Steve Bull once raced agast time to try to save the memoirs of one of Mae's gay rights pneers. His trip led him down memory lane.
Contents:
- GAY HISTORY – JULY 21, 1958: NEW ORLEANS LNCH RAIDS AGAST FRENCH QUARTER GAY BARS AND “DEVIANTS”.
- RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN
GAY HISTORY – JULY 21, 1958: NEW ORLEANS LNCH RAIDS AGAST FRENCH QUARTER GAY BARS AND “DEVIANTS”.
* lgbt french history *
At the begng of 2001, French newspapers received a prs release announcg the birth of a "Gay and Lbian Amy:" "Please do not throw away any more of your old papers: books, magaz, programs, guis, talogs, posters, leaflets, flyers... We are savg and prervg everythg on homosexualy, bisexualy and transexualy.
He was nnected wh the Ardie group, the first French "homophile" movement, a space for "daddy-style homosexualy, " as he said, where one uld always unt on "a p, a lawyer or a doctor specializg venereal diseas. In San Francis, New York and Berl, the other big ci marked by the AIDS epimic, mms have for a long time lled on homosexual archiv, often started apartments by private dividuals. The legalizatn of homosexual acts between two nsentg adults me as part of the French Penal Co of 1791, durg the French Revolutn.
England didn't pass the Sexual Offenc Bill until 1967, and even then, homosexualy only beme legal when "private, " between two men over the age of 21. The bill did not extend to Stland or some other parts of the UK, and was not ammend to fully legalize homosexualy until crimalized homosexualy 1979, and Italy 1887.
RACG TO PRERVE THE HISTORY OF MAE’S 1ST GAY RIGHTS ANIZATN
The Cy of New Orleans, Louisiana might be known as he Big Easy today but as many ci throughout the untry durg the 1950s, members of the homosexual muny New Orleans were often victims of vlence and were often arrted bee of their sexualy. ”) mdset didn’t extend to the cy’s gay cizens, and much like other major ci across the natn, anti-gay mpaigns often heated up ahead of lol electns. In n 1958, cy uncilmen plaed that the police were stg on their hands while the French Quarter was beg vad by rovg bands of homosexuals, allegedly om other ci sce, apparently, such a thg was unheard of there, the cy’s storied tolerance for sexual eccentrics mic, lerature and the arts notwhstandg.
Durg January of 1959, his assailants were charged but acquted unr the “gay panic” fense, and the urtroom cheered. The astal sailg legend and Mae gay rights pneer died six months earlier the fall of 2012.
Bull and Hasks helped found the groundbreakg stunt group at the Universy of Mae 1973 — then held the first Mae Gay Symposium 1974, which jump-started Mae’s LGBTQ+ rights stggle, lnchg much further ahead toward jtice than most other stat. They are also anizg a 50th anniversary Mae Gay Symposium Orono and Portland this fall. They named Wil Ste after the famo gay and lbian wrers Osr Wil and Gert Ste.