James Hormel, America’s First Openly Gay Ambassador, Dies at 88

James C. Hormel, the archetypal openly cheery idiosyncratic to correspond the United States arsenic an ambassador, died connected Friday successful San Francisco. He was 88.

His death, astatine the California Pacific Medical Center, was confirmed by a household spokesman. His son, Jimmy, said Mr. Hormel had been successful the infirmary for astir a week.

Mr. Hormel, a philanthropist and the grandson of the laminitis of Hormel Foods, served arsenic ambassador to Luxembourg nether President Bill Clinton. But his information process was met with nationalist opposition, spearheaded by blimpish Republicans who portrayed Mr. Hormel arsenic a sinner and equated being cheery to having an addiction oregon being a kleptomaniac.

Mr. Clinton archetypal nominated Mr. Hormel for the station successful 1997. By then, Mr. Hormel had been openly cheery for 3 decades. He besides had an awesome grounds of accomplishments.

As dean of the University of Chicago Law School from 1961 to 1967, helium established the James C. Hormel Public Service Program to promote instrumentality students to spell into nationalist service. In the aboriginal 1990s, helium was an alternate typical of the U.S. delegation to the 51st United Nations General Assembly, the founding manager of the City Club of San Francisco and a manager of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

In 1997, Mr. Hormel was besides the president of Equidex, a San Francisco-based institution that manages the Hormel family’s philanthropical endeavors and investments, a presumption helium would proceed to clasp for years. He was agelong progressive successful the Democratic Party arsenic a donor and served connected the committee of the instauration of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest cheery and lesbian organization.

But his information was an issue for the Republican senators James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas and Robert Smith of New Hampshire, who raised 11th-hour objections arsenic the Senate was pushing to corroborate nominees successful the session’s last days that year. The Senate bulk leader, Trent Lott of Missouri, yet blocked the Senate from voting connected the nomination.

The senators cited Mr. Hormel’s governmental views and his cheery rights activism arsenic reasons to reason his nomination. “Our interest is astir this nominee’s governmental views,” Gary Hoitsma, a spokesperson for Mr. Inhofe, said. “He’s been an outspoken promoter of things similar same-sex marriages, things we don’t hold with.”

Mr. Hormel, undeterred, met with each of his skeptics 1 connected one, challenging their opposition. It is unclear whether these conversations had immoderate effect, but Mr. Hormel was yet appointed to the ambassadorship successful 1999, erstwhile Mr. Clinton bypassed the mean confirmation process and named him portion Congress was successful recess. Mr. Hormel served arsenic ambassador until December 2000.

“He was a antheral of immense integrity and dignity,” his lad said. “He was ever arrogant astir being the idiosyncratic helium was, and helium ne'er tried to alteration who helium was.”

James Catherwood Hormel was calved connected Jan. 1, 1933, successful Austin, Minn., the youngest lad of Jay and Germaine (Dubois) Hormel and the grandson of George A. Hormel, Hormel Foods’ founder. He grew up successful Austin, wherever overmuch of the municipality worked for the Hormel meatpacking works tally by his father.

Mr. Hormel received a bachelor’s grade successful past successful 1956 from Swarthmore College successful Pennsylvania, wherever helium met his aboriginal wife, Alice McElroy Parker. They joined that twelvemonth and divorced successful 1965.

After graduating from Swarthmore, Mr. Hormel received a instrumentality grade from the University of Chicago. He yet returned to Swarthmore to go a subordinate of the college’s committee of managers. He met Michael P.N. Araque successful 2008, erstwhile Mr. Araque was a inferior there. They joined successful 2014.

For implicit 3 decades, Mr. Hormel worked astatine providing resources to organizations serving radical affected by H.I.V. and AIDS oregon dealing with substance maltreatment and bosom cancer.

Michael Hormel, his husband, said that Mr. Hormel had a “lovely, precise saccharine but full, circular singing voice” and that they were some “fierce advocates of the arts,” supporting the San Francisco Symphony and different arts organizations. He added that Mr. Hormel had liked elemental pleasures, similar acheronian cocoa and an orangish twist successful his gin.

Mr. Hormel received a assortment of awards for his philanthropy, including the Silver Spur Award for Civic Leadership from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association and a beingness accomplishment grant from the Human Rights Campaign. He besides received honorary doctorates from Swarthmore, Hamline University successful Minnesota and the California Institute of Integral Studies.

In summation to his husband, who worked with him successful his philanthropic and charitable work, Mr. Hormel is survived by 5 children, Alison, Anne, Elizabeth, Jimmy and Sarah; 14 grandchildren; and 7 great-grandchildren.

During Mr. Hormel’s clip successful the hospital, his hubby said, helium reflected connected however Mr. Hormel’s passionateness for advocacy had made it imaginable for him to beryllium recognized arsenic his spouse and allowed them to walk the past hours of James’s beingness together.

“If not for his resoluteness to marque the satellite a fairer and much conscionable place,” Michael Hormel said, “I’m not definite adjacent hospitals would person been truthful receptive to my being there.”