In 1974, gay and lesbian Minnesotans lived in a state much less accepting and just than the one they know today. Former state Sen. Allan Spear, who died Saturday, took great personal and political risk when he announced in that year that he was gay. It was a risk well worth taking. Spear, who was in the middle of his first term in 1974, went on to serve seven more terms, representing southwest Minneapolis. Through the years, his openness about his sexual orientation helped make Minnesota a better state for others.
Gay rights issues were not central to Spear's legislative career. He chaired the judiciary committee and became a policy expert on crime prevention. Highly respected by his colleagues, he was elected president of the Senate in 1993. Outside the Legislature, Spear was a Yale-educated history professor at the University of Minnesota.
But in 1993, when the state's human rights statutes were amended to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, Spear carried the bill. His moving, eloquent address to his colleagues during floor debate on that bill will stand in the memory of anyone who heard it. "I am not just going through a phase," he said. "I can also assure you that my sexual orientation is not something I chose, like choosing to wear a blue shirt and red tie today." His personal appeal for justice led to a legal achievement that history will call an important civil rights breakthrough for this state. The teaching he did that day will redound to Minnesota's benefit for generations to come.