Prominent Lawyer in Fight for Gay Rights Dies After Setting Himself on Fire in Prospect Park

New York Times ^ | April 14, 2018 | JEFFERY C. MAYS

[reaganaut1]

A lawyer nationally known for being a champion of gay rights died after setting himself on fire in Prospect Park in Brooklyn early Saturday morning and leaving a note exhorting people to lead less selfish lives as a way to protect the planet, the police said.

The remains of the lawyer, David S. Buckel, 60, were found near Prospect Park West in a field near baseball diamonds and the main loop used by joggers and bikers.

Mr. Buckel left a note in a shopping cart not far from his body and also emailed it to several news media outlets, including The New York Times.

Mr. Buckel was the lead attorney in Brandon v. County of Richardson, in which a Nebraska county sheriff was found liable for failing to protect Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered in Falls City, Neb. Hilary Swank won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mr. Teena in the 1999 movie “Boys Don’t Cry.”

While serving as marriage project director and senior counsel at Lambda Legal, a national organization that fights for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Mr. Buckel was the strategist behind important same-sex marriage cases in New Jersey and Iowa.

Friends said that after he left the organization, Mr. Buckel became involved in environmental causes, which he alluded to in his note as the reason he decided to end his life by self-immolation with fossil fuels.

[reaganaut1]

I don't want crazy people to kill themselves. I also do not want them to be running the country, which seems to be happening a lot these days.

[a fool in paradise]

"Welcome to the Woodshuck Festival: Three Days of Peace, Love, and Death"

[a fool in paradise]

He’s hardly the first far left homosexual activist to be certifiably mentally ill and to take his or her own life.

[PeterPrinciple]

Mr. Buckel became involved in environmental causes, which he alluded to in his note as the reason he decided to end his life by self-immolation with fossil fuels.

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That makes sense........................

[PROCON]

Good, now we can rename April 15th from 'Tax Day' to 'Liberal Whacko Self-Immolation Day'

Perhaps it'll catch on.

[50sDad]

How insensitive! Didn’t you consider his carbon footprint?

[Tea Party Terrorist]

He sure showed us!

[Vaquero]

So the environmental buttwipe lit himself on fire? Did he pay a carbon tax for that?

[SunkenCiv]

• Famed gay rights lawyer sets himself on fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park in protest suicide(trunc)
• Environmentalist Burns Himself to Death to Protest Fossil Fuels
• Green activist lawyer burns himself to death to protest global warming
• Top LGBT rights lawyer sets himself on fire at Brooklyn park in protest suicide

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Wow. This has to be the first documented case of a wacko environmentalist in LUV with Mudder Erf, actually walking the walk instead of just talking the talk.

Can’t not be impressed a little...

[TheCipher]

Well, that’s one protest that went up in smoke.

[goldstategop]

Soylent Green Is People.

Now he’s part of it.

[CrazyIvan]

I was severely scalded when I was 25. I had a hard time staying conciouse long enough to call an ambulance. Nobody deserves to die likebthis.

[junta]

So now the police are liable for failures to protect or is this reserved for a higher class of citizen then say myself?

[sipow]

At least he got a head start on things

[ronnie raygun]

His love interest dumped him, my guess. Prominent lawyer tells us all he was educated and mentally ill. Political agenda had nothing to do with it

[nesnah]

Since he was a lawyer, it brings new meaning to liar - liar pants on fire.

[jmaroneps37]

Did he use gasoline to make the fire?

[Neoliberalnot]

Firing yourself up is so gay. Let’s all celebrate the open closet door with a heart warming event.