Howard Junior Brown
Encyclopedia
Dr. Howard Brown a founder of the National Gay Task Force (now the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
) and a former New York City
Health Services Administrator, helped change the image of gay
men and lesbian
s in the United States by coming out publicly in 1973.
, on April 15, 1924, to a civil engineer, Howard Junior Brown spent his childhood in several small towns in Ohio
. At the age of eighteen, he realized that he was gay when he became attracted to another student at Hiram College
in Ohio. Frightened, he sought psychiatric assistance from the head of the psychiatry department at Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland and was reassured that he could not possibly be gay because "homosexuals don't become doctors, they become hairdressers."
Drafted into the Army during World War II
, Brown served as a medical corpsman before being discharged
in 1944. He earned a medical degree from Western Reserve in 1948 but believed that he would always be a second-rate physician because of the common psychiatric teaching that homosexuals were inherently impaired. After years spent struggling with his sexuality, Brown quit analysis in 1954 and moved to New York City.
's Lower East Side
. On June 3, 1966, he became the first head of the New York City Health Services Administration. Brown oversaw 22 municipal
hospital
s, 23 district health centers, 94 child health stations, and 50,000 city employees but needed to hide his sexual identity to keep his job.
In late 1967, Brown received a warning that an investigative reporter planned to expose homosexuals in the administration of Mayor
John Lindsay
and resigned rather than be forced out. The article never ran and Brown stayed closeted.
He found work as a visiting associate professor of community medicine at the Albert Einstein College in the Bronx
and served as the director of community medicine at two Bronx hospitals. In 1970, he joined the faculties of the Graduate School of Public Administration and the School of Medicine at New York University
.
just a few blocks from the Stonewall Inn
, and he witnessed the beginnings of the gay rights movement
. As gay service organizations and gay churches rose in number, Brown lost his sense of shame about being gay and became increasingly angry about the routine insults directed at men like him.
To show that even members of a profession regarded as a citadel of respectability could be homosexuals, Brown decided to make a public announcement about his sexuality. A publicist for the Gay Activists Alliance sent out a press release alerting the media to the story. On October 3, 1973, Brown came out at a symposium
on sexuality at the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, New Jersey
and immediately became a media sensation. His announcement made the front page of the New York Times and received coverage by every television station in New York City.
Capitalizing on the publicity, Brown helped found the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) on October 16, 1973. His bad experiences with psychiatry, shared by many other gay men and lesbians, prompted the NGTF to challenge the American Psychiatric Association's
classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, a battle that was ultimately successful.
on February 1, 1975 and died at the age of fifty. His estate published his autobiography, Familiar Faces, Hidden Lives, a book that also contains anecdotal stories of discrimination experienced by other gay men throughout America.
In 1973, most Americans commonly viewed gay men as effeminate narcissists too disturbed to be respectable members of society. Brown helped change that image. The discovery that a distinguished public figure, the very epitome of respectability as a physician, could also be a homosexual gave the cause of gay liberation a tremendous boost.
In 1974 an alternative health center, specializing in sexually transmitted diseases, and catering to gay men and lesbians, was opened in Chicago
as the Howard Brown Memorial Clinic (now known as Howard Brown Health Center
). It has since become the premier Midwest health center specializing in the medical and psychosocial needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community.
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people, and working to create positive, lasting...
) and a former New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Health Services Administrator, helped change the image of gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s in the United States by coming out publicly in 1973.
Background
Born in Peoria, IllinoisPeoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, on April 15, 1924, to a civil engineer, Howard Junior Brown spent his childhood in several small towns in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. At the age of eighteen, he realized that he was gay when he became attracted to another student at Hiram College
Hiram College
Hiram College is a private liberal arts college located in Hiram, Ohio. Founded by Amos Sutton Hayden of the Disciples of Christ Church in 1850, the institution has, since its first days, been nonsectarian and coeducational, and throughout its existence Hiram College has sustained this egalitarian...
in Ohio. Frightened, he sought psychiatric assistance from the head of the psychiatry department at Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland and was reassured that he could not possibly be gay because "homosexuals don't become doctors, they become hairdressers."
Drafted into the Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Brown served as a medical corpsman before being discharged
Military discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
in 1944. He earned a medical degree from Western Reserve in 1948 but believed that he would always be a second-rate physician because of the common psychiatric teaching that homosexuals were inherently impaired. After years spent struggling with his sexuality, Brown quit analysis in 1954 and moved to New York City.
Life in New York
Brown gained notice as the director of the Gouverneur Ambulatory Care Unit on ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. On June 3, 1966, he became the first head of the New York City Health Services Administration. Brown oversaw 22 municipal
Municipal services
Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation , water, streets, schools, food inspection fire department, police, ambulance, and...
hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, 23 district health centers, 94 child health stations, and 50,000 city employees but needed to hide his sexual identity to keep his job.
In late 1967, Brown received a warning that an investigative reporter planned to expose homosexuals in the administration of Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
John Lindsay
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
and resigned rather than be forced out. The article never ran and Brown stayed closeted.
He found work as a visiting associate professor of community medicine at the Albert Einstein College in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
and served as the director of community medicine at two Bronx hospitals. In 1970, he joined the faculties of the Graduate School of Public Administration and the School of Medicine at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Coming out
By this time, Brown had taken an apartment in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
just a few blocks from the Stonewall Inn
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall is an American bar in New York City and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United...
, and he witnessed the beginnings of the gay rights movement
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
. As gay service organizations and gay churches rose in number, Brown lost his sense of shame about being gay and became increasingly angry about the routine insults directed at men like him.
To show that even members of a profession regarded as a citadel of respectability could be homosexuals, Brown decided to make a public announcement about his sexuality. A publicist for the Gay Activists Alliance sent out a press release alerting the media to the story. On October 3, 1973, Brown came out at a symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
on sexuality at the Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and immediately became a media sensation. His announcement made the front page of the New York Times and received coverage by every television station in New York City.
Capitalizing on the publicity, Brown helped found the National Gay Task Force (NGTF) on October 16, 1973. His bad experiences with psychiatry, shared by many other gay men and lesbians, prompted the NGTF to challenge the American Psychiatric Association's
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder, a battle that was ultimately successful.
Death
Brown's tenure as a gay activist proved brief. Plagued by coronary disease, he suffered a second heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on February 1, 1975 and died at the age of fifty. His estate published his autobiography, Familiar Faces, Hidden Lives, a book that also contains anecdotal stories of discrimination experienced by other gay men throughout America.
In 1973, most Americans commonly viewed gay men as effeminate narcissists too disturbed to be respectable members of society. Brown helped change that image. The discovery that a distinguished public figure, the very epitome of respectability as a physician, could also be a homosexual gave the cause of gay liberation a tremendous boost.
In 1974 an alternative health center, specializing in sexually transmitted diseases, and catering to gay men and lesbians, was opened in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
as the Howard Brown Memorial Clinic (now known as Howard Brown Health Center
Howard Brown Health Center
The Howard Brown Health Center is the Midwest’s premier lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health care organization, leading the region in addressing the comprehensive health care needs of people in the LGBT community. In 1974, a group of medical students founded Howard Brown Health Center as...
). It has since become the premier Midwest health center specializing in the medical and psychosocial needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community.