Jul 22, 2005  |  By: ELIZABETH WEILL-GREENBERG  | COMMENTS     

Former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is the latest public figure to die while rumors of homosexuality are omitted from their obituaries, according to some gay rights advocates.

Andrew Sullivan, a conservative gay commentator, lamented on his blog that obituaries about Heath did not delve into rumors about his private life.

“I must also say that it is very weird that the obits barely say anything about [Heath’s] private life,” Sullivan wrote. “He never married. It was widely assumed he was gay … I know of no one in British politics who didn’t talk of it privately. And a gay prime minister — however terrible he was at the job — is an historic matter of fact or at least inquiry.”

Heath’s obituaries did say that he never married, a rarity among U.S. presidents. Much more than his personal life, however, Heath was known for his controversial views and acerbic personality.

Heath became prime minister in 1970 and in 1973 he brought Britain into what is now known as the European Union. While he lost his position in 1975 to Margaret Thatcher, Heath remained active in British politics until 2001, drawing criticism for his controversial comments, which many perceived as supporting dictatorships over democracies.

As for his personal life, Heath’s obituaries only mentioned that he was a “lifelong bachelor.” Some gay rights advocates have criticized media coverage of his death for not noting rumors he was gay. They see this as a continuation of erasing gay celebrities’ sexual orientation from obituaries.

Many gay rights advocates criticized the New York Times’ obituary for writer Susan Sontag, who died in December of last year. Many activists pointed out that Sontag had acknowledged her bisexuality in Britain’s Guardian newspaper and the New Yorker.

“It seems that editors at what are, arguably, the nation’s most respected — and liberal — newspapers believe that one personal detail cannot be mentioned in even the most complete biographies — being a lesbian,” gay author Patrick Moore wrote in the Los Angeles Times in January.

When gay filmmaker Ismail Merchant died in May, newspapers discussed his relationship with his romantic and professional partner, James Ivory, differently.

Only one newspaper — the Los Angeles Times — mentioned Merchant was with Ivory, his “life partner,” for more than 40 years. Reuters and the Associated Press called Merchant and Ivory “partners.” The New York Times obituary stated that they shared a home and lists Ivory as a surviving family member.

The Washington Post made no mention of his romantic relationship with Ivory — but did include a comment from an interview with Merchant where he said he had a “crush” on an actress.

When singer Luther Vandross died earlier this month, most of his obituaries, including the New York Times’, did not mention rumors that he was gay and was rumored to be have had AIDS. The Washington Post’s obituary addressed the rumors at the end of a piece, writing, “Sometimes, he would become so slim that his weight loss prompted some to wonder whether he had AIDS or another disease. … Speculation that he was gay followed him for years, as well.”

The Post quoted from a 2001 Chicago Tribune article in which Vandross called the rumors “crazy.”

Omitting a person’s acknowledged sexual orientation in an obituary is simply prejudice, according to Carolyn Gilbert, the founder of the International Association of Obituarists. However, because obituaries are the “first lines of history,” rumors have no place in obituaries, she said.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg can be reached at eweill-greenberg@washblade.com