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{{Short description|American political activist and author (1946–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{sources|date = July 2020}}
[[File:15.DavidMixner.NEM.Rally.USC.WDC.11October2009 (
▲[[File:DavidMixner.NEM.Rally.USC.WDC.11October2009 (50448348308).jpg|thumb|Mixner in 2009]]
'''David Benjamin Mixner''' (August 16, 1946 – March 11, 2024) was an American political activist and author.
Mixner played a key role in defeating [[1978 California Proposition 6|Proposition 6 in California]], which sought to ban gays and lesbians from being schoolteachers. He also organized the [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam]] in 1969, drawing millions of protesters nationwide. Mixner later became involved in [[Bill Clinton]]'s presidential campaigns but criticized Clinton's "[[Don't ask, don't tell|Don't Ask, Don't Tell]]" policy, which led to a rift between them.
Mixner continued his activism throughout his life, focusing on issues like [[nuclear disarmament]], AIDS awareness, and [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT rights]]. He was honored for his activism and writing, including receiving an honorary doctorate from Washington College in 2015.
== Early life==
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In the fall of 1964, Mixner enrolled at [[Arizona State University]] in [[Tempe, Arizona]],<ref name = Gabriel>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/politics/david-mixner-dead.html|title = David Mixner, Fierce Fighter for Gay Rights, Is Dead at 77|last = Gabriel|first = Trip|date = March 12, 2024|accessdate = March 12, 2024|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited|archive-date = March 12, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240312155143/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/us/politics/david-mixner-dead.html|url-status = live}}</ref> where he soon became involved in civil rights and anti-war activism, including helping to organize protests against a speech by General [[William Westmoreland]]. Prompted by an article he read in ''[[The Arizona Republic]]'' about city garbage workers who were seeking the right to unionize, in the fall of 1966, Mixner organized the first of many protests he would organize over the next thirty years. Mixner rallied hundreds of workers, students, and professors and led a march on [[City Hall]]. Although the city successfully broke the strike, the workers eventually earned the right to unionize.
Mixner found himself much more interested in activism, including LGBT rights, than in pursuing a college degree. While at the University of Maryland, Mixner was a grassroots organizer for the 1967 [[March on the Pentagon]], which was later captured in [[Norman Mailer]]’s ''[[Armies of the Night]]''.
=== McCarthy presidential campaign ===
Later that year, Mixner dropped out of college and began working for the presidential campaign of [[Eugene McCarthy]]. One of Mixner's first assignments was organizing the Minnesota operation, helping McCarthy win the Minnesota caucus, defeating incumbent President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Later, Mixner and other members of McCarthy's campaign team went to Georgia to help select an alternative delegation to send to the national convention in Chicago, challenging Governor [[Lester Maddox]]'s hand-picked delegation, which included only seven African-Americans in the 117 person delegation. The Georgia Democratic Party Forum, which sought to challenge Maddox's delegation, held its own convention in [[Macon, Georgia|Macon]], where Congressman [[John Conyers]] (D–MI) keynoted their convention before turning over the floor to [[Julian Bond]], the first [[African-American]] elected to the Georgia legislature, who would later become Chairman of the [[NAACP]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/Atlanta/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1114520 |title=Obituary of Lestor C. Maddox |publisher=Legacy.com |accessdate=December 4, 2013}}</ref>
At the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] in Chicago, Mixner was allegedly beaten by police during the protests held outside the convention center. After Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] claimed the nomination, Mixner began seeking out new outlets for his activism. He soon befriended [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]], who introduced Mixner to Senator [[Ted Kennedy]], who he claimed would become a lifelong friend.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
=== Democratic Party Delegate Selection Committee ===
In early 1969, Mixner was invited to join the Delegate Selection Committee, where he served as his generation's voice, and he intended to use the platform to raise the issue of the violence at the previous year's convention.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
=== The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam ===
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The Moratorium drew millions of people throughout the country, who gathered in public places and read the names of the soldiers killed in Vietnam aloud.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_2533000/2533131.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=1969: Millions march in US Vietnam Moratorium | date=October 15, 1969 | accessdate=May 1, 2010 | archive-date=February 14, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214074028/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_2533000/2533131.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> The day was capped off by a march at the [[Washington Monument]], where [[Coretta Scott King]], the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke about her late husband's passion for ending the war.
=== Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA) ===
In 1976, Mixner began the process of coming out of the closet, and soon thereafter was a founding member of the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA), the nation's first gay and lesbian [[Political Action Committee]]. At the time, very few candidates were willing to accept donations from openly gay individuals or gay-affiliated organizations. At the time, Mixner was also serving as the campaign manager for [[Tom Bradley (American politician)|Tom Bradley]], the [[mayor of Los Angeles]] who was seeking reelection; so while he worked to raise funds for MECLA, his involvement was kept secret because of the potential for his sexuality to become an issue in Bradley's campaign.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
=== "NO on 6" campaign ===
Soon after Bradley won reelection easily, Mixner turned his focus to fighting [[Briggs Initiative|Proposition 6]], an initiative placed on the California ballot by [[Orange County, California|Orange County]] State Senator [[John Briggs (politician)|John Briggs]] that would make it illegal for gays and lesbians to be schoolteachers. Similar initiatives had recently passed throughout the country when Mixner turned his focus to fighting Proposition 6, creating the "NO on 6" organization to fight it; through the process, he would publicly [[coming out|come out of the closet]].<ref name="schmalz">{{Cite news |title=Gay Politics Goes Mainstream |first=Jeffrey |last=Schmalz |date=October 11, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/11/magazine/gay-politics-goes-mainstream.html |periodical=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=September 24, 2007 |archive-date=May 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524025356/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/11/magazine/gay-politics-goes-mainstream.html? |url-status=live }}</ref> Mixner and his lover Peter Scott secured a meeting with
As a result of this huge success, Mixner and Scott experienced a huge upturn in business for their fledgling political consulting firm, Mixner/Scott, and were asked by Bill Clinton, then running for governor of Arkansas, to host a reception for Clinton at their Los Angeles home.
=== The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament ===
In late 1984, after years of devastation in his personal life resulting from the [[AIDS crisis]], Mixner decided to focus his energy on combating [[nuclear proliferation]], creating an organization named PRO Peace. Mixner envisioned finding five thousand Americans who would take a year out of their lives to walk across America to advocate for disarmament, holding rallies throughout the country.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/140799353/
[[The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament]], which Mixner would later call his "biggest political failure and [his] biggest regret" ultimately left Los Angeles on March 1, 1986, with only 1200 marchers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=1166 |title=David Mixner: Politically Speaking: Feature Story at Metro Weekly magazine - News articles from Washington DC newspaper |publisher=Metroweekly.com |accessdate=December 4, 2013 |archive-date=September 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905225958/http://metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=1166 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|author=Kathleen Hendrix |work=Los Angeles Times |accessdate= March 18, 2024 }}</ref>
=== AIDS activism ===
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Mixner was honored by the [[Point Foundation (LGBT)]], an organization that provides college scholarships to LGBT students, with its Legend Award at the foundation's 2009 Honors Gala in New York City.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/david-mixner-to-receive-point-foundations-legend-award.html |title=David Mixner to Receive Point Foundation's Legend Award |publisher=Towleroad |date=November 18, 2009 |accessdate=December 4, 2013 |archive-date=March 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309175637/http://www.towleroad.com/2009/11/david-mixner-to-receive-point-foundations-legend-award.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The award was presented to Mixner by [[Victoria Reggie Kennedy]], the widow of [[Ted Kennedy]].
In 2011, the Theater at Dixon Place announced a one-man show starring Mixner, ''From the Front Porch''.<ref>
Mixner released a memoir of his time in Turkey Hollow, ''At Home with Myself: Stories from the Hills of Turkey Hollow'',<ref>{{cite book |title=At Home with Myself: Stories from the Hills of Turkey Hollow: David Mixner: 9781936833108 |date=November 1, 2011 |isbn=978-1936833108 |last1=Mixner |first1=David |publisher=Magnus Books }}</ref> in September 2011. The memoir is published by Magnus Books.
===''Dunes of Overveen''===
In February 2014, [[The Hollywood Reporter]] announced that [[Alan Cumming]] acquired the rights to ''Dunes of Overveen'', a script written by Mixner and Rich Burns about the true story of gay Dutch artist [[Willem Arondeus]] and the anti-[[Nazi]] uprising of artists he led in Amsterdam during [[World War II]]. Cumming has indicated he would star in the project, which is seeking a director.<ref>
|author=Steven Zeitchik |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |accessdate= March 18, 2024 }}</ref>
=== The Mixner Trilogy ===
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====''Oh Hell No!''====
On October 27, 2014,
====''1969''====
Mixner's original play 1969 was staged at the Florence Gould Hall Theater in New York City on March 6, 2017. Mixner takes theatre-goers back to the year 1969 where, along with [[Sam Brown (activist)|Sam Brown]], David Hawk, and Marge Sklencar, he created the [[Vietnam Moratorium]], which involved protests against the [[Vietnam War]] on October 15 and November 15 of that year. Until the [[2017 Women's March|Women's March]] in 2017, it was the largest march in the history of the United States. In 1969, Mixner revealed the deep personal struggle of being a closeted gay man in that time and a blackmail attempt that threatened to out him. In addition, he tells stories about [[Richard Nixon]], [[Henry Kissinger]], [[John Dean]] and others in the production. At the end, Sam Brown, and David Hawk joined Mixner on stage, the first time they appeared on a stage together in 47 years.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
====''Who Fell Into The Outhouse?''====
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===Death===
==Honors==
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[[Category:American gay writers]]
[[Category:Gay memoirists]]
[[Category:
[[Category:American
[[Category:People from Elmer, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Woodstown High School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American
[[Category:21st-century American
[[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)]]
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