Keith Smith

March 3, 1955 - November 20, 2006

My friend Keith died suddenly and unexpectly right before Thanksgiving in 2006. I knew Keith from the National Stonewall board, and we also shared a passion for the ACLU where we were both delegates to their biennial. The following is from his obituary...

Keith Smith was born in Alva Oklahoma. He and his three brothers were raised by their mother, Verda Smith, and his childhood poverty was one thing that led him to his work.

Smith was a founding member of the Progressive Alliance Foundation, which brought together various organizations with similar aims to form a lobbying force.

He was the founder and president of the Smith Group, which lobbied for the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Oklahoma Policy Consortium for People with Disabilities, the National Association of Social Workers and various gay and lesbian organizations.

He was a founding member of the Oklahoma Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. He was a member of the Stonewall Democrats' national board and was co-chairman of the Central Oklahoma Stonewall Democrats.

Smith worked with the Appleseed Foundation to pass anti-bullying legislation in Oklahoma, and every legislative session he played a role in blocking an average of 20 pieces of legislation that would have restricted women's right to abortions.

"The women of Oklahoma lost their greatest advocate," said Linda Gray Murphy, a close friend of Smith's. "It will take a lot of people to make up for it."

Smith was known as a generous man who frequently donated either his services or his money to causes he supported.

"He was always giving, giving, giving," said Nancy Kachel, president of Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma.

He received the Angie Debo Civil Libertarian Award from the ACLU of Oklahoma, the Margaret Sanger Legacy Award from Planned Parenthood, the Ron Schaffer Memorial Award and the Bill Rogers Award of Merit from the Oklahoma Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, the Democracy in Action Award from the League of Women Voters and the Swan Award from the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Nancy Kachel of Sand Springs, the president of Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma, said that "when he was on a cause, he was unstoppable. He lived it; he ate it."

State Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, called Smith "tireless and determined in his efforts to speak for those who otherwise would have no voice in the legislative process. Whether his issue of the day was the rights of children, women, seniors, the protection of the environment or adequate health care for the poor or the disabled, Keith was a leader in the fight."

Former Sen. Bernest Cain, D-Oklahoma City, said Smith "felt that one of the most important duties of every citizen was to become active in the political process, and he served as an active volunteer in numerous political campaigns, whether hosting fund raisers or walking door to door."

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