Background
Spear, Allan Henry was born on June 24, 1937 in Michigan City, Indiana, United States. Son of Irving S. and Esther (Lieber) Spear.
educator historian State Legislator
Spear, Allan Henry was born on June 24, 1937 in Michigan City, Indiana, United States. Son of Irving S. and Esther (Lieber) Spear.
Bachelor, Oberlin College, 1958. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Oberlin College, 1997. Master of Arts, Yale University, 1960.
Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1965.
A graduate of Oberlin College (Bachelor, 1958), he went on to earn an Master of Arts He was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1972, representing a liberal Minneapolis district centered on the University of Minnesota. He served a total of 28 years in the senate, retiring in 2000. He was President of the Senate from 1992 to 2000.
He served in the Minnesota Senate representing two Senate districts in Minneapolis.
From 1972 to 1982, he represented District 57, the southeast part of Minneapolis, including the University of Minnesota main campus. In 1982, he moved to District 59, the southwest part of Minneapolis, (renamed to District 60 after the 1992 redistricting) and was elected Senator from there, and was reelected until his retirement in 2000.
Having come out of the closet on December 9, 1974, he was one of the first openly gay Americans serving in elected office. His coming out drew national attention, being featured in the New York Times amongst others
Spear was instrumental in passing the 1993 Minnesota Human Rights Acting, which guaranteed protection from discrimination in education, employment, and housing to GLBT Minnesotans.
He gained the public support of the leader of the Senate Republicans, Lutheran minister Dean East. Johnson, who gave a speech supporting the bill on the Senate floor (and was later "censured" by his local Republican party officials, and eventually forced out of the Republican party). In 2008, as part of Minnesota"s Sesquicentennial celebration, the Minnesota Historical Society named him as one of the 150 people and groups that helped shape the state. Spear died October 11, 2008 from complications following heart surgery earlier that week.
He is survived by his partner of 20-plus years, Junjiro Tsuji.
This book was published in 2010.
Member International Network Gay and Lesbian Officials.