'Was Ed Koch gay?' is currently trending on the internet. According to some of his close friends, he was gay at some point in his life when he was struggling with himself. However, he never accepted the rumors. Ed Koch is mostly known for starting The Dump Koch movement. He died on February 1, 2013. Follow the article to know more about Ed Koch's sexuality.
A man with a wide ambit of tags behind his name, Ed Koch defined the role of a big-city mayor. But behind the mask he wore, the story of his identity went on deeper than what could be seen. A politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality, Koch filled all the blanks of being an influential figure. Unlike his social profile, Ed has another side that remained hidden from the world, the fact that he was actually gay.
For a man who was always in the spotlight, Ed could conceal one of the major aspects of his life for quite a while, until it came out into the world as one of the big revelations. He was ultimately one man, no matter how much he attempted to separate his public and private lives.
Concealing one of the important aspects of his life, the ways in which his decisions and responsibilities changed the city he was in charge of, is the very reason why the mystery of whether Ed Koch is gay or not is being solved right now. Here's a detailed look at the mystery of whether Ed Koch being gay affected his responsibility towards his city.
Previously, we touched on gay rumors of Tammy Bruce and Michael Darby.
Was Ed Koch Gay? The Former New York Mayor Never Accepted the Allegation!
Describing himself as "liberal with sanity", Ed Koch was a boisterous and belligerent mayor to many while being just another scared public figure attempting to hide his sexual orientation to his close ones. Stepping into power in 1968 by running for Congress in New York's 17th congressional district, Ed Koch was the 105th Mayor of New York City.
Koch may have appeared to be scrambling to fill every hour with hustle, glad-handing well-wishers at his favorite eateries, and gesticulating through television appearances long after his three stints as mayor, but was struggling deep inside to accept and come out with his sexual identity.
In a memoir on Ed Koch by The New York Times named The Secrets Ed Koch carried, inside sources gave confirmation that Ed Koch was indeed gay. While being actively social, the darkness of his secret had been eating Koch from the inside. In his 70s, Ed recounted a persistent sensation of loneliness to a few friends. He stated that he wanted to meet someone.
Ed Koch's tribulations as a closeted gay man were described by people from various elite networks and political allegiances over the past 40 years of his life. While he couldn't himself come out, words of him being gay were always out there.
Ed had put his trust in someone while keeping some of his closest friends in the dark. They include friends who had preserved his trust since the 1970s and late-in-life intimates whom he contacted for dating advice, a pal who helped Koch with covert setups when he was mayor and a transient sexual companion from far after his tenure in office.
It wasn't all sunshine for Ed Koch during his tenure years. Koch belongs to the last generation of New York democrats that considered being openly gay to be a political liability, so the burden of keeping his identity sealed was heavier than we could think of. During the time, his campaign strategist made homophobic slurs and sought to know whether the rumors were real.
They weren't, according to Koch. And there was that political ploy of sending Koch around the city with a booster, Bess Myerson, a former Miss America, to stoke tabloid rumors that they were dating. After that event, Ed Koch rarely gave opportunities to be questioned on whether he is gay or if all the talks were just rumors.
Ed Koch Had It Rough During the Crisis and Many Thought It Was Because He Was Gay!
While not many stories of his lovers are out, his close friends shared how much Ed Koch wanted to come out of the closet. His family members too seemed to be unaware of that side of him. It was only his gay friends who were aware of Ed's inner turmoil and his true self.
Being a closeted gay man who labeled himself as a heterosexual bachelor in his 1977 mayoral victory, it was the AIDS crisis that showed Ed what being closeted really did to him.
Ed Koch struggled to manage the AIDS crisis in ways that are inextricably linked to his closeted position, which some administration officials immediately dismissed as a "gay issue" from which he should stay away. As the insider said, the disease had spread throughout his neighborhood along with AIDS-related deaths among his buddies.
There was a sense that he didn't understand the gravity of the situation leading him to mishandle the situation. This concluded that Ed being a closeted gay man affected his decision-making during the time of crisis which led to many unfortunate consequences.
Ed Koch's story emerges as one marked by precocious political calculation, tiredness from constant disguise, and, eventually, flashes of sorrow about what he had lost out on. It's also a reminder that, not long ago, homophobia was a powerful enough force to discourage an ambitious man from coming out in a liberal bastion that has since seen openly homosexual persons serve in Congress and lead the City Council.
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