LGBTQIA+ LEGACY VIDEOS

Steve Fritsch Rudser was born in Seattle in 1955 and raised in eastern Washington. Brought up Catholic, he left the church during high school, and, after several years of studying and attending synagogue services, formally converted to Judaism. Steve was aware of his sexuality early in his life, and came out publicly as a gay man in 1974. Steve worked for many years as an ASL interpreter, specializing in educational, mental health, and performing arts interpreting. Moving to San Francisco during the Great Gay Migration, he arrived in San Francisco in November of 1978, two days after the assassinations of member of the San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, Harvey Milk, and Mayor George Moscone. One of Steve's first San Francisco experiences was ASL interpreting at Congregation Sha'ar Zahav at the first Shabbat service following the assassinations.

Steve was one of the pioneers in Gay adoption efforts, and adopted and raised three children: Michael, Clara, and Raphael, and now has eleven grandchildren. Steve spends a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, baking, and generally feeding people. A niece-in-law once referred to him as "Uncle Cookies." Since 1980, Steve and Rabbi Allen Bennet have hosted annual Passover Seders together. For the last 20 years or so, each Passover Steve has selected and researched the food culture of a specific Jewish community, and created a Seder menu of dishes from that community. Steve pursued graduate studies in Hebrew Bible at UC Berkeley, and continues to take classes in Jewish studies. Steve met his partner Ron in 1995, and in 2014 they were married at City Hall.