Gay Historian Allan Berube Dies at 61  | News | Advocate.com

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December 12, 2007
Gay Historian Allan Berube Dies at 61

Gay historian Allan Berube, award-winning author of Coming Out Under Fire, died Tuesday of complications from two stomach ulcers. He was 61.

Berube was an independent historian and community activist. After coming out in 1969, he joined a gay liberation collective household. He later became a member of a gay commune for craftspeople in San Francisco, where he remained for many years, according to a statement released by a friend, Wayne Hoffman. In 1978, Berube was one of the founders of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project. He produced acclaimed slide shows that featured women who were living as men and married other women.

Berube is best remembered for his groundbreaking work of gay history, Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II, published in 1990. The Lambda Literary Award–winning book was later adapted by Arthur Dong into a Peabody Award–winning documentary and was often cited in 1993 Senate hearings on the military’s ban on gay service members.

In 1996, Berube received a genius grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for his work.

Berube is survived by his life partner, John Nelson; his mother; and three sisters. (The Advocate)

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