Eric Rofes
August 31, 1954 - June 26, 2006
The staff of the Highlander Center is deeply saddened by the sudden death of organizer, writer and educator Eric Rofes who died at the age of 51 on Tuesday, June 26, while on a writing sabbatical in Provincetown, Mass. Our hearts go out to Crispin Hollings, his beloved partner of 16 years, to his mother, and all his family and friends.
A visionary thinker and brilliant organizer, Eric was a good friend to Highlander, and a close personal friend for over 20 years of former Highlander director Suzanne Pharr.
In 1998, Eric spoke about organizing at a gay men’s summit in conjunction with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change conference. “I want to be a voice affirming the value and heroism of long-term commitment to democratic processes of community organizing. We may hate the endless meetings, be sick of licking envelopes, feel frustrated working across different identities and political visions, and be drained by community cannibalism, but we’ve got to continue doing the work...No one will give you rewards for your work, but social change cannot happen without old-time grassroots community organizing.”
Born in 1954, Eric got involved in gay activism in the 1970s in the Boston area where he founded several organizations, including two gay youth groups and was a founding member of a men’s childcare collective, which supported women’s events and battered women’s shelters.
He was fired from a 6th grade teaching job for being openly gay, then taught for several years at the progressive Fayerweather Street School in Cambridge where he worked with his students to publish three books from youth perspectives.
In 1985 he became the director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, then moved to San Francisco where he headed the Shanti Project, an AIDS service group. Currently, he was teaching at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA where he was an Associate Professor of Education teaching courses on community organizing and gay/lesbian issues in the schools.
Through his organizing, writing and public speaking, he deeply influenced gay men’s culture having the stature to call and the skills to organize national summits and meetings. He was particularly interested in a establishing a multi-issue, multicultural gay men’s health movement beyond HIV/AIDS, and organized around sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. He was influential in situating gay and lesbian issues in a progressive context, and on his website, long time friend Will Seng says, “and by his example, prompted many gay men to take a closer look at feminism, class and racism.”
Eric was generous to the Highlander Center of his time, energy, passion, and resources organizing fundraising parties in the home he shared with Crispin.
We were excited about the upcoming opportunities to work with Eric even more. Recognizing the good body of work that has documented Highlander’s founding and early years, Eric was initiating a project to produce and collect writings about the impact of Highlander’s more recent and current work.
Our staff was also looking forward to co-facilitating with him at our March 2007 Social Change workshop, and to be working with him on activities in San Francisco next year connected to Highlander’s 75th anniversary.
Highlander is honored to join the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to be recipients of memorial gifts in his honor.
All of us at Highlander join with Crispin and others across the country in mourning his loss. Please read more about his life and incredible contributions at his website - http://ericrofes.com.
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