Home » About » Newsletters » February 1998
Remembering Allan Terl
By Alan Ehrlich, February 1998
Is it possible to be suffering from AIDS and, at the very same time, be at the top of one's game? Allan Terl, almost right up until the end, was living proof of that truth.
I was lucky enough to count Allan Terl as one of my best friends. Allan died on Monday December 1, after a 31/2 week hospital stay. Allan had AIDS and, like so many victims of this awful disease, he was fairly young, only 51. It is both ironic and appropriate that he died on World AIDS Day.
Allan was an attorney, a graduate of the University of Maryland. Allan arrived in Broward County in 1982, almost immediately sought out the Broward County Chapter of the ACLU and began what would become an unbelievable 15year period of volunteer work for the ACLU at the County, State and National levels.
Allan volunteered his services to the ACLU in just about every possible capacity: Cooperating Attorney, Legal Panel Chair, Chapter Chair, Delegate to the State Board, Affirmative Action Officer, VicePresident of the State ACLU, a member of the Biennial Conference Committee, National Board Representative from Florida, and finally a VicePresident of the National ACLU.
Over the years, the breadth and depth of Allan's contributions on behalf of lesbian and gay rights and his involvement with AIDS issues increased dramatically. He published a book, AIDS and the Law: A Basic Guide for the Non Lawyer, and was selected by the ACLU of Florida as the recipient of its highest award, the Nelson Poynter Award. He also received the Florida Bar Presidents Pro Bono Award for the 17th Judicial Circuit, as well as the Florida Chief Justice's Tobias Simon Award for his work on behalf of lesbian and gay rights.
Allan was also a contester not just a contest player, but a regular prize winner. He seemed to win everything possible to win, from Tshirts to jet skis to automobiles to the trip to London he took just a few weeks before being admitted to the hospital.
And in addition to all the time spent serving as a volunteer with the ACLU and all the time spent fighting for gay and lesbian rights, Allan donated countless hours of his life trying to raise money to sustain the causes he believed in. The ACLU could always count on him not just to meet with major donors and secure incredibly large contributions for the organization, but year after year to reach into his own pocket and make a very generous donation out of his own funds.
I know this sounds like a cliche, but if anyone ever tries to tell me that one person cannot make a difference, I tell them about Allan Terl and how he lived his life, and how he proved over and over again that one person can make a difference and help to bring about real change.
Alan Ehrlich is Treasurer of the ACLU of Florida and is also a member of the Broward Chapter Board of Directors.
