by: Charles Francis

93-year-old conservative rode with us when no one else would

The senator from Wyoming was authenticity itself — a Western force coming at you like a bobcat with a crooked smile. Indeed, the name of his ranch outside of Cody is the “Bobcat.” It was at the Bobcat near Yellowstone Park, where my friend Sen. Alan K. Simpson (1931-2025) did some of his best thinking about history, politics, and how people live and fight.  

When he came to Washington, Al Simpson was steeped in this uniquely Western Bobcat Ranch heritage — from his grandfather, who represented W.F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and prosecuted Butch Cassidy to his mother, a founder of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center that today displays paintings by Thomas Moran and Annie Oakley’s rifles. He was an old-school live-and-let-live conservative Republican, but one with a Western twist — one part sneer, one part laugh-out-loud funny. It was that twist, I believe, that made him unique.

Sen. Simpson stood with his friend Congressman Barney Frank in 1998 on the Capitol steps at the candlelight vigil after the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie. Shaken by the barbarity of what happened, Simpson denounced Shepard’s killing as an “ugly, ugly butchering.  The people of my state and the University of Wyoming want you to know this is not who we are.” Then came a wave of boos and the heckling of Al as a Republican from Wyoming. He told me he never forgot that booing and resolved to continue fighting with us for our equality in the years to come. On this, he was good to his word.

A Houston gay community effort challenged and appealed the sodomy charge of John Lawrence and Tyron Garner in Texas. We believed our organization, a gay-straight alliance, the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC) had a role to play. Alan Simpson stepped forward to serve as our chairman, signing our amicus brief in support of Lawrence and Garner to strike down the Texas sodomy law. He then reached out to his friend “Jerry Ford” (former President Gerald Ford) to join our effort. Ford did so becoming the first and only president to join an LGBTQ advocacy group. In 2003, on the day the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the Lawrence case, Al wrote in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, “Homosexuality should be a non-issue for the GOP… sodomy laws are contrary to American values protecting personal liberty and opposing discrimination.” Al was thrilled when the Court voted 6-3 in favor of Lawrence ending the criminalization of homosexuality. 

When Al came out in support of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the Rev. Fred Phelps (“God Hates Fags”) denounced Al as a “senile old fag lover.” Al responded with grace and hilarity in the style of one of his heroes, cowboy humorist Will Rogers. “Dear Rev. Phelps, I just want to alert you to the fact that some dizzy son of a bitch is sending out mailings and emails using your name! I know you are a god fearing, Christian person filled to the brim with forbearance, tolerance and love…and this other goofy homophobe nut must be something opposite.” Al did not pull back from his support for same-sex marriage. He opposed President George W. Bush on his proposal to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Al wrote in the Washington Post, “Several Senate members want to create more anguish by pushing a proposal to amend the Constitution … but a federal marriage amendment would do nothing to strengthen families, just the opposite.”

For the rest of his long life, Al remained supportive of the LGBTQ community and our families. We disbanded the old Republican Unity Coalition, a delusion we once shared to make “homosexuality a non-issue for the Republican Party.” There are no more Alan Simpson Republicans. They are from another country. I happily left the party and married my “pard” as they call partners in Cody. We were married with a reception in Washington, made all the brighter with Al’s attendance and his wife Ann’s blessings. Later, they gave our son his first stuffie. 

Alan Simpson’s many obituaries and tributes briefly mention his support of “gay rights” without elaboration. We should all pause to reflect on just how far this 93-year-old Republican rode with us when no one else would.

Charles Francis, president of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., served for 10 years as a Trustee of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyo.

Read the article on the Washington Blade website.