First openly gay congressman dies at age 69

BOSTON — Former Rep. Gerry Studds, who became the first openly gay member of Congress when his homosexuality was revealed during a teenage-page sex scandal, died early Saturday. He was 69.

Mr. Studds died at Boston Medical Center days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. Doctors determined his loss of consciousness was due to a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said.

Mr. Studds regained consciousness, but his condition deteriorated Friday because of a second blood clot, said Hara, who married Studds after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004.

Mr. Studds was first elected in 1972 and served for 12 terms. He retired in 1997.

In 1983, he acknowledged his homosexuality after a 27-year-old man disclosed he and Mr. Studds had had a sexual relationship when the man was a teenage congressional page.

The House censured Mr. Studds. At the time, he called the relationship "a very serious error in judgment."

But he did not apologize and defended the relationship as a consensual relationship with a young adult. The former page later appeared publicly with Mr. Studds in support of him.

The scandal resurfaced recently when Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned after exchanging sexually explicit instant messages with a page.