Mark Segal

Mark Allan Segal (born 1951)[1][2] is an American journalist.[3] He participated in the Stonewall riots and was one of the original founders of the Gay Liberation Front where he created its Gay Youth program. He was the founder and former president of the National Gay Newspaper Guild[4] and the founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News.[5] He has won numerous journalism awards for his column "Mark my Works," including best column by The National Newspaper Association, Suburban Newspaper Association and The Society of Professional Journalist.

Mark Allan Segal
Born1951
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
OccupationAuthor, Journalist, Gay Rights Activist, Columnist
Spouse(s)Jason Villemez

Gay rights activism

Segal was a participant at Stonewall in 1969 and help found the Gay Liberation Front that same year. He was also a member of The Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day committee, which organized the first Gay Pride parade in 1970. 

In 1972, after being thrown out of dance competition for dancing with a male lover, Segal crashed the evening news broadcast of WPVI-TV, an act that became known as a "zap" and that he helped popularize. He repeated the action during many other television broadcasts.[6]

In 1975, he went on a hunger strike on behalf of the passage of a law to guarantee equal rights for homosexuals.[7] In 1976, he founded the Philadelphia Gay News, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Philadelphia area. The publication was inspired by activist Frank Kameny, whom Segal first met in 1970. In 1988, Segal had a televised debate with a Philadelphia city councilman, Francis Rafferty, about Gay Pride Month.[8]

Segal partnered with the Obama Administration to create and build the nation's first official “LGBT Friendly” Senior Affordable housing apartment building. The 19.8 million dollar project known as The John C. Anderson Apartments opened in 2013.[9]

On May 17, 2018, Segal donated 16 cubic feet of personal papers and artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.[10]

Book

Segal is the author of the book "And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality" a memoir of his life and experience as a gay rights activist.[11] The book was named "Best Book" by the National Lesbian Gay Journalist Association in 2015.

Personal life

Segal is Jewish and originally from Mount Airy, Philadelphia. He attended school at Germantown High School and Temple University.[12] His friends include several prominent gay activists like Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Harry Hay and Troy Perry.[13]

On July 5, 2014, Segal married his partner of 10 years, Jason Villemez.[14] At the time, Villemez was 29 and Segal was 63. The ceremony was officiated by Judge Dan Anders, Philadelphia’s first openly gay judge.[15]

References
  1. "Mark Segal and his Famous TV Zaps". GayRVA, 10/8/2010.
  2. "Memoirs of a gay activist | Mark Segal". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  3. ""Mark Segal, The Gay Raiders And Walter Cronkite: That's The Way It Was"". Archived from the original on May 26, 2012.
  4. http://www.eriegaynews.com/aboutegn/credits.php?recordid=23827
  5. William Bender. "Phila. Gay News articles examine homosexuality in U.S. history". The Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/13/2011.
  6. Edward Alwood. "Walter Cronkite and the Gay Rights Movement". The Washington Post, 7/26/2009.
  7. "Gay Activist Goes on Hunger Strike". Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 12/1/1975.
  8. "On TC, Rafferty and Segal debate gay pride month". Philadelphia Daily News, 7/7/1988.
  9. Saffron, Inga. "Changing Skyline: John C. Anderson Apartments, LGBT-friendly and urban-friendly". inquirer.com. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
  10. Cohen, Adam. "Mark Segal, LGBTQ Iconoclast, Activist and Disruptor, Donates Lifetime of Papers and Artifacts". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  11. "And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality". amazon.com. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
  12. News, Mark Segal, Publisher, Philadelphia Gay. "You're right: I'm Gay, Jewish, and old". inquirer.com.
  13. Adam Satariano. "Barbara Gittings, Pioneer Gay Activist, Dies of Cancer at 75". Bloomberg, 2/19/2007.
  14. Staff, P. G. N. (2014-07-10). "Wedding: Mark Segal and Jason Villemez". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  15. Shister, Gail. "First openly gay male judge in Phila. to take oath today". inquirer.com. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
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