Andy Lippincott is a fictional character in the comic strip ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

''. An attorney, he is the openly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

best-friend of Joanie Caucus, one of the core members of the strip's

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

. Although Joanie initially sees Andy as a potential romantic partner, the two become best friends, and she supports him as he navigates the difficulties of

gay culture LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals ( LGBTQ people). It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA culture, while the term ...

in the 1980s, including his eventual contraction of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and subsequent death from the disease. Andy is significant for a number of reasons in the history of newspaper comics, including being the first openly gay character and the first character to die of AIDS.

Publication history

The character first appears in January 1976, in a law library.

Joanie Caucus Joanie Caucus is a fictional character in Garry Trudeau's comic strip ''Doonesbury''. She first appeared in September 1972 in which she has a fight with her husband, Clinton, over her rights as a woman. She finds that her recently acquired femi ...

becomes attracted to him before Lippincott says he is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. (His statement of orientation caused several papers to not run the strip for the week.) Joanie is heartbroken, and takes some time to recover. Lippincott contributes position papers to Virginia Slade's failed run for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1976. He disappears from the strip for a few years after this storyline. In 1982, the character reappears as an organizer for the Bay Area Gay Alliance, and contributes to the congressional re-election of Lacey Davenport. In 1989 he returns to the strip again when he is diagnosed with

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Over the course of the next year, Lippincott's battles with the disease, and eventual death from it, helped bring the AIDS crisis into popular culture. Ultimately, he is shown dying to the sound of the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

' song "

Wouldn't It Be Nice "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys and the opening track from their 1966 album '' Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, and Mike Love, it is distinguished for its sophisticated Wall of Soun ...

", finally fulfilling his wish to hear the (then newly released) CD version of their album ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...

''. Shortly thereafter, Andy made posthumous appearances in the strip, making several days of appearances in a self-made video shown during his memorial service. He later appears in the dreams of Joanie and

Mark Slackmeyer Mark Sheldon Slackmeyer is a character in the comic strip ''Doonesbury''. Character biography Mark starts out as a radical at Walden College, and leads several peace rallies (in his first appearance, he referred to himself as Megaphone' Mark Sl ...

, helping the latter come to terms with his own homosexuality.

Significance

This storyline led to more notability for

Garry Trudeau Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1975, making him the first comic strip artist to win a ...

, but three newspapers of the 900 carrying the strip refused to publish it as being in bad taste. Andy Lippincott may be the only fictional character with a panel on the

AIDS quilt The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, is a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of communit ...

. The panel (created by G. Scott Austen, Marceo Miranda and Juan-Carlos Castano) reads: "In Loving Memory: Andy Lippincott 1945–1990. Community leader, conservationist, author, Olympic medalist, and winner of the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

!" The panel hangs in

The NAMES Project Foundation The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, is a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of communit ...

's offices in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and was not actually sewn into a block of The AIDS Memorial Quilt.Details on Lippincott's panel for the AIDS quilt from the ''Doonesbury Flashbacks'' computer program by

, published by Mindscape in 1995 ().

Notes

References

Lippincott, Andy Lippincott, Andy Lippincott, Andy Lippincott, Andy Comics characters introduced in 1976 {{comics-char-stub