Joel Wachs

Joel Wachs
Wachs in 2000
President of the Los Angeles City Council
In office
July 1, 1981 – June 30, 1983
Preceded byJohn Ferraro
Succeeded byPat Russell
Member of the Los Angeles City Council
In office
July 1, 1971 – October 1, 2001
Preceded byJames B. Potter Jr.
Succeeded byWendy Greuel
President Pro Tempore of the
Los Angeles City Council
In office
July 1, 1995 – June 30, 1999
Preceded byMarvin Braude
Succeeded byRuth Galanter
In office
July 1, 1977 – June 30, 1981
Preceded byJohn Ferraro
Succeeded byPeggy Stevenson
Personal details
Born (1939-03-01) March 1, 1939 (age 85)
Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (until 1993)
Independent (1993–present)
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
New York University (LLM)

Joel Wachs (/ˈwæks/, wax;[1] born March 1, 1939) is an American former politician and lawyer. He is the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City. He was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for 30 years, where he was known for his promotion of the arts, support of gay causes, advocacy of rent control and other economic measures.

The unmarried Wachs was a closeted gay man until he was preparing to run for mayor in 1999 at the age of 60.[2][3] He was asked by Bill Rosendahl, the openly gay moderator of a public affairs television show, "Are you a gay man?" Wachs responded: "I am and I'm very proud of what I've done for the community, and I'm also very proud of the fact that what I've done for the community is what I've done for all communities."[4][5]

  1. ^ Greenly, Mike (March 25, 1986). Chronicle: The Human Side of AIDS. Irvington. ISBN 9780829018004 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference PublicLives was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference JoelWachsToLeave was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Beth Shuster and Patrick McGreevy, "In TV Interview, Wachs Reveals That He Is Gay," Los Angeles Times, November 12, 1999, page B-1
  5. ^ Shuster, Beth; McGreevy, Patrick (November 13, 1999). "In TV Interview, Wachs Reveals That He Is Gay". Los Angeles Times. pp. B1, B5. Retrieved August 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.