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Thank You For Being a Friend
Community leaders remember Arizona GLBT pioneer Carol Mueller
By Luis Garcia
PHOENIX — One of the Valley’s most beloved GLBT activists passed away on June 23. Carol Mueller, a civil rights pioneer, died due to injuries from a car accident in Show Low, Ariz., while on her way to her summer cabin.
According to longtime friend Kirk Baxter, Mueller played an integral role in bringing lesbian feminist activists together with gay male civil rights leaders to form the beginnings of a cohesive movement.
“To know Carol was to love her,” Baxter said. “I first met Carol in 1981 when she volunteered for what became the Arizona Gay and Lesbian Task Force. From the moment I met her, I knew she was a kind, evolved spirit and a tenacious leader who would never let our community down.”
The Gay and Lesbian Task Force is an organization that helps build on the grassroots power of the GLBT community in hopes to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and opportunity for all.
Baxter describes Mueller as a person who loved all people, animals and life, which showed through her tireless volunteer efforts to civil rights organizations, and the many friends she made in her journey.
“With her partner, Dawn, Carol had seven cats, two dogs and an enormous, beautifully diverse extended family,” Baxter said.
Mueller was co-chair of the first and third Lesbian and Gay Pride marches in Phoenix with Baxter. 
Gerrie Mayer-Gibbons, a long-time activist and a leader in Arizona's political scene, worked alongside Mueller on the Arizona Human Rights Fund’s (now Equality Arizona) Board of Directors, and was close friends with Mueller for more than 20 years.
Mayer-Gibbons credits Mueller for keeping the gay community in public sight and remembers her as the type of person that opened her home to anyone in need.
“She was very special,” Mayer-Gibbons said. “I never heard Carol say a bad word about anybody. She had a kind heart.”
Friend Martha Jones met Mueller in 1986 and felt an instant connection.
“She was the second person I met in Phoenix, and from that moment on we were bonded,” Jones said. “She was an exceptional person who was the backbone of this community since the beginning. She loved the community and that is why she did what she did. She never had a bad word to say.”
Mueller was chosen to be one of the first women to sit on the board of AHRF, where many credit her in helping to bring a divided gay and lesbian community together.
“Carol was a very ardent supporter of the GLBT community,” Bill McDonald, former chair of AHRF, said. “She was a fighter who stood up for all of our rights. She used her time and effort to promote our community. She is a great loss to the community. I consider her a dear friend and am extremely saddened by her passing.”
Partner Dawn Parsons told Echo that Mueller’s passing will not only leave a huge void in her life, but also in the many lives that Mueller has touched.
“She was a very positive role model for this community,” Parsons said. “Carol was very involved with Body Positive and was a big supporter of the Human Rights Campaign and 1n10. She was a very strong person and loved her family. They were really close.”
According to Parsons, Mueller’s home became known as a place to get together and celebrate diversity.
“She had more parties than anyone I have ever known,” Parsons said. “People where always gathering at her house and she was a great hostess.
“I loved her with all my heart. She is the best person I have ever known.”
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