Penfield Tate

Last updated
Penfield Tate
Born(1931-06-11)June 11, 1931
New Philadelphia, Ohio
Died1993 (aged 61–62)
Known forBoulder County's first and only Black mayor, prominent LGBTQ activist
Academic background
EducationB.A., Kent State University

Penfield Tate II was the first and only black mayor of Boulder, Colorado. [1] Tate was mayor from 1974 to 1976 and served on Boulder's City Council from 1972 to 1974, and won the most votes of all candidates. [2] [3] He is the only black mayor to serve in Boulder County [1] and was known for his humanitarian efforts and for being an outspoken LGBTQ activist. [4] Tate, as stated by his son, put "Boulder in the forefront of the state in terms of examining tough social issues in terms of equal rights or gay rights" [5] He died in 1993 after a battle with cancer and pneumonia. [6] Tate's son Penfield Tate III is an active politician in Denver, Colorado. In 2020 the city of Boulder proposed renaming its municipal building at 1777 Broadway after Tate. He was also honored with a mural installed on the Boulder Public Library North Building. [7]

Contents

Early life

Penfield "Pen" Wallace Tate II was born on June 11, 1931, to Penfield and Vera Jane Houston Tate in New Philadelphia, Ohio. [8] He was the second eldest of ten children. [2] Tate worked in steel mills in Ohio as a child beginning at age eleven. [9] Tate married his wife Ellen in Philadelphia on September 17, 1955. [8]

Education and career

Tate earned an undergraduate degree from Kent State University in 1952 as a double major in pre-law and political science. [2] While studying at Kent State, Tate played on the school's varsity football team and earned honors as Kent State's first all-American football player. Tate served in the army after his undergraduate graduation, and went on to serve as an artillery officer for fourteen years. [2] While serving in the army Tate studied law and eventually graduated from the University of Colorado's law school in 1968. [4] Following his graduation from law school, Tate worked at Colorado State University as the Humans Relations Director. [2] Tate then went on to open his own firm, Tate, Olin & Tate, in 1972 and remained partner there until 1977. Tate later opened another firm with his son Penfield Tate III in 1977, titled Trimble, Tate, and Nulan; now known as Tate & Tate. Tate expanded his career beyond law and was a passionate political activist. [2] In 1971 the Boulder attorney was elected to the Boulder City Council and served on the council until 1976. [1] He always wore a string of colorful beads. [10] [3]

LGBTQ rights

In 1974, Tate introduced an amendment to Boulder's Human Rights Ordinance known as the "sexual preference" amendment. It proposed prohibiting employers from firing an employee based upon sexual orientation. [4] It passed in City Council, but Boulder residents were incensed and demanded it be voted on by the general public. The amendment lost by a landslide and Boulder residents sought to recall Tate and every council member who voted in favor of the amendment. Tate barely escaped recall, but city councilman Tim Fuller did not. [11] Protesters of the amendment sent hate mail and death threats to Tate and his family. [12] Due to his passionate advocation for LGBTQ rights, Tate was surrounded by controversy and thus, failed to win re-election for mayor. [2] [10] He remains an icon of early LGBTQ rights supporters in Boulder and Colorado. [4]

Related Research Articles

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1987.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1974.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1992.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared Polis</span> Governor of Colorado since 2019 (born 1975)

Jared Schutz Polis is an American politician, businessman, and philanthropist serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019.

Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in Colorado since October 7, 2014. Colorado's state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was struck down in state district court on July 9, 2014, and by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on July 23, 2014. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals had already made similar rulings with respect to such bans in Utah on June 25 and Oklahoma on July 18, which are binding precedents on courts in Colorado. On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Tenth Circuit cases, and the Tenth Circuit lifted its stay. On October 7, the Colorado Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit cleared the way for same-sex marriages to begin in Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Ohio</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Ohio have most of the rights non-LGBT residents have. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Ohio, and same-sex marriage has been legally recognized since June 2015 as a result of Obergefell v. Hodges. Ohio statutes do not address discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity; however, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBT people is illegal in 2020. In addition, a number of Ohio cities have passed anti-discrimination ordinances providing protections in housing and public accommodations. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities. In December 2020, a federal judge invalidated a law banning sex changes on an individual's birth certificate within Ohio.

The Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus is the South's oldest civil rights organization dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. It was founded in 1975, and is the largest LGBTQ political organization in the city of Houston and Harris County. It is known locally simply as "The Caucus". The Caucus is nonpartisan and endorses candidates on the basis of their support for LGBTQ rights, regardless of political party or candidate's sexual orientation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the District of Columbia</span>

In the District of Columbia, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. Along with the rest of the country, the District of Columbia recognizes and allows same-sex marriages. The percentage of same-sex households in the District of Columbia in 2008 was at 1.8%, the highest in the nation. This number had grown to 4.2% by early 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Colorado</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Colorado enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Colorado since 1972. Same-sex marriage has been recognized since October 2014, and the state enacted civil unions in 2013, which provide some of the rights and benefits of marriage. State law also prohibits discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations and the use of conversion therapy on minors. In July 2020, Colorado became the 11th US state to abolish the gay panic defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT history in the United States</span> Aspect of history

LGBT history in the United States spans the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, as well as the LGBT social movements they have built.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Boulder, Colorado, USA.

The state of North Dakota has improved in its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents in the late 1990s and into the 21st Century, when the LGBT community began to openly establish events, organizations and outlets for fellow LGBT residents and allies, and increase in political and community awareness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT conservatism in the United States</span> Movement with conservatism

LGBTQ+ conservatism in the United States is a social and political ideology within the LGBTQ+ community that largely aligns with the American conservative movement. LGBTQ+ conservatism is generally more moderate on social issues than social conservatism, instead emphasizing values associated with fiscal conservatism, libertarian conservatism, and neoconservatism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBT history in the United States</span>

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.

Clela Ann Rorex was an American county clerk who issued the first same-sex marriage license in the United States. Serving as the Boulder County Clerk, Rorex issued a marriage license to a gay couple in 1975 after receiving approval from the District Attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penfield Tate III</span> American politician

Penfield Wallace Tate III is an American politician.

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570 (2023), is a United States Supreme Court decision that dealt with the intersection of anti-discrimination law in public accommodations with the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In a 6–3 decision, the Court found for a website designer, ruling that the state of Colorado cannot compel the designer to create work that violates her values. The case follows from Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. ___ (2018), which had dealt with similar conflict between free speech rights and Colorado's anti-discrimination laws, but was decided on narrower grounds.

The "rainbow wave" was a phrase coined in 2018 to describe the unparalleled number of openly LGBTQ+ candidates running for political office in the United States that year. The rainbow wave began during the 2018 U.S. midterm elections when over 400 LGBTQ+ candidates ran for office and a record-breaking 244 were elected.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Legacy of Penfield Tate, II: Boulder's Humanitarian Mayor". The Colorado Chautauqua Association. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Penfield Wallace Tate II". Colorado Law. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  3. 1 2 "Boulder County History: '71 election unseated incumbents, brought height limit" . Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Taylor: Mayor controversial for support of gay rights". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
  5. ↑ Sutter, Cindy (February 8, 2004). "Black History in Boulder". Boulder Daily Camera. Boulder, Colorado.
  6. ↑ "Taylor: Mayor controversial for support of gay rights". Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  7. ↑ "Boulder proposes renaming building for Penfield Tate II, city's only Black mayor". Boulder Daily Camera. 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  8. 1 2 Krodel, Beth (October 3, 1993). "Penciled Tate, former Boulder mayor, dies". The Sunday Camera.
  9. ↑ Pankratz, Howard (October 20, 1974). "Tate Levels Bias Charge". The Denver Post.
  10. 1 2 "Meet Penfield Tate - A Boulder History Icon | Your Boulder". yourboulder.com. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  11. ↑ "40 years later, Tim Fuller's fall is recalled as Boulder County evolves" . Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  12. ↑ "Boulder's LGBT history: from 'the Hate State' to the Supreme Court - GetBoulder.com". GetBoulder.com. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.