Friends and family will gather Saturday, March 5, from 2-4 p.m. for a memorial tribute to longtime activist Bruce Monroe. Monroe died Dec. 4, 2021, at the age of 65 following a long battle with ataxia. His involvement in Dallas’ LGBTQ community began in the 1980s when he joined the Dallas Gay Alliance. He soon became head of DGA’s publications committee and helped raise money for underfunded operations, programs and education. As the AIDS epidemic progressed, Monroe became a leader in efforts to focus attention on the epidemic and to get proper treatment and services for those with HIV/AIDS. He helped plan and execute many AIDS demonstrations around the city, from chalking the outlines of bodies on City Hall Plaza representing Dallasites who had died of AIDS to dumping newspaper-filled “bodies” on the steps of the county’s health department. As DGA president, Monroe led the merger of DGA’s umbrella structure and the Foundation for Human Understanding to create the organization now known as Resource Center. In 2020, he received Dallas Black Tie Dinner’s Kuchling Award. Friends and family ask that memorial donations in his name go to Resource Center.
