Douglas Brawn Hopkins of Fort Worth died on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, at the age of 47, surrounded by his family and friends, as well as his partner and husband of 24 years, Todd Camp.
Doug graduated from Cleburne High School in Fort Worth in 1989 and then attended Texas Christian University, where he studied sculpture and modern dance. His teachers found him to be a natural when it came to movement, and he was soon dancing regularly for a number of area arts organizations, including the Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, Ballet Concerto, Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth, the New Arts Collective and the Irving Ballet.
When the Bruce Wood Dance Company arrived on the Fort Worth scene in 1998, Doug was one of the first male dancers hired and soon proved himself to be an indispensable part of Wood’s choreographic process. In the company’s 10-year history in Fort Worth, Doug played a pivotal role in the creation of the majority of Wood’s nearly 80 original works. He also helped pass on that knowledge to a new generation of dancers when the company was reborn in Dallas as the Bruce Wood Dance Project, especially after Wood’s death in 2014.
The company dedicated it’s Nov. 17-18 performances to him, and a tribute in the program read: “His profound impact as muse, performer, artist and coach is a treasure we will carry with us forever.”
On June 2, 1993, Doug met Todd Camp in a local nightclub, and from that point on, they were at each other’s sides until Doug departed this plane of existence last month.
Together, they accomplished much.
In 1999, they were among the original co-founders of QCinema, Fort Worth’s Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. Doug served as technical director for 14 years alongside Todd as artistic director. The festival is still going strong and just celebrated its 19th annual event.
They were both at the Rainbow Lounge in 2009 when the bar was raided by officers from the Fort Worth Police Department and the TABC, and both helped push the city to make major changes that ultimately improved the lives of LGBT people in Fort Worth and set an example for local governments across the country.
For 20 years, their annual Nightmare Before Christmas Party, held between Halloween and Christmas, was the stuff of legend, incorporating Doug’s boundless ingenuity and talents for lighting, set and sound design, decorating and more with Todd’s knack for spinning a story.
On Halloween of 2016, after 23 years together, they were legally married at Celebration Community Church. Though they didn’t travel as often as they liked, their journey together was rich, adventurous and filled with light, laughter and so much love.
Doug kept fighting until the very end. Diagnosed with HIV in his 20s, he was told that he would probably not live to see 30. But thanks to modern medicine and the love and support of his husband, his family and so many friends, he made the most of his 47 years, before ultimately losing his ongoing battle with liver cancer.
The world will not be the same without him in it.
He is survived by his husband, Todd; parents, Alethea and Michael; sister, Anne; brother, Roger; sister-in-law, Jonna; nephews, Thomas and Grant; and his devoted Chiweenie, Miller.
There will be a celebration of life in his honor held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at Celebration Community Church, 908 Pennsylvania Ave. in Fort Worth.