The community is invited to attend a Celebration of Life honoring LGBTQ+ historian and activist Dave Hayward on Saturday, April 11.
The service, organized by his family, will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta, 470 Candler Park Drive NE.
Following the service, guests are invited to continue sharing memories and fellowship at Manuel’s Tavern, 602 North Highland Avenue NE, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Born in New Hampshire, Hayward arrived in Atlanta in 1971 when the city’s gay rights movement was still in its nascent phase. A lover of history and storytelling, Hayward began to befriend and chronicle the city’s queer history and the people who were making it. Hayward participated in the city’s first sanctioned Pride march in 1972.
Hayward co-founded the nonprofit Touching Up Our Roots, the LGBTQ+ story project and self-guided audio tour featuring sites important to queer Atlanta
Hayward, 76, died in November after suffering a heart attack in his home. Below is the official obituary provided by his family.
Dave Bryant Hayward obituary
Dave Bryant Hayward of Atlanta, Georgia, whose birth name was David Gould Bryant, passed away suddenly from a heart attack on November 6, 2025. Dave was an ardent journalist, editor, archivist, historian, interviewer, activist, organizer, networker, actor, mentor, friend, and brother.
Dave was born in Newport, NH on August 29, 1949 and raised in Dover, NH. He graduated from George Washington University in 1971 where he majored in Journalism and Drama and where he co-founded the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Gay Liberation Front. Upon graduation, Dave moved to “the city too busy to hate”.
Dave would typically return to his northern roots twice a year, in December for a snowy Christmas and during the summer to visit the family cottage on Merrymeeting Lake in NH. But Atlanta was his home. His dedication to gay rights advocacy and his commitment to chronicling the history of the gay rights movement made him an icon in Atlanta’s gay community. He’s been called a “luminary”, a “force” and a “walking encyclopedia”; his death is a huge loss that has sent shock waves through Atlanta, his family and friends.
Dave co-founded Touching Up Our Roots, Inc., Georgia’s LGBTQIA+ History Project Initiative in 2002 and served as the non-profit’s Coordinator ever since. TUOR’s mission is “to promote, preserve, and publicize the contributions LGBTQIA+ people make to expanding civil rights for all people, creating civic and neighborhood organizations, and enhancing local, regional and national culture”. Dave interviewed numerous LGBTQIA+ community leaders and straight allies, and created and organized many programs for TUOR, including panel discussions, the “Our Founding Valentines” event and the “Story Tour” by trolley, bus, and on foot. With dedication, persistence, and a great deal of heart, Dave’s lifelong mission was to honor and remember LGBTQIA+ pioneers, inviting all to “listen real close and act up” in the service of LGBTQIA+ Georgians, past, present, and future.
Dave served on countless LGBTQIA+ rights groups. He helped produce Atlanta’s 1972 Pride March, assisted with every Atlanta Pride since, and was the Grand Marshal of the 2016 Atlanta Pride. Dave was adamant that archivists should always use first hand stories from the LGBTQIA+ people still alive when writing about and celebrating gay history.
Dave was a gifted and prolific writer; language was his art. His articles were published in local, regional, national, and international newspapers and magazines, including Georgia Gazette, Frontiers, The Advocate, OUT Magazine, People, and Backstage. Dave worked as a writer/researcher for Ted Turner and CNN when it was a fledgling broadcast company, initially reporting on environmental stories. He also taught English as a second language to lucky students who learned from his wisdom and his wit. He conducted scores of interviews for National Public Radio’s Story Corps Project, all archived at the Library of Congress. As an accomplished historian, Dave’s voluminous papers will be archived here in Atlanta at Emory University and/or Georgia State University.
Dave was a great theatre buff. He acted in many plays during high school, college and early in his career. He critiqued plays for newspapers and magazines and traveled to NYC many times to see plays on Broadway. He “knew” all the stars and met many personally as a theatre critic.
Creative, passionate, brilliant, energetic, persistent and caring, Dave served many roles in his commitment to gay and lesbian culture, activism, and historic preservation in Atlanta. Dave believed deeply in the spiritual life, reincarnation, karma, and astrology. He meditated daily and was involved in metaphysical studies and groups. Whenever Dave would end a letter, an email, a conversation, a zoom call, he would say “love and light” and say it with joy “love and light” and repeat it again “love and light”. He is, without any doubt, thoroughly immersed in the “love and light” now.
Dave was predeceased by his parents, Don and Lonnie Bryant of Dover, NH, and is survived by his sisters Judy and Nancy, brother Bob, several cousins, nieces, great nieces and countless friends.
Family, friends, and members of the community are invited to attend a Celebration of Life service for Dave on Saturday, April 11 at 11:00 AM at the First Existentialist Church, 470 Candler Park Drive NE followed by a reception from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at Dave’s favorite restaurant, Manuel’s Tavern, 602 North Highland Avenue NE. Please keep Dave’s torch lit, carry on his work, and never forget him and the contributions he made to Atlanta.
