memorabilia, and audiovisual materials that document David Mixner's life as a gay male, leader in the gay rights movement, author, and political consultant and advisor. There is also a manuscript of the Mixner family genealogy by Patricia Mixner Annison, David's sister; addenda/errata to the family genealogy; and get well cards and photographs of David Mixner, circa 1950s-1960s.

Dates

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are closed until January 1, 2031, unless researchers receive permission in writing to access them from the donor, the person holding power of attorney for the donor, or the executor of the estate of the donor. Researchers wishing to request access should email beinecke.library@yale.edu requesting specific box numbers in order to initiate the permission process, which may t