Hawaii Gay Rights
Activist Dies

William E. Woods, a gay rights advocate best known for founding Hawaii's Gay and Lesbian Center, died September 28. He was 58.

Woods also founded and directed the Gay and Lesbian Education and Advocacy Foundation, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

"I gave him a lot of credit for the incredible energy he had," Nancy Kern, said STD/AIDS prevention coordinator for Hawaii's Health Department. "He was a tireless advocate."

Woods was the district chairman of the Democratic Party and head of the GLBT Caucus, and was also an advocate for same-sex marriage, according to the Bulletin.He ran unsuccessfully for the state house of representatives in 2006.

Woods married Lance W. Bateman in 2003 in Canada. Bateman told the paper that the best memorial to Woods would be "to become or continue to be active in the fight for civil rights for everyone, [and] public health education in Hawaii." (Kandice Day, The Advocate)