Drew Shafer (April 9, 1936 – September 30, 1989)[1] was an American gay activist from Kansas City, Missouri.
[2] He also spoke about the conference on a local radio show, which nearly lost him his clerical job at a Caterpillar Tractor Company plant.
He and his friends "were now responsible for printing and mailing everyone’smagazines, newsletters and pamphlets — all from a basement in Shafer’s house".
The following year, he joined protests against Anita Bryant in Columbus and Kansas City.
[1] In 1986, Shafer volunteered to work at an AIDS hospice center in Kansas City.
[1][2] Unlike most other gay men at the time, Shafer was fully supported by his parents, who also joined in his activism.
[3] She had also accompanied Shafer when he initially attended the February 1966 conference,[1] and later became secretary of the Phoenix Society.
[3] They lived on the top floor of the Phoenix House until its closure, when they then moved in with Robert and Phyllis Shafer.
[3] At the hospital, Shafer received a blood transfusion and regained consciousness by the morning of September 30.
[1] Shafer was cremated, and his ashes were spread in the Rose Garden at Loose Park by his partner, parents, and several dozen friends and former members of the Phoenix Society.