Nathan Purkiss, a gay man who worked for gay former San Francisco supervisor Mark Leno at City Hall and in Sacramento after Leno was elected to the state Assembly, died July 25, at his home in Davis, California. He was 57.
Moises Díaz, Mr. Purkiss' husband, said the cause was cancer, though he declined to be more specific, telling the Bay Area Reporter that Mr. Purkiss was private about his health issues.
"It was under control until the last six months," Díaz said in a phone interview. "Nathan was very much loved."
Díaz said that Mr. Purkiss went to New York University for his undergraduate studies and received a master's in art history focused on gender and sexuality from San Francisco State University.
It was in policy work that Mr. Purkiss excelled, Díaz said. "He was whip-smart when it came to policy," he explained, adding, "he had no problem educating himself" if he needed to learn more about a subject.
Leno echoed those sentiments.
"Nathan was an extraordinary staffer," he said in a phone interview. "He was very creative in his thinking, and empathetic and compassionate with all our constituents."
Mr. Purkiss worked as a legislative aide at City Hall for Leno when he represented District 8, which includes the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood, on the Board of Supervisors. He then worked in Sacramento for a time after Leno was elected to the Assembly. (Leno would go on to win election to the state Senate before leaving public office and running unsuccessfully for San Francisco mayor in the 2018 special election that saw London Breed win that race.)
Leno talked about Mr. Purkiss' major accomplishments. Those included the formation in 1999 of a Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force when Leno was on the Board of Supervisors. Leno said that Mr. Purkiss pointed out that in the early 1990s, former supervisor Terence Hallinan led hearings at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission that produced a report on transgender issues.
"Not uncommonly, it ended up on a shelf," Leno said of the document.
Leno explained that his office accessed the report and found that it focused on the many needs of the trans community, which included access to education, housing, employment, and access to medical care. That led to the creation of the task force.
"The task force was made up entirely of representatives from the community," Leno said.
Its priority recommendation was equal access to the San Francisco County health plan for trans county employees. (San Francisco is both a city and county.)
"I, as supervisor, introduced a local ordinance to do just that," Leno said, adding that at the time, the county's health plan had exclusions for gender-related care, as did other health insurance plans. This was the case even as the county health plan would provide the same services for employees who were not transgender, such as hormone therapy, mastectomies, and other procedures.
Leno had introduced the ordinance in 2001. He said that usually, ordinances required at least six votes by the 11-member Board of Supervisors. But in this case, amending the county health plan would require nine votes. Then-supervisors Leland Yee and Tony Hall voted no. The other nine voted for it. In 2006, when Yee was running for the state Senate, he apologized for the vote, as the B.A.R. reported at the time.
Later in the state Senate, Leno would pass a similar measure.
"Private insurers followed the public lead, all to Nathan's credit, and our little ordinance changed the way insurance" is done, Leno said.
Mr. Purkiss got his start in politics when he worked as an aide to the late gay political consultant Robert Barnes. He left Barnes' firm to work for Leno after he became a supervisor. Mr. Purkiss was long an active member of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club.
"Alice was shocked and saddened by the passing of Nathan Purkiss, a longtime Alice board member," Mawuli Tugbenyoh, club co-chair, wrote in an email. "Nathan was effortlessly kind and generous with his time and devoted to his community. He was especially talented at telling the storied history of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club. On behalf of current and past Alice board members, I would like to express our deepest condolences to his family, chosen family, and friends."
Other work in San Francisco consisted of promoting a thriving and exciting San Francisco nightlife scene with the San Francisco Late Night Coalition. Leno recalled that Mr. Purkiss' efforts led to the establishment of the city's entertainment commission and small business commission.
On Monday, August 12, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) adjourned that day's session in memory of Mr. Purkiss, "a former legislative staffer and a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community."
Wiener noted Mr. Purkiss' long involvement in the Alice club, and said he was also a member of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. Mr. Purkiss began his activism with ACT UP/Los Angeles before he moved to San Francisco, Wiener said.
Life after San Francisco
After working for Leno in Sacramento, Mr. Purkiss moved back to San Francisco for a time. About 10 years ago, he moved to Los Angeles, said his friend, Reese Aaron Isbell.
Mr. Purkiss and Díaz moved to Davis in 2018 so that Díaz could complete his undergraduate degree. Díaz said he and Mr. Purkiss had been together for 14 years and married in December 2016.
Residing in Davis, which is in Yolo County, did not stop Mr. Purkiss from being involved in LGBTQ issues, Díaz said. In fact, last year, Mr. Purkiss spoke out against Woodland Joint Unified School District board member Emily MacDonald after she made a transphobic comment at a school board meeting, referring to trans people as a "social contagion."
After her comments in 2023, MacDonald became the subject of a recall election that was held in March. Voters chose to recall her, but she resigned just before the election was certified, the Davis Vanguard reported.
Díaz said that Mr. Purkiss followed up in the months before the recall by speaking up during public comment at the Woodland district school board meetings.
"He would talk about how schools aren't the place for hate and this is a human rights and civil rights issue," Díaz said. "He helped create LGBTQ history in Yolo County."
During his remarks, Wiener said that Mr. Purkiss helped charter the Yolo Pride Democratic Club and served as the club's president.
"He leaves a world made better by his advocacy," Wiener said.
Enjoyed video games, travel
Díaz said that Mr. Purkiss, who enjoyed playing video games, taught himself to create an online game environment for the game City of Titans, which he said came about after the dissolution of the City of Heroes game.
"His game partners commented that it was pretty amazing," Díaz said. "It was his baby; an online environment people could go to."
This occurred in 2015-2016, when former President Donald Trump was running in his first campaign for the White House.
"It was so depressing," Díaz recalled. "He needed something positive, and it ended up being this game. He taught himself computer design skills and was really proud. He had a strong online community environment and friends."
Díaz said that he and Mr. Perkins enjoyed traveling. They went to Paris a couple of times. Díaz said Mr. Purkiss enjoyed amusement park rides.
Mr. Purkiss also appreciated serving as a mentor to young people, helping them find their voice.
"Nathan was the love of my life," Díaz said. "I was fortunate to spend almost 14 years with him. He had an amazing curiosity about life and more amazing was his humility about himself — and grace that was unmatched, in my opinion."
Leno said that he was able to speak with Mr. Purkiss shortly before his passing.
"We had some wonderful conversations, and I was able to thank him for all he had done," Leno said.
In addition to Díaz, Mr. Purkiss is survived by his mom, Geri Thomson, and her husband, Pat Thomson; his dad, Bill Purkiss, and his wife, Christina Purkiss; and his brothers and their spouses: Ed Purkiss and his wife, Mary Purkiss; Adam Purkiss and his wife, Vivian Chan; and many nephews, nieces, and a godson. Díaz said that Mr. Purkiss' "adopted family" includes Bart Broome and Ronald Regina; Gabriel Plumlee; John Marasigan; Brian Mays; Bryan Hughes and Tom Bagby; and Victor Torres-Bowser, among many others.
Díaz said that a community-centered celebration of life is planned for late October.
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