Hank Wilson

Henry "Hank" Wilson (April 29, 1947, Sacramento, California – November 9, 2008, San Francisco, California) was a longtime San Francisco LGBT rights activist and long term AIDS activist and survivor. The Bay Area Reporter noted that "over more than 30 years, he played a pivotal role in San Francisco's LGBT history." He grew up in Sacramento, and graduated with a B.A. in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971.

Wilson founded or co-founded many organizations, including the Gay Teachers Coalition; the Butterfly Brigade, which became the Castro Street Safety Patrol; San Francisco Gay Democratic Club, which became the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club; the Tenderloin AIDS Network, which became Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center; the PWA Coalition; Mobilization Against AIDS; a film festival that grew into the Frameline Film Festival; the AIDS Candlelight Vigil, which became the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial; the Committee to Monitor Poppers and ACT UP/Golden Gate, which became Survive AIDS.

With Tom Ammiano and Ron Lanza, Wilson co-founded the Gay Teachers Coalition in 1975 and lobbied against discrimination for gay teachers in the San Francisco schools. A leader in the 1977 anti-Briggs Initiative (No on 6) campaign, Wilson worked extensively with gay issues in the San Francisco Unified School District. He served on the Gay Youth Advocacy Council which founded Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center (LYRIC). He also served on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission's Youth and Education Committee and also launched with Ammiano a gay speakers bureau to educate San Francisco high school and middle school students about gay and lesbian issues. In 1976 he helped found the Butterfly Brigade, Castro Street Safety Patrol, and Carry a Whistle Defense Campaign.

...
Wikipedia