David Mixner, LGBTQ+ activist who was once a major figure in L.A. politics, dies at 77

David Mixner, a longtime LGBTQ+ activist who was an advisor to Bill Clinton during his presidential campaign and later called him out over the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer personnel in the military, has died. Mixner believed that the LGBTQ+ community needed to be visibly and consistently involved in the political process and “dragged people along with him,” said Parker, the former mayor of Houston. In a speech, Mixner called Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, an “old-fashioned bigot” for opposing Clinton’s plan to lift the ban on gay people in the military. He said Clinton “sacrificed the freedom of millions for your own political expediency.” Days later, Mixner was among more than two dozen people arrested in front of the White House in a protest of Clinton’s retreat from his campaign pledge to lift the ban by executive order.