Dave Hayward, who chronicled Atlanta’s LGBTQ history, dead at 76

He was also a writer who used to cover LGBTQ news for national publications such as The Advocate and local and regional happenings for Southern Voice and Georgia Voice.

It was in 1971 that Hayward moved to Atlanta from New Hampshire, taken by a visit and what he observed as an openness of gay networks and spaces. He had cofounded Washington, D.C.’s Gay Liberation Front while a student at George Washington University and wanted to continue his activism. After relocating, Hayward was active in a group that formed the first Atlanta Pride in 1972. In 2016, Hayward himself was named as an Atlanta Pride Grand Marshal.

In 1976, Maria Helena Dolan met Hayward. They became immediate friends and partners in activism. “We were intertwined in many ways,” says Dolan. The two organized film screenings and bonded over events such as International Women’s Day at Charis and arranging an Atlanta contingent for a March on Washington.

“I was the one who made the speeches and exhorted the crowds, on panels,” says Dolan. “He organized the events with others and by himself. He knew people and could get things done.”

While working with AID Atlanta running the gay men’s outreach program in 2009 and reaching out to seniors, Steven Igarashi made Hayward’s acquaintance for the first time.

Now serving as the director of communications and community engagement for Atlanta Pride, Igarashi continued to collaborate with Hayward. Atlanta Pride helped to amplify Hayward’s bus tours, while Hayward was instrumental in assisting Atlanta Pride collect its own history and fill in gaps, says Igarashi.

“He was able to give us a lot of background information that had maybe been lost in years of transitions of staff,” says Igarashi. “That was his superpower — he was such a receptacle and retainer of this collected community queer knowledge. Dave was so willing and excited to share that.”

Whenever Igarashi would see Hayward at a community event, Hayward would come over to greet him and present his colleague with a manila folder full of copied papers and news clippings. “I knew that if I ran into him in public, I was leaving with homework,” says Igarashi.

Collin Kelley, who in 2024 became editor of Georgia Voice, had known Hayward a while but started having regular meetings with him this year.

“He had been here since the beginning of the Atlanta LGBTQ movement and had seen so much,” said Kelley. “I think his legacy is going to be as a witness and historian.”

When he was the director of the mayor’s Division of LGBTQ Affairs, Malik Brown met Hayward. Hayward later served on the cultural heritage subcommittee of the proposed new LGBTQ Community Center, of which Brown serves as the project director.

“Dave was persistent and dedicated,” he said. “We are grateful for his commitment.”

Known for his cheerfulness and easy laugh, Hayward was always willing to pass along stories and information to organizations such as the Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity at GSU, getting students excited about queer history.

He was also a huge movie aficionado. His friend Manning Harris was a Katharine Hepburn fan as well. “We would have contests to see who could imitate her best,” says Harris.

Another longtime friend of Hayward was Lorraine Fontana, who met him in the ’70s and said he was underappreciated.

“It is sad that we let him do all of this work and not get recognized himself,” she said.

The final event Hayward planned will be on Dec. 6 at the Tara Atlanta Theatre — a screening of the gay-themed “Fairyland,” about former Atlantan Steve Abbott, whom Hayward knew. Dempsey is also planning a celebration of life for Hayward he hopes will take place in early December.

Jim Farmer is the festival director for Out On Film/Atlanta.