Danny Garvin, one of the few remaining “Stonewall veterans,” died in New York, according to GayNZ.com.
Garvin had been among only around 20 people still living to tell the tales of the June 28, 1969, event at New York’s Stonewall Inn that gave rise to the gay-rights movement.
According to a statement from David Carter, author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, “Garvin and Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt proved to be the two most knowledgeable persons about the Stonewall Inn club for the history I wrote of the Stonewall Riots (or Uprising).
“Danny was there the night it opened (on his birthday in 1967), became an habitue of the Stonewall Inn, met his first love there by dancing with him, dated the doorman (Blonde Frankie), and was friends with one of the persons who worked in the coat check. Danny was also one of the more valuable witnesses to (as well as a participant in) the Stonewall Uprising. His gentle and sensitive nature brought a great deal of warm humanity to the history of this watershed event in the LGBT civil-rights movement as well as endearing him to his friends.
“In addition to sharing his life story so generously with me, Danny became a friend. He was always a selfless person. Like most authentic Stonewall witnesses, he did not seek the limelight or recognition. Of all the persons I met working on the book, he was the sweetest. I will always miss him and consider myself blessed and honored to have been his friend.”
A wake was held for Garvin Dec. 12. Church services took place Dec. 13 at the Church of Notre Dame.