blogs.VillageVoice.com – by Julie Bolcer
“Whose streets? Bob’s streets!” “Is anyone here fighting for queers?”
More than 100 people chanted on Sunday evening as they marched down Seventh Avenue South in what they called a political funeral to honor Bob Kohler. The legendary West Village resident died on Wednesday at age 81, after decades of multi-issue activism that spanned desegregation, gay and transgender rights, HIV/AIDS, and the anti-war movement.
The colorful but bittersweet send-off lasted just over two hours, and wound through locations of significance for Kohler, and by extension the twentieth-century history of gay liberation. Beginning at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center on West 13th Street, and escorted by a police van, it streamed to Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn. Then, it headed down Christopher Street, to where he once operated the popular clothing store named The Loft. Finally, it reached the Hudson River and the piers, lately the controversial gathering place for queer youth in an increasingly upscale, heterosexual neighborhood. His ashes were scattered at each of the stops, the ground was chalked, and candlelit memorials were created.