Fred Cherry | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1926-04-15)April 15, 1926 |
| Died | July 30, 2003(2003-07-30) (aged 77) |
| Occupation | Anti-prostitution law activist |
| Years active | 1962 - 2003 |
Fred Cherry (15 April 1926 – 30 July 2003) was an Americanactivist for greater rights forjanes andjohns (clients ofprostitutes).[1] He gained some measure of fame as self-styled "elector ofhomophobia" in his fight against (in his own words) "the OrganizedHomosexual Conspiracy of America", who he said opposed his own fight to get his freedom to patronize prostitutes recognized as being a matter ofcivil rights. Cherry headed the New York groupJohns and Call Girls United Against Repression.[2]
Cherry first began seeing sex workers in 1956 and started his campaign againstNew York State's anti-prostitution laws in 1962.[3]
In the summer of 1964 he joined theNew York City League for Sexual Freedom protesting against the anti-prostitution outside theNew York Women's House of Detention inGreenwich Village. After the publicity surrounding the protest, many members of theMattachine Society (agay rights organisation) joined the League for Sexual Freedom. Under their influence the policies changed, and the league became an anti-prostitution organisation. This development caused Cherry to become anti-gay. He is reported to have said "If those homosexuals had not taken over the League for Sexual Freedom, the League might have achieved the decriminalization of prostitution."[3]
Cherry had a severe disability and claimed because of this he relied solely on prostitutes for sex.[2] In 1985, Cherry, andMargo St. James, filed alawsuit againstEd Koch, then mayor ofNew York City,district attorneyElizabeth Holtzman andPolice commissionerBenjamin Ward, seeking to overturn New York's laws banning prostitution on the grounds that Cherry'sdisability would make it impossible for him to find sexual companionship other than prostitutes, thereby violating theEqual Protection Clause of theFourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lawsuit was dismissed.[4][5][6]
Cherry provided funding for the incorporation of the International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education (ISWFACE) and its daily running costs.[7]
Cherry helped make mathematical history when he published, in collaboration with such distinguished combinatorialists as E.T. Parker and Walter Wallis, a construction of orthogonal pairs of doubly diagonalLatin squares of order 10, thus completing the proof that such pairs exist for all orders other than 2,3 and 6.[8][9] In his words: "this accomplishment gave me a tremendous boost in my self-esteem. Before I had done this, I used to think of myself as a rich bum. Now, I can truly call myself a mathematician, even though I only have a bachelor's degree in mathematics."