Richard William Paul Pabich (August 23, 1955 – January 1, 2000) was an American

gay rights activist A list of notable LGBTQ social movements, LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Albania * Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT org ...

best known for his role as a campaign manager and friend to

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised i ...

Biography

Pabich was born in

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake (Wisconsin), Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge Co ...

, the eldest child of Francis and Rosemary Pabich. He came to the

Castro district The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

during the 1970s amid a migration of gay and bisexual men. Pabich came out to his parents at Harvey Milk's request, as Milk asked gays across the country to come out to their friends and families to show that nearly everyone knew a gay person. Pabich was instrumental to Milk's career as an activist and politician. Pabich helped to organize and manage Milk's campaigns for public office from 1974 to 1977 and his influence was widely in evidence after Milk was elected to the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...

in 1977. Pabich earned a reputation as an aggressive, charming and savvy political strategist many would seek for advice. Pabich served as a legislative aide to Milk until Milk's assassination in November 1978. Pabich was one of the founders of the

Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club Based in San Francisco, California, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club is a chapter of the Stonewall Democrats, named after LGBT politician and activist Harvey Milk. Believing that the existing Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club would never ...

in 1976. With the onset of the

AIDS epidemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

, the Milk Club was an early advocate of closing down the city's gay bathhouses. The club also created some of the earliest safe sex education materials in the United States. Pabich was the campaign manager for

Harry Britt Harry Britt (June 8, 1938 – June 24, 2020) was an American politician and gay rights activist. Born in Texas, he worked as a Methodist pastor in Chicago as a young man and later moved to San Francisco. There, he worked with Harvey Milk until Mi ...

, who was appointed to succeed Milk following his assassination. Pabich is also credited with helping the political careers of

California Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Neithe ...

woman

Carole Migden Carole Migden (born August 14, 1948, in New York City) is an American politician from San Francisco who represented the California's 3rd State Senate district, third district of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008 and the California's ...

and

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is a retired American politician, lobbyist, and former reporter who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United St ...

. Pabich managed several Northern California campaigns to defeat anti-gay state ballot initiatives in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Death and legacy

After his retirement from full-time politics and move to the East Bay, Pabich remained as an unofficial advisor to

San Francisco Mayor The mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of the San Francisco city and county government. The officeholder has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...

Willie Brown on LGBTQ and AIDS issues. Pabich has been credited with playing a primary role in shaping AIDS policies across the United States. Pabich died on January 1, 2000, at the age of 44. Mayor Brown ordered city flags to be flown at half-staff in San Francisco.

Portrayal in popular culture

In the 2008 feature film ''

Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

'', the role of Dick Pabich was played by Joseph Cross.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pabich, Dick 1955 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people AIDS-related deaths in California Activists from Wisconsin Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area California Democrats Harvey Milk LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ people from Wisconsin American LGBTQ rights activists People from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin