{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Richard Heyman | image = <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see WP:NONFREE --> | alt = | caption = | birth_date = c. 1935 | birth_place = Grand Rapids, Ohio | death_date = September 16, 1994 (aged 59) | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | office = Mayor of Key West, Florida | term_start = {{start date|1987}} | term_end = {{end date|1989}} | predecessor = | successor = | term_start1 = {{start date|1983}} | term_end1 = {{end date|1985}} | predecessor1 = | successor1 = <!-- personal --> | party = | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Ohio State University | occupation = | profession = Business owner | committees = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Richard A. Heyman''' (c. 1935 – September 16, 1994) was an American mayor who was mayor of Key West, Florida from 1983 to 1985 and from 1987 to 1989. He was one of the first openly gay public officials in the United States.
==Early life== {{History of Key West}} Richard A. Heyman was born circa 1935. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Ohio.<ref name="nytimesobit">{{cite news|title=Richard A. Heyman Dies at 59; One of First Openly Gay Mayors|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/17/obituaries/richard-a-heyman-dies-at-59-one-of-first-openly-gay-mayors.html|accessdate=August 21, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=September 17, 1994}}</ref> He graduated from Ohio State University in 1957.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>
==Career== Heyman began his career as a schoolteacher in Grand Rapids, Ohio.<ref name="nytimesobit"/> He later works in recruitment in Toledo, Ohio.<ref name="nytimesobit"/> In the 1960s, he moved to Key West, Florida, where he co-founded the Gingerbread Square Gallery in 1972.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>
Heyman served as the mayor of Key West, Florida from 1983 to 1985 and from 1987 to 1989.<ref name="nytimesobit"/><ref name="latimesobit">{{cite news|title=Richard A. Heyman; Among First Openly Gay Officeholders|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-21-mn-41187-story.html|access-date=August 21, 2016|work=The Los Angeles Times|date=September 21, 1994}}</ref><ref name="politicalgraveyardheyman">{{cite web|title=Heyman|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/heyburn-hickerson.html|website=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=August 21, 2016}}</ref> He was one of the first openly gay public officials in the United States.<ref name="latimesobit"/> Under his leadership, the City of Key West passed a resolution to make it illegal for employers to fire staff who had HIV/AIDS.<ref name="nytimesobit"/>
==Personal life, death and legacy== Heyman had a long-time partner, John Kiraly.<ref name="nytimesobit"/> He died of AIDS-related pneumonia on September 16, 1994.<ref name="nytimesobit"/><ref name="latimesobit"/> He was 59 years old.<ref name="latimesobit"/>
His papers are held at the Cornell University Library in Ithaca, New York.<ref name="cornellpapers">{{cite web|title=Guide to the Richard Heyman Papers, 1983-1989.|url=https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM07770.html|website=Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library|publisher=Cornell University|accessdate=August 22, 2016}}</ref>
The Richard A. Heyman Environmental Pollution Control Facility in Key West was named in his honor.<ref name="citywaste">{{cite web|title=Wastewater Treatment|url=http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/department/division.php?structureid=164|website=City of Key West, Florida|accessdate=August 21, 2016|archive-date=June 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610112206/https://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/department/division.php?structureid=164|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2010, a documentary about Richard Heyman's first term as mayor, directed by John Mikytuck, ''The Newcomer'', was released.<ref name="cornellpapers"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, Richard}} Category:1935 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Wood County, Ohio Category:Ohio State University alumni Category:Mayors of Key West, Florida Category:American gay politicians Category:LGBTQ mayors of places in the United States Category:LGBTQ people from Florida Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio Category:AIDS-related deaths in Florida Category:20th-century mayors of places in Florida Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people