Steve Endean
Stephen Robert "Steve" Endean (August 6, 1948 – August 4, 1993) was an American gay rights activist, first in Minnesota, then nationally. Endean was the first lobbyist for LGBT rights at the Minnesota State Capitol. He was the director of the Gay Rights National Lobby in 1978, and he started the Human Rights Campaign Fund in 1980, serving as its first executive director. He also created the Fairness Fund, a LGBT rights organization, whose primary focus was on grassroots political lobbying. Early life He was born in Davenport, Iowa, to parents Robert and Marilyn Endean, and from 1954 to 1959, lived in Illinois. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Bloomington, Minnesota in 1966. In 1967, he attended College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota for one year. He then attended the University of Minnesota from 1968 to 1972, majoring in political science. He lived in Bloomington, before moving to Washington DC in 1978. He came out to his parents when he was 22 years old, by giving them a letter telling them he was gay. Career His first foray into politics was in 1970, when he was an aide to the Wendell Anderson for governor campaign, and then