Gerry Eastman Studds (May 12, 1937 – October 14, 2006) (pronounced /ˈɡɛri/) was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay national politician in the U.S. In 1983 he was censured by the House of Representatives after he admitted to having had an affair with a 17-year-old page in 1973.
Studds was born in Mineola, New York. He was a descendant of Elbridge Gerry, the governor of...
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Gerry Eastman Studds (May 12, 1937 – October 14, 2006) (pronounced /ˈɡɛri/) was an American Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who served from 1973 until 1997. He was the first openly gay national politician in the U.S. In 1983 he was censured by the House of Representatives after he admitted to having had an affair with a 17-year-old page in 1973.
Studds was born in Mineola, New York. He was a descendant of Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts who is commemorated in the word 'gerrymander'. He was the son of (Gerry) Eastman Studds (an architect who helped design the FDR Drive in New York City) and his wife, the former Beatrice Murphy. He had a brother, Colin Studds, and a sister, Gaynor Studds (Stewart).
He attended Yale University, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall, and from which he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1959 and a master's degree in 1961. Following graduation, Studds was a foreign service officer in the State Department and then an...
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