Allan Spear remembered for fairness, courage

Minnesota mourns the loss of former state Sen. Allan Spear, DFL-Minneapolis, whose legacy of even-handedness across the political aisle and courage as the nation’s first openly gay legislator will continue to influence the state.

Spear died Saturday of complications from heart surgery. He was 71. He is survived by his partner of 20 years, Junjiro Tsuji.

Spear was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1972 and served southwest Minneapolis for 28 years. For seven years he served as president of the Senate.

In a 1974 interview with the Minneapolis Star, Spear told the paper he was gay.

“It was very lonely,” Spear recalled in 1988 to the San Diego Union-Tribune in an article about openly LGBT candidates. “One of the most venerable assumptions in politics was that the very worst, most damaging thing a politician could be accused of was homosexuality, and here we were standing up and saying openly and voluntarily and proudly that we were gay men and lesbians.”

Rumors that he was gay had circulated in the Capitol and his district since he was elected in 1972. He decided it was time to face the rumors head-on.

“I want to stop the tittering,” he told the Minneapolis Star in 1974. “There’s nothing I’m ashamed of. Nobody should have to talk about it on back stairways.”

In 1993 Spear was elected president of the Senate and was highly respected by both DFLers and Republicans. That a gay person was running the Senate was a bit anti-climactic and resulted in tepid headlines. “Without Controversy, Openly Gay Lawmaker Elected Senate President,” read the Associated Press headline at the time. It was a testament to the amount of respect and confidence his colleagues had in him.

“It’s a nonissue,” Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe told the AP in 1993. “Senator Spear was elected president of the Senate by virtue of the fact that he is one of the most respected members of the Senate. He is eminently fair.”

Spears himself found it less of an issue. “Everybody knows,” he said. “It’s a part of me — an important part of me — but it’s not the first thing everyone thinks of when they think of me.”

Sen. Linda Higgins, DFL-Minneapolis, shared her thoughts about Spear after learning of his passing. “As President, he rarely participated in the debate of bills,” she told members of the Minneapolis e-Democracy forum. “But when Senator Spear came down from the President’s podium and rose to speak, something rare and wonderful happened: People put down the phones, put down whatever they were reading, and sat back and listened. Sometimes Allan Spear the history professor gave us a lesson that helped us come to the right conclusion. Sometimes it was speaking from personal experience on an issue before us,” she wrote.

Also in 1993, Spears sponsored — and the Senate passed — the Human Rights Amendment, a bill that made it illegal to terminate employment, deny housing or public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It was the most inclusive expansion of civil rights of its kind at the time, and the Minnesota law became a model for a dozen other states.

It wasn’t an easy battle, however, as the religious right fought the measure zealously. Spear rose in the Senate to speak personally and poignantly in favor of the bill. He said, “Let me tell you, I’m a 55-year-old gay man, and I am not just going through a phase. 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.

“Why in the world would I have chosen it? My first awareness of what I was filled me with absolute panic. I did everything I could to change. I dated girls. I denied my inner feelings. I sought psychiatric care.

“I didn’t make a choice about that.”

Spears did a lot to bring a positive image of LGBT people at a time when many people had little understanding of homosexuality. The Star Tribune’s Lori Studevant remembered Spear’s impact. “Through the years, his openness about his sexual orientation helped make Minnesota a better state for others,” she wrote Sunday.

Del Jenkins, chair of the Stonewall DFL, remembered Spear’s legacy. “The influence of Senator Spear can be seen throughout the State of Minnesota and will live on as LGBT leaders continue our fight for equality. We mourn his passing and offer our condolences to his family and those in the community that knew him.”

And while Spear had a critical impact on the climate for LGBT people in Minnesota, issues involving sexual orientation were a small part of his political career. Spear chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1983 to 1992 and made real progress on how Minnesota law deals with crime and punishment. Spear opposed efforts to reinstate the death penalty in Minnesota. He supporter stricter gun control laws and worked with the criminal justice system to focus on rehabilitation.

Due in part to Spear’s efforts, Minnesota has consistently had the lowest incarceration rate in the nation while maintaining a crime rate well below the national average.

Spear was honored this year by the Minnesota Historical Society as one of 150 Minnesotans who shaped the state as part of Minnesota’s 150th anniversary celebration.

A private burial service is scheduled. A public memorial service will be announced in coming days.