Keith F. Marsh; Gay Activist Was Political Candidate
Keith F. Marsh, attorney and gay activist who ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature, has died at 48.
He died Saturday in Los Angeles of AIDS, his law partner, Richard L. Davis, said Monday.
Never elected, Marsh was a perennial Republican challenger to incumbent Democrats in northeast Los Angeles districts with heavy Democratic voter registration. In 1982, he ran against Assemblyman Art Torres for the open 24th District Senate seat. Two years later, he took on Assemblyman Richard Alatorre in the 55th Assembly District. Last year, Marsh challenged Torres for his Senate seat.
In the 1984 race, Marsh was one of four candidates fielded by the Log Cabin Club, an organization of gay Republicans. As a former president of the group, Marsh hoped to promote gay-rights issues along with traditional conservative Republican ideas.
Running unopposed in the Republican primaries gave Marsh and his colleagues seats on the county and state central committees of the Republican Party and a greater voice in party policy and state gubernatorial appointments.
Marsh also was active in Los Angeles Lawyers for Human Rights.
He is survived by his parents, Floyd and Margaret Marsh of Dewey, Ariz.; sisters Karen Alexander and Joyce Meyer of Phoenix, and a brother, Neal Marsh of New York.
Services are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today at Forest Lawn’s Church of the Hills, Forest Lawn Drive. Burial will be in Lander, Wyo.
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