"To friends, he was known as a gay man who appreciated the Gay USA show and celebrated the city's "gorgeous men" by saying, "Isn't God wonderful?" When his close friend, gay activist Brendan Fay, started a St. Patrick's parade in Queens last year that included gay groups, Judge helped him fund it and showed up in his brown friar's robe to put the church on the side of the oppressed, even as Catholic officialdom was urging a boycott. He frequently donated clothes to the Out of the Closet Thrift Shop for gay and AIDS causes on East 81st Street. He was a longtime member of Dignity, the gay Catholic group. In recent years, he came out to many of those he loved, including Fire Commissioner Tom Von Essen, who warmly accepted him.
Village Voice, September. 19-25, 2001.
Whatever his shortcomings or sins, Fr. Judge died heroically on September 11, 2001 in the line of duty as a chaplain for the New York Fire Department. I won't speculate as to his eternal state, but he should be remembered and honored by the living for his courage, as should the other firemen, policemen, and EMT personnel who died that day.