Phillip V. Rush, 55, helped form support group for gay youth

Gay and lesbian youth in Atlanta lost a good friend this week.

Phillip V. Rush was a key player in forming YouthPride, a support organization for gay youth, said Linda Ellis, the first executive director of the organization.

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see caption/Courtesy of David Reeves

“I don’t think YouthPride would have happened without Phillip,” said Ms. Ellis, now executive director of the Atlanta Lesbian Health Initiative. “At that point there were no programs for gay youth.”

Mr. Rush, 55, died of a blood clot Tuesday.

As a program officer at the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, he found the funding for the group in 1997, when therapists were starting an organization for gay and lesbian youth, Ms. Ellis said.

Mr. Rush committed his life to building and developing community organizations, said Doug Carl, a close friend. “He was about community empowerment — he lived for bringing diversity to the table,” Mr. Carl said. “That was his passion. That was his life.”

On the day he died, Georgia Equality, a political organization for gay, lesbian and transgender issues, was recruiting him to its board of directors, said Jeff Graham, executive director of the advocacy group.

He was born in Whittier, Calif., grew up in Nashville and graduated from Vanderbilt University. His interests ranged from being a supporter of the Atlanta Bucks Rugby Football Club to protecting bear habitat.

Survivors include a brother, Stephen Rush of Nashville.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made

to YouthPride, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

In accordance with his wishes, friends are invited to a going-away fete at 6 p.m. Friday at F.R.O.G.S. Cantina in Midtown.