Freedom to Marry bids farewell to Tim Sweeney

May 10, 2013

Last week, Freedom to Marry wished a fond farewell to Tim Sweeney, who has served on the board of Freedom to Marry since the campaign's inception in 2002 and launch in 2003. This year, after 10 years of loyal commitment, Tim, who serves as the president and CEO of the Gill Foundation, announced that he will be stepping down from both organizations for a much-deserved, much-needed break. We applaud the lifelong advocate for the incredible impact he has left so far on the LGBT movement and the campaign to win marriage nationwide. 

Tim has been a stalwart of the LGBT movement for years, leaving his impact on so many different campaigns and fights for equality. He has served as Executive Director of Lambda Legal in New York, as well as the deputy director - and later, executive director, of the Gay Men's Health Crisis, GMHC, during some of the most difficult years of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Under his leadership, GMHC led a national coalition urging Congress to pass antidiscrimination legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Ryan White Care Act. 

In the 1990s, Tim began work as the deputy executive director at the Empire State Pride Agenda and Foundation, where he helped to ensure passage of anti-hate crime legislation, the first law in New York to use the term "sexual orientation" or even "gay" and "lesbian." Next, he became the program director of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund's equality and justice and non-profit leadership and governance programs, in addition to heading up gay and lesbian programs.

Around that time, Tim worked with Evan Wolfson to map out the concept of the organization that ultimately became Freedom to Marry and figure out how to fund and fuel the campaign to win marriage nationwide. He has served with Freedom to Marry since the organization's launch in 2003, and this year, he ends that decade-long commitment in an official capacity.

Tim Sweeney has left an imprint on so many facets of the LGBT community - and he has devoted so much of his life to moving the community forward. We thank him for his years of service and salute him for all of the time, energy, and passion he has devoted - and the passion he has instilled in others - during his lifetime of incredible leadership. We wish him well in all future endeavors and know that all of his energy has moved the community forward in innumerable ways.