Friend recalls Arthur Evans, gay rights leader and York native 
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_18952897 


GREG GROSS The York Dispatch 
Updated: 09/22/2011 



When Arthur Evans saw what he perceived to be injustice, he sought to change 
it. 

Evans, a leader in the gay rights movement, gained notoriety after the 1969 
protest of a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in New York City's 
Greenwich Village. 

But before Evans was a leader in a movement that has made leaps and bounds the 
past 50 years, he was just a boy from York. 

Evans died Sept. 11 of a heart attack in his San Francisco home. He was 68. 

Activism: While not present at the 1969 protest, Evans was able to bundle the 
energy of gay men and women and their supporters to gain momentum to end the 
open discrimination against gays, said Hal Offen, who was Evans' friend for 40 
years. 

"(Evans) was brilliant at many things," Offen said. "He had a keen sense for 
justice." 

Many years ago, a company openly refused to issue life insurance policies to 
gay men and women because the company claimed homosexuals were more likely to 
kill each other for the insurance money, Offen said. 

Things like that were what motivated Evans to change how things were. 

And change did come. 

A number of states now allow gay marriages. Nine days after Evans' death, the 
federal government ended its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay 
members of the armed forces to serve openly. 

Such things amaze Offen. 

"Our lives were not supposed to be as wonderful as they turned out to be," he 
said. "I, for sure, never expected to see gay marriage in my lifetime." 

It was men like Evans who made that possible. 

Life led: Apart from activism, Evans was also an author and a scholar. He 
attended Brown University and Columbia University. 

He penned "Witchcraft and the Gay 

Counterculture" and "Critique of Patriarchal Reason" and also translated 
ancient Greek and Latin to English. 

Diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm last year, Evans refused surgery and instead 
opted to live out the rest of his life the way he wanted, Offen said. 

Offen said he asked Evans what he wanted to do as death closed in. Evans 
replied that he wanted to stick to his routine and continue his writing and 
activism. 

"I saw him every week. We played chess together. He had dinner at my house," 
Offen said. 

As executor of Evans' will, Offen handled two packages that came to Evans' 
apartment a few days ago. 

Both contained books. One was in Latin, the other in ancient Greek. 

That brought a smile to Offen's face, because he knew written words brought 
such joy to Evans. 

Offen said he'll miss his friend. 

But, he added, he knows Evans led a full life and helped bring about some of 
the greatest advances in gay rights. 

"I never lose sight of how fortunate I am to be in this place and time," Offen 
said. 

- 

- Reach Greg Gross at 505-5434 or ggr...@yorkdispatch.com. 




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