He was an activist with EGALE, a lobby group for gay and lesbian rights, after coming out as gay in the late 1980s. He was Canada's first openly gay senator. Death Appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994, he was cited as one of Canada's "most valuable political commentators and respected champions of social justice." He died on December 16, 2012, aged 83. LaPierre's ashes were scattered off the coast of British Columbia, as his will requested. Later Harvey Slack financed the construction of a large memorial in LaPierre's name in the small MacLaren Cemetery near Wakefield, Quebec, close to the grave of his ex-wife's uncle Hume Wrong and that of Lester B. Pearson. The McGill University Archives holds an extensive collection of his papers, including documents that touch on four aspects of his career: academic, journalistic, political and entrepreneurial. Footnotes External links 1929 births 2012 deaths Academics in Quebec 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian senators from Ontario Canadian television hosts CBC Television people Canadian non-fiction writers in French Gay politicians Canadian gay writers LGBT historians Canadian LGBT senators Canadian LGBT rights activists Liberal Party of Canada senators Officers of the Order of Canada People from Lac-Mégantic, Quebec Historians from Quebec University of Toronto alumni Writers from Quebec Canadian LGBT journalists Canadian LGBT broadcasters 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian Screen Award winning journalists