AHF Celebrates Legacy of LGBTQ+ Pioneer Morris Kight

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a remembrance and inurnment for LBGTQ+ legend Morris Kight, who passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 19, 2003, at age 83 after a prolific career that achieved many of the civil rights he sought and fought so valiantly for.

Kight also created some of the LGBTQ+ movement’s most visible efforts, including: L.A.'s gay pride march – the CSW Parade, which he co-created in 1970, as well as the Stonewall Democratic Club, whose endorsement is highly prized in California politics.

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At the time of passing in 2003, Kight was honored with numerous written tributes, including a thoughtful obituary in the Los Angeles Times and a memorial service at the Metropolitan Community Church. This Saturday, November 22, Kight will be celebrated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, 90038) after his lifetime of tireless advocacy and action three days after what would have been his 106^th birthday.

The long-time Los Angeles resident was born November 19, 1919, in Comanche County, Texas. Kight graduated from Texas Christian University. He often cited Eleanor Roosevelt as an influence on his values and his activism. He came to prominence with the Dow Action Committee, protesting chemical weapons manufacturing during the Vietnam War. In 1969, he and a handful of activists launched the Gay Liberation Front – one of the first such efforts. In 1971, he co-founded the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center, the first and largest such center in the world.

“Morris not only inspired events and organizations, he inspired activists through his loving nature,” said Michael Weinstein, who heads the U.S. largest AIDS organization and whom Kight befriended in 1973. “He genuinely loved people, and that permeated everything he did. Twenty-two years later, I fondly remember, miss and appreciate the man and what he taught me and so many others about activism, life and living.”

Rarely satisfied with all he had achieved, Kight also created some of the movement’s most visible efforts, including:

• Los Angeles’ gay pride march – the Christopher Street West Parade – which he co-created in 1970 and which receives international media attention annually.
• The Morris Kight Collection, which archives thousands of artifacts chronicling the emergence of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights.
• Stonewall Democratic Club, whose endorsement is highly prized in California politics.

In 2002, after serving twenty years on the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, Morris retired from the Commission, but continued to speak out on behalf of people in need.

Though most strongly identified with the movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, Kight consistently allied his energies with many other progressive causes. He described himself as a laborite, a civil rights advocate, a civil libertarian, and an advocate for all oppressed people. He often credited the Feminist Movement with greatly inspiring him.

Kight’s tireless activism and political savvy made him a rare bridge between the gay grassroots and elected officials at local, state, and federal levels. Though he never ran for office himself, his political insight was frequently sought by those in power and those who aspire to public service.

Kight foresaw the advances his work would lead to in a 1971 interview with the Advocate magazine: “Frankly, I’m sure we are going to get our freedom. I see it everywhere: In the marketplace, in the stores, in the homes, in dealing with families, in the kind of attention we get from radio, television and the newspapers… Still, I realize we’re not home yet. We have a long way to go. There are 1,750 arrests in L.A. each month. I weep for each of them. Everyone who’s denied a job, I weep for. Everyone who is driven from their homes by a misunderstanding family, I have to offer my love to.”

In 2003, Kight spent his final days at Carl Bean House in Los Angeles, a guest of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the many agencies he nurtured and supported. His papers are housed and maintained at the non-profit as the Morris Kight Collection. And at the time of his death, a magnolia tree with a plaque honoring Kight was planted at West Hollywood’s Matthew Shepard Human Rights Triangle – corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Heights.

In August 2023, after a three-year campaign by AHF and other advocates, the Los Angeles City Council declared Kight’s longtime Los Angeles residence located at 1822 West 4^th Street a Historic-Cultural Monument. The designation provides the home some additional protection, stipulating that the home cannot be moved, protecting it from possible razing for future development. Kight’s former residence at 1428 McCadden Pl. is also a Historic-Cultural monument.

In 2020, a biography of Kight, “Morris Kight: Humanist, Liberationist, Fantabulist – A Story of Gay Rights and Gay Wrongs,” by Mary Ann Cherry was published by Process Media.

Following Saturday’s remembrance and inurnment at Hollywood Forever, a reception honoring Kight will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the AHF Media building in Hollywood (6520 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles., CA 90028).