Alan Fleishman, Brooklyn’s first openly gay Democratic District Leader died this past Tuesday, Aug. 27 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 62.
Raised in Canarsie, Fleishman got his start in politics with the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn (LID) and served as the club’s president from 1988-1990 during the height of the A.I.D.S. epidemic.
According to a memorial on Fleishman on the LID website, he served as president when many Brooklyn elected officials remained opposed to LGBT rights, and his steadfast leadership drove LID’s mission to elect allies to office.
This also led to Fleishman becoming Kings County’s first openly gay District Leader (52nd Assembly District) in 2002.
“Alan Fleishman was my favorite adversary. We often debated about issues but enjoyed a really special friendship,” recalled Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio. “His illness and subsequent death was a real loss to the progressive movement of Brooklyn and silenced a voice that was always adamant but fair. He was the original progressive. I had great respect for him and will miss those many times that we sparred with each other.”
According to LID website, Fleishman remained an active voice in local politics until the end – delighting in sharing his personal, highly informed commentary on stories shaping national and local politics on social media, via email and long phone calls and visits with close, long-time political friends.
“I have known Alan for many years,” said Scott Klein, also a former LID president. “He was an important part of achieving many of the rights LGBTQ have today. We wouldn’t be where we are without him.”
State Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Boerum Hill, DUMBO), who served with Fleishman as the femaole district leader in the 52nd district, said she deeply saddened by Fleishman’s passing.
“Alan was more than my co-leader for four years. He was a friend, mentor, goader, a shaper, a gadfly, a political brain trust. He was incredibly brave and fearless in his support for the candidates and the issues he believed in. Alan and I were always in each other’s corners. I loved him and I will miss him very much. Horace Mann once said that we should “be ashamed to die until we have won some victory for humanity.” If victories for humanity is the measure of a life well-lived, Alan Fleishman lived exceedingly well,” said Simon.
Kings County Politics Editor-in-Chief Stephen Witt recalled Fleishman as an excellent and knowledgable source when he covered Brooklyn Political issues for Courier-Life/News Corp publications from 2001-2010.
“Alan was always the go-to source when it came to the side that wanted to reform the Brooklyn Democratic Party and judicial process under former Kings County Democratic Party bosses Vito Lopez and Clarence Norman,” Witt said.
According to the Gay City News, Fleishman is survived by his mother, a brother and sister, two nephews and a niece.
KCP did not obtain funeral arrangements at post time, but Seddio said he is arranging a memorial for Fleishman on Sept. 21 at Junior’s Restaurant, 386 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn.
