Schoonmaker, Fred, 1942-1987

Fred Schoonmaker was a gay activist in Las Vegas and was born in 1942 in Wellsburg, West Virgina. Growing up in a conservative town like Wellsburg was a challenge, and he would often take a 60 mile bus trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, spending time in gay bars and in the gay community there. Schoonmaker eventually left West Virgina and ended up in Reno, Nevada with his husband Alfred Parkinson, who he had met in the early 1960's. Having experienced discrimination his whole life, Schoonmaker sought and fought to build an LGTBQ+ only community called Stonewall Park. He worked much of his life towards this dream, despite it never coming true. In March 1987, he was officially diagnosed with AIDS,and died on May 20th, 1987 from an AIDS- related heart attack in Reno, Nevada.

Source:

Frost, Natasha. “How Two Men Tried to Start a Hate-Free 'Gay Town' in the Nevada Desert.” Atlas Obscura. Atlas Obscura, August 30, 2018. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/rhyolite-stonewall-park-gay-town.