Bob Kohler

Robert Andrew "Bob" Kohler (17 May 1926 – 5 December 2007) was a gay rights pioneer. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Kohler was a lifelong activist in New York City. He was at the Stonewall riots, He worked as a CBS-TV producer before owning and operating his own talent agency, The Bob Kohler Agency, which was notable for representing a number of black actors throughout the 1960s. In December of 1967, United Talent Agency acquired Kohler’s agency to add to the firm’s expansion plan where Kohler became VP in charge of talent (actors, directors, composers for musicals).

Throughout the 1970s, Kohler was the manager of the New York gay bathhouse, Club Baths, located in the East Village. He also owned and ran the popular gay store The Loft on Christopher Street.

Activism Kohler was on the front lines during the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, which was widely regarded as the demonstration against the police which served as a new beginning for the gays rights movement in the United States. Many who knew Kohler said that he emerged from the Stonewall uprising as a leader and militant activist in the gay community.

After Kohler died in 2007, his friends, colleagues, and admirers took to the streets of the West Village to honor his lifelong commitment to gay activism. They walked down West 13th Street, Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street to Sheridan Square, and ended at the Hudson River piers.