LOS ANGELES -- Peter Scott, founder of the nation's first homosexual political action committee and a prominent gay activist, has died of AIDS-related complications, it was reported Sunday. He was 50.
Scott, who abandoned an attempt for the state Assembly in 1986 after discovering he had the disease, died in his Los Angeles home Saturday, friends told the Los Angeles Times.
Scott, the former chairman of AIDS Project/Los Angeles, was known for his tenacious efforts in statewide campaigns which defeated measures proposing to fire homosexual teachers and require that people exposed to AIDS be registered with the state.
As founder and chairman of the Municipal Election Committee of Los Angeles (MECLA), Scott was active in fund-raising and activism until his illness worsened last April. MECLA, which celebrated its 12th anniversary Saturday night, is Los Angeles's most powerful gay-oriented political group and lobbying committee.
Scott, who was born in Texas and attended the University of Texas, Austin law school, moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s and left a private law practice as he became more politically involved.
Leading the fight to get more rapid federal approval of experimental AIDS drugs, Scott gained the support of state Attorney General John Van de Kamp for a bill allowing California to get faster testing of such drugs. In 1987, Gov. George Deukmejian signed the drug-testing bill, AB 1952, into law.
Scott was hospitalized in August of 1986 and diagnosed as having AIDS, forcing him out of the race for the state Assembly.
Contracting the disease caused Scott to channel his efforts into raising funds to search for a cure to the disease. Along with Elizabeth Taylor, he organized the first $1 million fund-raiser to fight AIDS.
