Robert Andrew “Bob” Kohler

    

 

May 17, 1926                   Born in NY’s Lower East Side; moves to and grows up in Queens.

c1943/44                          Comes out to parents Ray and Maisie at age 17.

April 6, 1944-

July 31, 1946                    U.S. Navy service in WWII, served in South Pacific, “left a kidney behind;” Signalman Third Class.

1945                                  Graduates Jamaica Evening High School.

1947                                  Moves to Greenwich Village in Manhattan, where he will live for the next 60 years.

1956-1960                        Assistant Production Manager, CBS Television.

1960-1972                        Owner, Bob Kohler Agency, talent agency that notably repped a number of Black actors, who often had trouble

                                            getting work.

1966                                   Works with Congress of Racial Equality/Harlem Riots. Traveled to the South, and, with two Black comrades,

                                            jumped into a segregated pool. All the white patrons jumped out, and the pool was eventually drained to get

                                             Bob and company out.

1969                                    Met and became friends with Sylvia Rivera, trans rights activist.

June 28-July 3, 1969        Stonewall Rebellion: on the first night of the Stonewall uprising, Bob is walking his dog and talking with

                                             street kids and hustlers in Sheridan Square when a routine police raid at the Stonewall Inn turns violent. For

                                             the first time, patrons and street youth fight back. The following night, Bob helps promote a community

                                             meeting to organize a response, setting this event apart from previous clashes with police.

July 1969                           Co-founds the Gay Liberation Front, America’s first radical gay rights organization, in response to the

                                            Stonewall raids.

June 1970                          Helps organize, and acts as a marshal for, the first Christopher Street Liberation Day parade, commemorating

                                            the Stonewall rebellion. This is the precursor to the NYC gay pride march and those in cities in the U.S. and

                                            abroad.

1972-1979                         Managed Club Baths Spa in East Village; Bella Abzug campaigns there for Congress. 

1980                                    Works for U.S. Census. Works as manager of The Loft clothing stores on Christopher Street and Fire Island.

1986-1995/96                   Takes over ownership of The Loft after Terry McNulty, original owner, dies of AIDS.

c. 1989/90                         Joins ACT UP New York

1990                                    Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization attempts to march in the New York St. Patrick’s Day Parade and is

                                             refused. Bob joins the protests, which last 10 years.

1997                                    Joins SexPanic!, arguing for condom usage/harm reduction to stop the spread of HIV.

1998                                    Helps found Fed Up Queers, a direct-action group that challenges discriminatory AIDS policies and Mayor

                                             Giuliani’s targeting of queers, People Living With AIDS, low-income people, and people of color.

                                             Helps organize the Matthew Shepard political funeral in NYC.

1999                                  Arrested during protest of murder of Amadou Diallo, a young Black immigrant, by police; one of several such

                                             protestors who sued NYC and were awarded $14,000 each.

2001                                    DASIS* Watch: Core volunteer (at age 75) with New York City AIDS Housing Network standing outside city

                                              agency for hours to ensure People living with AIDS got legally required housing. Does this nearly daily for 18

                                              months. [*New York City

                                              Department of AIDS Services and Income Support.]

2003                                    Protests against Iraq war; final of his 32 arrests.

2004                                    Marches with NYC AIDS Housing Network in Poor People’s March in response to Republican National

                                             Convention in New York. Stands vigil at Pier 57 after 1,800 are arrested.

Date TBD                           Bob is diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.

Dec. 5, 2007                      Dies at 81 at his home at 35 Charles Street.

Dec. 9, 2007                      Political funeral, ashes thrown into the Hudson River to be with Sylvia Rivera.