History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Wisconsin - People - Bios

 
Mark Behar

Born:
Died:

(unknown)
(living)
Primary Involvements:

 
Health care
Political activist
Media

 

 

 

       
 

Mark Behar is a licensed PA (Physicians Assistant). Mark was heavily involved in local gay health & activist politics in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In the areas of health, Mark was the first director of the GPU VD Clinic, and changed the course of that facility from a testing center to a diagnosis and treatment facility (1977-79). He was a cofounder of a national professional group, the Lesbian, Bisexual, & Gay Physician Assistant Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (1979). Also in 1979, Mark volunteered at the Chicago Conference on Current Aspects of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Symposium to form the National Coalition of Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services (NCGSTDS), and was that group's newsletter editor for the next 10 years. In the early 1980s, Mark was one of the first people in Milwaukee to openly talk about HIV/AIDS to the media (long before the doctors in town chose to do so).

In activist politics, Mark served on Governor Tony Earl's Council on Lesbian & Gay Issues in the mid 1980s, and helped guide the State's response to the HIV/AIDS, and gay & lesbian health issues.

As an offshoot of Mark's involvement in health and activism combined, in the late 1980s-early 1990s Mark was the executive producer of the Milwaukee Gay Lesbian Cable Network, and produced & coproduced over 100 programs for public access TV, including Tri-Cable Tonight. (Mark assisted in ensuring the preservation of most of these programs by helping with the transfer of existing tapes to the UWM Archives in 2003.)

As of 2022, Mark remains active in Milwaukee's GLBT community, and contributes at times to the web site "gayhealth.com". His professional and personal affiliations include the following:

  • PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA, CPAAPA
  • Department of Family Medicine, Early Intervention Program (EIP) for HIV/Hepatitis, Martin Luther King Heritage Health Center, Milwaukee Health Services, Inc.
  • Clinical Adjunct Assistant Professor, Marquette University
  • Senior Preceptor, Physician Assistant Program, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Co-Chair Emeritus 2012-2016, Board of Directors 2009-2021, National Association of Black & White Men Together, Inc.
  • Black & White Men Together/Milwaukee
  • Co-Founder, LBGT PA Caucus of the AAPA, 1979-81

 

On the set of Tri-Cable Tonight, c1989
(Mark on right, co-producer Bryce Clark on left)

Credits: Bio information contributed by Mark Behar;
Web site concept, design and arrangement by Don Schwamb.
Last updated: March-2022.

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