[1][5] Kohler was on the front lines during the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, which was widely regarded as the demonstration against the police which served as a new beginning for the gays rights movement in the United States.
He would walk his schnauzer named Magoo through the park and listen to the stories of the gay street youths, often giving them small amounts of money to buy food.
This work included an 18 month period where he would wait outside of the Division of AIDS Services and Income Support (DASIS) office each evening to make certain that no one was turned away without shelter.
He was active with many movements and groups, including the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, Act Up, Sex Panic!, the Neutral Zone, the New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Irish Queers, Fed Up Queers, animal rights groups, and FIERCE!
[1] Some mourners chanted “Wash Your Ass” during the street memorial rally as homage to Kohler’s singular piece of advice to patrons of his 1970s-era bathhouse.