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.
