Michigan LGBTQ-rights activist Jeffrey Montgomery, the founding executive director of the Triangle Foundation, died July 18 at age 63, The Metro Times reported.
In 1991, Montgomery, Henry D. Messer and John Monahan co-founded the foundation, which later merged with Michigan Equality to become Equality Michigan. Montgomery was spurred to form the foundation by the fatal shooting of his boyfriend, Michael, outside a Detroit gay bar; people allegedly did nothing about the shooting, considering it just another “gay homicide.”
Equality Michigan Executive Director Stephanie White said, “We mourn his loss and send love to all of his family, including the vast network of chosen family who have loved him from all across the country and here in Michigan. Jeff leaves a giant legacy that won’t be forgotten. We are eternally grateful for all of the work that he’s done for our community.”
Sean Kosofsky, executive director of The Tyler Clementi Foundation and former policy director for Triangle Foundation, added, in part (via Facebook), “Jeff help build a team of bold and, dare I say, radical staff, board and interns. His brilliant tactical and communications skills helped build Triangle Foundation into a nationally respected institution feared by the right wing and admired by LGBT groups nationally. … His contributions to the world are too many to enumerate. His absence from the professional activism is a gap too huge to explain.”
“Jeff’s work leaves a lasting legacy and imprint on the LGBTQ movement in the United States and beyond. We are deeply saddened by the loss of this most precious friend,” said Sue Hyde, director of the National LGBTQ Task Force Creating Change Conference. “Jeff attended many Creating Change Conferences, including the two held in Detroit in 1995 and 2008. He presented innumerable workshop sessions — training and educating our movement about anti-violence tactics and strategies, one of his great missions in life. Jeff lent his skills and wisdom to many in our movement, young and old, people of all races and classes, all folk who shared his abiding passions for LGBTQ freedom, justice and equity. He will be so missed by so many for so long. Rest in Peace and Power, Jeff.”
In a press release, Woodhull Freedom Foundation President/CEO Ricci Levy said, in part, “Jeff was a brilliant strategist, a remarkable teacher, a powerful leader, and, above all, my friend. For all the ferocity of his refusal to let others suffer harm, Jeff was a gentle soul. He cared deeply for those he served for so long, speaking out for human rights for almost three decades through his advocacy against violence, homelessness, HIV, and the recognition of the diversity of family, sex and sexuality.” (Montgomery was one of the founding board members of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, also known as the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance.)
The Metro Times article is at MetroTimes.com/Blogs/archives/2016/07/19/michigan-lgbtq-activist-jeffrey-montgomery-dies .