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William Clifford "Bill" Hunt (June 5, 1955 - January 7, 1993) was a member of the Dallas Gay Alliance in the 1980s. Alongside DGA, he was a named plaintiff in the Dallas Gay Alliance's lawsuit against Parkland Hospital to provide treatment for HIV/AIDS. An outspoken activist, Hunt helped bring more attention to the epidemic and volunteered at the AIDS Resource Center. Hunt worked as the client services manager for the AIDS Resource Center until he was no longer able to continue.
Known almost as well for his biting humor as for his occasionally angry advocacy, Hunt was a fixture on the local gay and lesbian scene since the mid-1980s.
Until one month before his death, Hunt had been client services manager at the AIDS Resource Center, until poor health forced his retirement. He was instrumental in establishing several of the programs offered at the facility, including the early intervention program, meal preparation program and hot lunch program.
He was co-founder of PLUS (People Like Us), an empowerment and advocacy group for people living with the AIDS virus.
He was co-founder of the Gay Urban Truth Squad and the local chapter of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).
The Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance re-named its highest award the Bill Hunt Texas Freedom Award. Hunt was also posthumously honored at a Texas Human Rights Foundation awards ceremony on February 6, 1993, at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Hunt's activism and community service began in his native Florida. He was valedictorian at North Miami Beach High School, and attended Miami Dade Community College. He was president of the Dade County Coalition for Human Rights from 1978-79. He moved to Dallas in 1982, and became involved in the Dallas Gay Alliance in 1986, when he was elected to the DGA board of directors, where he served until 1991. He also served as the director of the Gay Community Center, which was then located on Cedar Springs Road. He was vice president of DGA from 1987-1989, and served on the board of the Foundation for Human Understanding from 1987-1991. He also served for a period as Facilities Manager for the PWA Coalition of Dallas.
In addition, he served on the executive committee for the March on Austin, was a board member of Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, and, in 1990, was named an Honorary I.esbian by Lesbian Visionaries.
In 1992 Hunt was the recipient of the Robert Schwab Award.
On January 7, 1993, Bill Hunt died of AIDS-related complications at his Dallas residence. By that year, the list of people who had died of HIV/AIDS in Dallas had climbed dramatically since the first-reported cases and deaths in the 1980s.
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