Richard was born to Clayton Eugene and Bessie Jewel Holt Locke, the third of four children: his older brother Clay, Jr., older sister Janet and younger brother Robert.
Richard died of AIDS after battling the disease for more than thirteen years. Many people in the gay community consider Richard an "AIDS Hero" since his activism in the early years of the epidemic, soon to turn pandemic, did manage to bring illumination about the disease and how to live with it.