The Incredible Story Behd Bea Arthur's Plan To Help LGBT Homels Youth After Her Passg - Towleroad Gay News

bea arthur lgbt

Goln Girls star Bea Arthur, née Bernice Frankel, died at home Los Angel at the age of 86 today. She passed away surround by fay members. She will be loudly mourned by the gays.

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HOW BEA ARTHUR GAVE BACK TO THE GAYS WHO LOVED HER

As a shelter for New York's homels LGBT youth prepar to open her name, the son of the edy legend opens up about dner parti wh Rock Hudson, ictn wh Betty Whe and her lifelong passn for "nocents — eher kids or animals or gay teens. * bea arthur lgbt *

The guts were by and large gay men — closeted, as most were back then — who were drawn to Arthur, like moths to a porch light.

“They were always exced to e to her hoe, ” says Matthew, now 55, of his mother’s many gay nfidant. Arthur, who died of ncer 2009 at age 86, occupi a sgular space amid the pantheon of gay ins: Neher preeng show diva nor pill-poppg wreck, she was stead a pillar of liberal-md fortu, always at the ready to do battle wh the Archie Bunkers of the world. All of this held nsirable sway over the emergg gay-rights movement.

Fully aware of the appeal she held over her gay fans, Arthur cid to give somethg back, and left an endowment to the Ali Forney Center, an anizatn for homels LGBT youth New York Cy.

BEA ARTHUR, BELOVED GAY IN, 1922-2009

* bea arthur lgbt *

The mostly-gay crowd very nearly flew to a enzy, “phg toward her, grabbg at her, eager for face time wh the great legend. ) “It seemed like all her chari were mostly about nocents — eher kids or animals or gay or lbian teens, who have a bigger fight than anybody n image, ” Saks says.

Don’t let the gff fa fool you: Arthur was a softy through and through, as evinced by the Bea Arthur Rince for LGBT Youth — an honor, among gay ins, sure, but Saks puts thgs perspective. At the time we only had 12 shelter beds, and over 100 youths wag out the streets to get to those beds, which they saw as prec, for wh they wouldn't face the homophobic harassment they often endured elsewhere.

In an terview wh Next Magaze, Bea said "The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr -- this anizatn really is savg liv.

WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH

As a shelter for New York's homels LGBT youth prepar to open her name, the son of the edy legend opens up about dner parti wh Rock Hudson, ictn wh Betty Whe and her lifelong passn for "nocents — eher kids or animals or gay teens." * bea arthur lgbt *

Relatedlgbt-youth-homelsnsbea arthurgaylgbt youthLbian. " Her rol as Yente Fiddler on the Roof, the outspoken M Fley of All the Fay and M, and most famoly, the tic Dorothy Zbornak of Goln Girls, gaed her an avid gay dience. Gays are postg this blasphemo Virg Dorothy mashup her holy memory:(Photo by AP/Wally Fong).

BEA ARTHUR LEAV $300K TO GAY YOUTH

“The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr…this anizatn really is savg liv. She had a long-lastg romantic volvement wh Adrienne Barbe, who played her -star M, and this, together wh her passnate support for gay rights, led to allegatns that she was lbian or homosexual. "The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr — this anizatn really is savg liv, " the actrs told New York Magaze  2005.

HOW BEA ARTHUR GAVE BACK TO THE GAYS WHO LOVED HER

Throughout her televisn stardom Arthur had close iendships wh gay men Hollywood, and she opened her home as a safe haven to many, cludg the movie star Rock Hudson.

WAS BEA ARTHUR GAY? HER NET WORTH AND CSE OF DEATH

“I may be very pro-gay, but I thk they have the greatt taste and the greatt w, asi om beg fabulo hairdrsers and everythg else, ” she said an old terview shared by Takei. Those nnectns wh gay men – as well as The Goln Girls’ stat as a queer-iendly show – ma her an in among the LGBT+ muny and ultimately led her to polil activism. “There’s people this untry that kick their kids out of their hoe bee they’re gay, and the thought of that, I thk, really upset her, ” he said.

“The kids at the Ali Forney Centre are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are gay, lbian, transgenr… this anisatn really is savg liv. STORY HIGHLIGHTSBea Arthur willed $300, 000 to support homels gay youthThe Ali Forney Center director, Carl Siciliano, was "overwhelmed" by her generosyThe funds will go toward buyg a rince, which will be named after ArthurArthur also raised more than $40, 000 a benef performance for the anizatn (CNN) -- "Goln Girls" star Bea Arthur's generosy liv on.

The amazg thg, he add, is that Arthur "didn't realize at that pot what a ser issue was, that so many thoands of gay kids were on the streets of our untry.

HOW BEA ARTHUR GAVE BACK TO THE GAYS WHO LOVED HER

"The kids at the Ali Forney Center are lerally dumped by their fai bee of the fact that they are lbian, gay or transgenr -- this anizatn really is savg liv.

*EN.BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* BEA ARTHUR LGBT

How Bea Arthur Gave Back to the Gays Who Loved Her .

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