Jun 05, 2009  |  By: Staff & Wire Reports  | COMMENTS     

Bob Witeck’s ties are deep both to Washington and the gay community nationally. His father worked on the Hill and met his måother at a boarding house at 18th and N streets. And he’s mostly stayed in the area.

He’s been involved in seemingly every major gay rights group in the country at one point or another. It started with the late Steve Endean, his friend since the ’70s, and Gay Rights National Lobby (which became Human Rights Campaign). Witeck has been involved at various times with National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and more.

He and business partner Wes Combs started Witeck-Combs Communications in 1993 to combat misconceptions about the lives of gay people.

“I felt we’d compartmentalized our lives to such a degree that people could be out just about everywhere but work,” he says. “And even if you were out at work, it still seemed like that was one place people didn’t bring the gay aspects of their lives … back then there was this stereotype that we were all rich, gay, white men who were waiters and florists and all HIV-ridden, diseased human beings.”

Witeck and Combs thought if correct information was provided to people of power in various arenas, it would pay exponential dividends.

Witeck and his domestic partner, Bob Connelly, have been together 15 years. Connelly was interviewing Combs for a TV show and Witeck was smitten. They’ve been together ever since.

Witeck, one of this year’s Capital Pride heroes, says he’s honored by the distinction but jokes that he wasn’t chosen, “in the swimsuit competition.” The 57-year-old Arlington, Va., resident likes writing, reading, travel, his new Kindle and “Facts of Life” reruns with his partner. So with two Bobs in the family, what do they call each other?

“We have about 400 names,” Witeck says. “None of which I can share.”

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I came out to myself when I was about 23 or 24. Perhaps the toughest person to tell was a young woman and co-worker on Capitol Hill nearly 30 years ago, when we both were the last ones remaining at a party and she started to kiss me ardently. I had to yell “whoa,” and then find a casual way to find out if she had a good-looking brother.

Who’s your gay hero?

I have quite a few gay heroes; let me name three. My partner, Bob Connelly, is heroic in life and love. My business partner, Wes Combs, is heroic in life and business. And Frank Kameny is a lifetime inspiration.

What is Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

I have to say the old “Lost and Found,” a place where I often felt safe and happy, even after my shock at meeting a straight friend there for the first time one evening.

If gay marriage were legal, would you tie the knot?

Yes, because for the past 15 years I am still enjoying a very long honeymoon with my partner. We might as well make it legal after all these years.

What non-gay issue are you most passionate about?

Access for all to quality, affordable health care.

What historical outcome would you change?

In my lifetime, I would certainly change the 2000 Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore. But in earlier world history, I also would have made very sure Adolf Hitler never ran anything more ambitious than a sauerkraut pushcart in Dusseldorf.

What has been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

That would be the life-changing day my parents brought home a color television set. It would have been far more momentous if I did not have to share the dial with six siblings.

On what reality TV show would you fare best?

Then — “American Bandstand.” Now — “Meet the Press.”

What item of clothing has been in your closet since high school?

If you have been rummaging in my closet (was that you?), you’d probably guess from my wayward sense of style, almost every single thing in it.

If your life were a book, what would the title be?

“Persuasion” (with appropriate credit to Jane Austen).

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Stop funding science research about the origins of sexual orientation.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

Chocolate. It transcends the physical world, or so I fantasize.

What would you order for your last meal?

I would insist on a really chewy main course, lots of side dishes and really long-lasting dessert. I would even ...