Report: Journalist, Gay Rights Activist Doug Ireland Has Died

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York journalist and gay rights activist Doug Ireland died this past weekend at the age of 67, according to a published report.

Mr. Ireland, of the East Village, died this past Saturday at his home in the East Village, according to Gay City News, where he once served as a contributing editor for international affairs.

He had suffered from diabetes, kidney disease and sciatica in recent years and had already survived two major strokes, the newspaper reported.

Mr. Ireland wrote about politics and international affairs, the media, and gay rights issues for a number of publications, including the New York Post, New York Magazine, the Village Voice, POZ Magazine, In These Times, and several publications in France, according to published reports. He had also contributed to nearly every issue of the Gay City News in recent years.

Prior to going into journalism, Mr. Ireland was a New Left political activist in the 1960s and '70s, working with Students for a Democratic Society and helping labor leaders organize against the Vietnam War, Gay City News reported. He also ran anti-war Democrat Allard Lowenstein's successful congressional campaign in 1968, and feminist leader Bella Abzug's likewise Congressional campaign on the Upper West Side in 1970, the newspaper reported.

In the 1990s, he was a left-of-center critic of Bill Clinton's administration, and wrote a syndicated "Clinton Watch" column, according to published reports.

As a writer on gay rights issues, Mr. Ireland focused on numerous contemporary LGBT writers who criticized the established LGBT leadership, such as Sarah Schumna, Michael Bronski, Martin Duberman, Urvashi Vaid, and Peter Tatchell, Gay City News reported.

In his writing, Mr. Ireland criticized LGBT leaders for what he said was a lack of action on human rights abuses worldwide, the newspaper reported.

He also played a studio executive in the 1980 Woody Allen movie "Stardust Memories," according to published reports.

Mr. Ireland's body was to be cremated, and a memorial service was planned for a later date, the newspaper reported.

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