1st Openly Gay Congressman Memorialized

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks during a memorial service for Gerry Studds, pictured in the foreground, the first openly gay person elected to Congress, at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006 in Boston. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) (Lisa Poole - AP)

BOSTON -- Friends of the nation's first openly gay congressman remembered him Saturday as a man who went to Washington to end the Vietnam War and protect the environment, then became a champion of gay rights.

The packed memorial service for former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds featured his favored choral music and stories _ some bittersweet, some humorous _ about his keen devotion to Cape Cod and his skill at balancing the oft-competing interests of commercial fishermen in his Congressional district with environmentalists concerned about dwindling ocean resources.

Studds died at age 69 on Oct. 14, 11 days after collapsing with a blood clot while walking his dog in Boston.

Studds became the first openly gay congressman in 1983 after a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old page 10 years earlier became public. Studds called the relationship "a serious error in judgment" and was censured by Congress, but defended his action as a consensual connection with a young adult.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who went public with his own homosexuality four years after Studds, told the crowd of 300 at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum that Studds inspired thousands of gays and lesbians by acknowledging his sexuality without apology.

"The important thing about what Gerry did was the reaction to it. And the reaction to it was that there was no reaction," Frank said, adding that Studds "helped Americans understand that they really aren't homophobic, they just thought they were supposed to be."

Shortly after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage in the state in 2004, Studds married his longtime partner, Dean Hara.