Allan Spear served for almost three decades in the Minnesota State Senate, representing southeast Minneapolis from 1973 to 1983, then southwest Minneapolis from 1983 until his retirement in 2001. A scrupulously fair and well-respected senator, Spear was elected President of the Senate in 1993, a position that, while limited in power (in Minnesota, as in Washington, the power in the senate is vested in the majority leader), represented the respect members of both sides of the aisle had for the DFL senator. Spear’s proudest legislative accomplishment was spearheading the 1993 Minnesota Human Rights Act, which guaranteed equal protection under the law to GLBTQQ Minnesotans.
It was not an academic experience for Spear. Spear himself was gay, the first openly gay man to serve as a presiding officer in a U.S. legislative body, one of the first openly gay politicians in America.
Spear came out in 1974, just over a year after winning election. As my friend and former colleague Andy Birkey reported, he did so to quell rumors about his sexuality — and how better to do so than by admitting the dread secret?
In 1974, he told the Minneapolis Star, “I want to stop the tittering. There’s nothing I’m ashamed of. Nobody should have to talk about it on back stairways.” It was a brave stand in a time when being gay was considered outrageous, scandalous behavior. And he would admit to being “lonely” in his stance. His sexuality was reported by the New York Times. And undoubtedly, many thought he was perverse, or deviant.
But Spear just kept winning elections. And in 1993, in a testament to how far we had moved in but 20 years, he was named President of the Senate with nary a peep from the right side of the aisle. He pushed through the HRA, drawing in even the support of then-Senate Minority Leader Dean Johnson, I-R-Willmar, a Lutheran minister and National Guard chaplain. (For his heresy, Johnson was excommunicated from the Republican Party — but he would later resurface as Senate Majority Leader after joining the DFL).
Spear was never apologetic for who he was. In debate over the HRA, he said to those who claimed he chose his orientation, “I’m 55 years old, this is not a phase I’m going through.” When challenged by opponents to gay adoption, Spear noted that he was raised by straight parents, and they hadn’t managed to turn him into a heterosexual. After retiring from the senate, he continued to advocate for human rights for same-sex couples.
Allan Spear died Saturday from complications from open heart surgery. He was survived by his partner of more than two decades, Junjiro Tsuji. He was a pioneer who helped show my home state what we have learned to take for granted: that GLBTQQ people are people, first and foremost, that the only thing distinguising them from straight people is who they are attracted to. Spear showed the state that a gay man could serve his state well, gain the respect of his peers, and serve in a position of leadership, without anything negative happening. My state and my nation are better for Allan Spear’s service. The world my daughter is growing up in is better for his courage. I mourn his loss. And I am grateful for his life.
Rest in peace, Senator Spear.