Dick Leitsch, a titan of the early gay rights movement who led “sip-in” protests in the 1960s, died in New York City on Friday, Ken Lustbader, the co-director of NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project confirmed to NBC News. He was 83.
Leitsch became an icon of the LGBTQ movement after leading protests that pre-dated the Stonewall Inn uprising, increasing the momentum of the gay rights movement.
Born on May 11, 1935, Leitsch moved to New York City in 1959 from his home state of Kentucky.
He went on to lead the New York City chapter of the Mattachine Society, one of the oldest gay rights organizations in the country. It was during his time at the Mattachine Society that he came up with the idea for “sip-ins,” where demonstrators would go to bars, announce they were gay and ask to be served.
Photo Credit: Louis Liotta/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images, File
Source: NBC San Diego
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