Dennis Cabaret, Activist for AIDS, Gay Rights, Dies
Dennis Cabaret, an Orange County gay-rights activist, died Thursday of medical complications related to AIDS. He was 35.
Cabaret was co-chair of the Elections Committee of the County of Orange, a political action committee representing interests of gay men, lesbians, feminists and people infected with HIV.
In that role, he worked toward the passage of the California gay and lesbian employment protection law and fought to reverse the federal ban prohibiting openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military.
Cabaret was also a member of the organization Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. As a member of the speakers bureau, he talked to groups of young people about personal issues of being a gay man.
From 1989 until he became ill in 1991, Cabaret was a marketing executive with an Orange County manufacturer of architectural lighting. Before that, he held an advertising position with a Los Angeles-based lighting firm. He was a graduate of Claremont College.
At the time of his death, Cabaret was planning to participate on an advisory committee for AIDS Walk Orange County and the legislative advisory panel for the local AIDS Care and Treatment Consortium.
He is survived by his partner, Dyke Ouderkirk; his parents, Del and Marilyn Cabaret; sister, Barbara Cabaret; brother, Charles (Moose) Cabaret; grandmother Mina Cabaret; grandparents Lloyd and Julia Pennock; and his longtime companion, Wayne Mendes.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to ECCO, 1700 E. Garry Ave., Suite 108, Santa Ana, Calif. 92705.
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