Bob McCubbin, ¡Presente!

The following obituary for Bob McCubbin was published in Struggle for Socialism/La Lucha por el Socialismo on Sept. 6, 2025.  McCubbin joined Workers World Party in 1967 and was a member until 2018.  He wrote the pamphlet “The Gay Question: A Marxist Appraisal,” which was first published in 1976. The book, which included a new preface and afterward written by Shelley Ettinger, was republished in 1993 as “The Roots of Lesbian and Gay Oppression: A Marxist View” by WW Publishers, the publishing body of Workers World Party. The book can be read at: workers.org/books2016/McCubbin_Roots_of_Lesbian_Gay_Oppression.pdf

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the loss of lifelong revolutionary Bob McCubbin. McCubbin, 83, died from injuries sustained when he was hit by a car while taking his daily walk through Balboa Park in San Diego, California, where he lived and was active in the struggle for justice for 35 years.

McCubbin was an early pioneer in defense of LGBTQ+ rights. He wrote one of the first Marxist analyses of gay oppression titled “The Gay Question: A Marxist Appraisal,” published in 1976; a second edition published in 1993 changed the title to “The Roots of Lesbian & Gay Oppression.”

The Stonewall Rebellion and the struggles of that period informed his writing and activism. McCubbin was inspired and worked closely with Marxist thinkers Sam Marcy and Dorothy Ballan, founders of Workers World Party, and Fred Goldstein, an early leader.

McCubbin was equally active in the streets, participating in many marches, pickets and strikes. His fight against gender oppression was matched by his fierce solidarity with the Black Liberation and Civil Rights Movements of the era. Later, he looked to Leslie Feinberg to sharpen his understanding of transgender liberation to include it in his writing.

In 2018, Bob McCubbin helped found the Struggle for Socialism Party and became a writer and contributor to Struggle-La Lucha. During this period, he finished writing and published “The Social Evolution of Humanity: Marx and Engels Were Right!”

In July of this year, he helped organize a contingent in support of Gaza and Palestine at the annual San Diego Pride March in addition to opposing attacks on im/migrants.

Bob McCubbin’s comrades and many friends in San Diego will remember him as a kind and generous friend. He is remembered as a courageous person who stood on ethics and principle regardless of whether it was difficult. McCubbin was a retired teacher and active member of the teachers’ union.

A more complete remembrance of his long life of struggle will appear in the pages of Struggle-La Lucha, and memorial events will be held on both the West Coast and the East Coast in the coming months.

Bob McCubbin, ¡Presente!