Mel Boozer

Melvin "Mel" Boozer was a university professor and activist for African American, LGBT and AIDS issues. Boozer grew up in Washington, D.C. where he graduated as salutatorian of his class at Dunbar High School. Boozer attended Dartmouth College on a scholarship. He entered the university in 1963, one of only three African Americans admitted that year. Following his graduation he became a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. In 1979, Boozer was elected president of the Gay Activists Alliance, in which office he served for two one-year terms. He was the first African American to serve as GAA president and became "a leading moderate voice among black gays nationally". Boozer was nominated in 1980 for the office of Vice...