He was denied his varsity letters in high school because he was gay. He’s getting them at age 79.

Tom Ammiano – San Francisco Pride 2013
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Before 79-year-old Tom Ammiano trailblazed for LGBTQ politicians and attempted to become the first out mayor in the city of San Francisco, he was a “weird” high school track star in New Jersey.

He never came out while attending the New Jersey Catholic school in the 1950s, but he was still discriminated against for his flamboyancy. Over 60 years later, the prejudice has finally been addressed.

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The New York Times chronicled how Ammiano disclosed while appearing on a radio show that he was denied his well-earned varsity letters his junior year at Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair.

His coaches never explained why they denied him his letters, and he could only suspect that they did it because of his “skinny” body, “high-pitched voice and effeminate mannerisms.”

“If it was discovered you were a gay kid there were two alternatives: psychiatry because they thought you were nuts, or the cops because it was illegal,” he said of the environment for gay people in the 1950s.

Ammiano explained during an appearance on KQED public radio that the exclusion had always haunted him. It exemplifies the atmosphere for gay people prior to Stonewall, and shaped his decision to leave New Jersey a few years later by taking a Greyhound to California to get as far away from everything he knew as he could.

“It’s something that still hurts, even a hundred years later,” Ammiano said in his appearance.

A KQED radio listener, Stephen Saxon, heard that and immediately looked for a way to remedy Ammiano’s wounds. Saxon lost his job as a computer engineer last year, but he’s also a cantor performer for Jewish religious services.

“Sticking up for people who are not like me is part of my responsibility,” Saxon explained, using the concept of “tikkun olam.”

Saxon got in contact with the school, who…

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