His father Charles Edward Haggerty (1901–1961), was a dairy farmer, while his mother Asylda Mary (née Remillard) (1915–1999), was a homemaker, who later became a teacher following the death of her husband.

[1] He later became an artist and an activist with the local chapter of the Gay Liberation Front after moving to Seattle to pursue graduate studies at the University of Washington.

Haggerty was close friends with blues musician Blackberri, activists Faygele Ben-Miriam and Bobbi Campbell and gay film critic Paul Kagourtine.

[10] After disbanding Lavender Country in 1976, Haggerty ran two unsuccessful campaigns for political office, once for Seattle City Council and once as an independent candidate for a seat in the Washington House of Representatives,[10] and continued to work as a gay rights and anti-racism activist.

[14] The 1973 album was rereleased on independent label Paradise of Bachelors in 2014,[15] and the band have played several reunion shows in 2014 to support the reissue.

[16] Haggerty recorded a story for StoryCorps about coming out to his father in 1959, which was adapted into the animated short film The Saint of Dry Creek in 2015.

[17] In 2016, director Dan Taberski directed a short film titled These C*cksucking Tears which starred Haggerty and told the story of his life and career.

In January 2022, it was announced that the band's second album, Blackberry Rose would get a full release on Don Giovanni Records on February 18, 2022.

"[24] Blackberry Rose has been described as "full of twang, sometimes funny, often quirky, and not very tight musically (in a Grateful Dead kind of way).