New York City-based dance artist Ari Gold has died at age 47 after a long battle with cancer, according to http://out.com.
Gold—who was also known as Sir Ari and GoldNation— released seven albums as a part of his career. He released music as an out gay artist and started his career in the early 2000s. He was part of many LGBTQ events, including as a performer in the 2006 Gay Games that took place in Chicago.
“Until we meet again, dear friend,” RuPaul tweeted Feb. 14 of the news of Gold’s passing. “Love always, Ru.” Gold reportedly met RuPaul in 2002, and went on to later appear in Ru’s film Starrbooty, as Tyrone Cohen.
Windy City Times interviewed Gold in 2013. At that time, he said was asked about growing up as a gay orthodox Jewish kid. Gold responded, “I was definitely made fun of in class throughout my childhood, maybe in part because I liked Wonder Woman and I twirled around in class. There were even some moments when I felt that I was not accepted by teachers. I was certainly well-liked by the girls, and the boys had a hard time with that.”
When asked about why so many artists hadn’t come out, Gold replied, “Maybe because there is still a lot we’re fighting for in terms of visibility and our civil liberties. The music industry has been going through change and turmoil and people have been very scared about taking any kind of risks. I think one of the biggest reasons is probably because of AIDS. Right after all those superstars came out, instead of that propelling us into positive change, it kind of scared everybody back into the closet. and we also lost a good amount of allies or role models.”