In 2008 we lost many passionate, articulate, and caring sexual workers and pioneers. Sex researchers and porn stars, feminist health advocates and sex educators, comedians, politicians, and activists; all of the people listed below contributed something to the public discourse and private experience of human sexuality and it seems like the least we can do to take a moment to honor their memory and thank them for their contribution.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956 – May 1, 2008)
Deborah Jeane Palfrey who was dubbed the “D.C. Madam” by the press, had run an escort service called Pamela Martin & Associates in Washington, D.C. She was the target of a three year investigation and was convicted for racketeering, money laundering and mail fraud in what has been called by many a “modern-day lynching.” Following her arrest Palfrey had said she would release names of well-known clients. On several occasions she indicated that she was not suicidal and that she believed she may be targeted for murder that would be made to look like a suicide. By all accounts Palfrey’s business was a consensual one where workers were paid well and both workers and clients treated with respect. Palfrey is far from the only loss this year related to sex work prosecutions but that fact makes her death neither more nor less tragic.
Read more - Yardbird.com: Farewell, Deborah Jeane
Allan Henry Spear (1937 - October 11, 2008)
Allan Spear was elected to the Minnesota state senate in 1972. Two years later in a newspaper interview he came out, making him the first openly gay man to serve in any state legislature, and one of the earliest openly gay Americans serving in elected office. Spears was described as a “fierce advocate of civil rights across all demographics” fighting against discrimination based on race, orientation, and socio-economic status. Spears related his own coming out and coming into political power as being tied to his work in the black civil rights movement:
"It was out of that (1960s activism) that I think I began asking questions about myself and began to relate my activism to growing awareness of my own homosexuality, and the fact that this was not a pathology, but it was a minority status."Read more -Minnesota Public Radio: Longtime state Sen. Allan Spear dies
Anastasia Blue (1980 – July 19, 2008)
Anastasia Blue, a porn actor who worked in the industry for three years before retiring died this year reportedly of a drug overdose. I didn’t know Blue or her work but noticed a posting about her death on Gram Ponante’s site and followed it to the real obituary (posted by her partner using her real name). There’s nothing linking Blue’s death to her work in the porn industry. It seems unfair and problematic to honor our sexual losses without considering the (likely dozens) of people who pass away each year in obscurity after performing in the adult industry. As mainstream movie goers mourn the loss of Hollywood stars they never knew, so too should fans of X-rated entertainment. We may also want to take the opportunity to consider how we could affect a change in an industry that is often so cruel and unsupportive of its talent.
Read more - Porn Valley Observed: Anastasia Blue, 1980-2008(please note, this link includes sexually explicit images).
Harlan Hahn (1940 – April 23, 2008)
Harlan Hahn was a disability rights activist, academic, and one of the key figures in the development of disability studies in policy research and the contemporary disability rights movement.
Hahn fought for the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. He filed an eloquent and powerful amicus brief with the California Supreme Court in a right-to-die case and was by all accounts a kind and passionate academic, activist, and regular person.
The focus of Hahn’s work wasn’t sexuality, but when he did address he seemed to understand the importance of pulling both sexuality and gender into an analysis of disability marginalization and taking both into account when fighting for disability rights.
Read more - University of Southern California: In Memoriam: Harlan Hahn, 68
Barbara Seaman (1935- February 27, 2008)
Barbara Seaman was the co-founder of the National Women's Health Network, feminist health activist, and author of several books, most notably The Doctor’s Case Against the Pill. By all accounts Barbara had as much of a personal and intimate impact on the people directly in her life as she did on the millions of us around the world who desire to advocate for our own rights to honest and direct health care.
Read more - About.com: Barbara Seaman, 1935-2008.
Gerard Damiano (1928 - October 25, 2008)
Damiano was the director of the infamous porn film “Deep Throat” among 48 other adult films. A sign of the extent to which this porn film, which was made for around $25,000 and eventually grossed more than $600 million, has permeated the pop culture imagination is the full obit accorded to Damiano in the New York Times.
Read more - New York Times: Gerard Damiano
