Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
|
|
The Associated Press - 25 Jul 95
Hinson died Friday at his home in Silver Spring, Md. He died of respiratory failure resulting from AIDS, said his friend, Kate McQueen of Washington, D.C.
Hinson rose from relative political obscurity to win Mississippi's 4th Congressional District seat in 1978 as a conservative Republican. He succeeded Thad Cochran, who was elected that year to the Senate.
Hinson resigned April 13, 1981, early in his second term, after being arrested in a men's restroom in a federal building on Capitol Hill on an oral sodomy charge. He was taken into custody along with a male Library of Congress employee.
Hinson said at the time that his resignation had been "the most painful and difficult decision of my life."
He later publicly acknowledged his homosexuality and became active in the gay-rights movement. He helped organize the lobbying group "Virginians for Justice" and fought against the ban on gays in the military. He also was a founding member of the Fairfax Lesbian and Gay Citizens Association in Fairfax County, Va.
A native of Tylertown, he never returned to his home state, but lived quietly in the Washington area, first in Alexandria, Va., and then Silver Spring.
Hinson won the second term despite his revelation that in 1976, while a Cochran aide, he was arrested on a charge of committing an obscene act. He also disclosed that he survived a 1977 fire that killed nine people at the Cinema Follies, a Washington theater that catered to a gay clientele. He was rescued from under a pile of bodies -- one of only four men that survived.
In an article last year for the Washington Blade, a gay newspaper, Hinson wrote that when first elected to Congress, he was "still closeted and into heavy denial."
Hinson's body was cremated and the ashes will be buried in his hometown following a private service. McQueen said a memorial service was being planned in Washington.
He is survived by a brother, Robert Hinson of Gulfport.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
950725
AP950728
Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1995. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1995. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .