Patrick Haggerty, a lifelong civil rights activist and the leader of the queer collective Lavender Country, passed away Monday morning (October 31) after suffering a stroke. The news was announced on the band’s official Instagram and Facebook pages hours later, and was first reported by Stereogum. “This morning, we lost a great soul,” the post reads. “RIP Patrick Haggerty. After suffering a stroke several weeks ago, he was able to spend his final days at home surrounded by his kids and lifelong husband, JB. Love, and solidarity. 💜💜💜”

Born on a Port Angeles, Washington dairy farm in September 1944, Haggerty joined the Peace Corps after graduating college but was kicked out in 1966 due to his sexuality. He got heavily involved in queer activism shortly thereafter and became a card-carrying socialist after spending time in Cuba’s cane fields in the early ’70s.

Lavender Country’s self-titled 1973 debut — and the only album released by the group’s original lineup — was released in partnership with the Gay Community Social Services Of Seattle is widely considered the first openly gay country album ever recorded. The band played Seattle’s first-ever pride event the following year but disbanded in 1976, and their momentous record fell into obscurity for the next 40 years.

Haggerty continued his activist work through all those decades and played in a slew of other Seattle bands in the interim. He got Lavender Country back together briefly in 2000 to release the five-track EP Lavender Country Revisited, and again in 2014, after Lavender Country was reissued by Paradise of Bachelors. In 2019, they released their second LP, Blackberry Rose and Other Songs and Sorrows. Don Giovanni Records went on to reissue that record earlier this year, and the label shared a statement Monday afternoon in tribute to Haggerty:

“Patrick Haggerty was one of the funniest, kindest, bravest, and smartest people I ever met. He never gave up fighting for what he believed in, and those around him who he loved and took care of will continue that fight. RIP Patrick (1944-2022).”