DETROIT (AP) – Andrew Anthos had many passions in life, including family, music, old movies and, most prominently, a 20-year campaign to illuminate the state Capitol dome in red, white and blue at least one night a year.

And while he never hid the fact he was gay, one thing he wasn’t: a gay rights activist, family and friends say.

After dying from injuries he suffered last month in what witnesses describe as an attack because of his sexual orientation, the 72-year-old has become a catalyst for a campaign to update federal and state hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Anthos “was a patriot. He loved veterans. … He just happened to be gay,” said state Sen. Hansen Clarke, who plans to introduce legislation to amend Michigan’s Ethnic Intimidation Act. “The whole point is making sure that people have equal rights in the legal system, people aren’t picked on or threatened just because they look or act differently.”

According to police and family members, Anthos was riding a city bus home from the library on Feb. 13, singing along in a quiet, tenor voice to Spanish music on his headphones. He sat in his regular seat, dressed for the cold and snowy weather in a long overcoat and a bright-colored scarf.

Anthos caught the attention of a young man, who asked him if he was gay and called him a “faggot.” Anthos ignored him.

The man followed Anthos off the bus, confronting him again. Anthos reportedly told the man he was gay as he helped a wheelchair-bound friend who was stuck in a snowbank. The man struck Anthos in the back of the head with a pipe, stood over him as he lay on the ground, and ran off after Anthos’ friend yelled for him to stop.

Anthos fell into a coma on Feb. 21 and died two days later.

Police have no suspect but released a composite sketch of the attacker. The department was investigating whether it was a hate crime.

“He wasn’t robbed, nothing was touched,” said Anthos’ cousin Athena Fedenis. “It was strictly a hate crime.”

Fedenis, 45, said Anthos told her what happened from the hospital and she took notes because she “wasn’t going to let this get thrown underneath the rug and let it be forgotten about.”

Anthos touched the lives of many people. He struck up an improbable friendship with Ava Gardner in the late 1960s after going to a Manhattan hotel where he learned she was staying, his cousin says. His effort to light the state Capitol dome put him in contact with countless lawmakers, reporters and others in Lansing.

Fedenis said Anthos asked her before he died to promise that she would work to get the Capitol dome lit to honor police officers, veterans and others. She established a non-profit foundation called Andrew’s Light to take contributions. Money that doesn’t go to the lighting effort will be donated to the Triangle Foundation, a gay rights advocacy group based in Detroit that is counseling the family.

“There was always a purpose for what he did,” says Julie Cook, who befriended Anthos while she worked at a downtown Lansing copy shop in the late 1980s.

Cook, who remained close with Anthos after he moved to Detroit, says he was undeterred by ambivalence and even outright hostility in his quest.

“He would stand on corners and people would throw things at him,” says Cook, whose two sons were “devastated” by his death. “It didn’t matter. … He would research the busiest corner to stand on where he could be seen the most.”

Fedenis said her cousin was openly gay but not an advocate. He was more concerned about treating all people with respect, and believes he would be supporting efforts to amend hate crime laws – from behind the scenes.

The federal and state legislative efforts aren’t new: Both have been around for at least a decade and gained temporary traction from the slaying of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten and left to die in 1998. Now, advocates hope, Anthos’ death adds some urgency and weight.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., introduced legislation in the House this week, and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., cited Anthos in a statement on the Senate floor earlier this month when he said he would soon help reintroduce the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Besides expanding the definition of hate crimes to include gays, lesbians and others, it would allow the federal government to help local law enforcement investigate hate crimes.

Fedenis said Anthos, who received state disability payments, was diagnosed with mental illness in the 1950s and suffered from low self-esteem that stemmed from family circumstances: His mother, who was 16 when he was born, was Greek; his father was black.

“He had thoughts of suicide because it was hard to deal with not only being half-black, half-white, but also being openly gay,” she said. “He was hit twice as hard.”

Despite limitations and lack of money, he often traveled. He scrubbed the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and brought flowers to Marilyn Monroe’s crypt.

When he met Gardner, he gave the actress pictures he had collected from magazines and later was invited to her home, his family says. She later wrote a letter supporting his dome-lighting crusade.

While Anthos aggressively sought support to light the Capitol dome, he ultimately wanted to be in the background, not the limelight, Fedenis said.

“He wanted all the attention to be strictly on the dome for the veterans, the doctors, the police officers, the firefighters, the less fortunate,” she said.

Jeffrey Montgomery, the Triangle Foundation’s executive director, said Anthos’ death links two campaigns that had little to do with each other during his life.

Cook says it’s a fitting tribute to her friend, but she can’t help but feel a little bitter.

“It’s very sad that he has to be gone for people to actually listen – he had to die to be able to be listened to.”