Gay activist Ed Sederbaum died in November at the age of 78. He was widower of cartoonist Howard Cruse, who passed in 2019.

Sederbaum’s activism was multi-faceted. He founded Queens Gays and Lesbians United (Q-GLU) because of the brutal murder of Gay man Julio Rivera. Sederbaum organized a candidates night and invited many attendees to his home to decide what kind of organization Q-GLU should be. It became a rights group in the Queens borough.

SEDERBAUM—AN INSPIRATION

Ed Sederbaum

Sederbaum ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Senate, and because he ran, he inspired several LGBTQ+ people to run for the New York City Council, all of whom won election. He was also active with the New York City Anti-Violence Project, training police to work constructively with the LGBTQ+ residents in Queens. He was a lobbyist for the New York State Hate Crimes Act.

Sederbaum was an associate director of the Anti-Defamation League, founded the SAGE/Queens GLBT Senior Center, and was an executive director of the Loft LGBTQ+ Center. He organized protests in all five New York City boroughs that ended with a march through the neighborhood of Mary Cummins, who opposed the proposed Children of the Rainbow inclusive curriculum.

Very appropriately, Sederbaum was known as the “grandfather of the Queens movement.”

–Ed Sederbaum admirer