Gay Liberatn Movement · Civil Rights Digal History Project · exhibs

Contents:

• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• HOW GAY ACTIVISTS CHALLENGED THE POLICS OF CIVILY
• GAY RIGHTS
• THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT
• GAY LIBERATN NEW YORK CY, 1969-1973, BY LDSAY BRANSON
• THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOO?
• PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI
• GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In the Uned Stat this greater visibily brought some backlash, particularly om the ernment and the police: the ernment often fired gay civil servants, the ary attempted to purge s ranks of gay soldiers (a policy enacted durg World War II), and police vice squads equently raid gay bars and arrted their patrons. In the Uned Stat the first major male anizatn, found 1950–51 by Harry Hay Los Angel, was the Mattache Society (s name reputedly rived om a medieval French society of masked players, the Société Mattache, to reprent the public “maskg” of homosexualy), while the Dghters of Bilis (named after the Sapphic love poems of Pierre Louÿs, Chansons Bilis), found 1955 by Phyllis Lyon and Del Mart San Francis, was a leadg group for women. In Bra 1957 a missn chaired by Sir John Wolfenn issued a groundbreakg report (see Wolfenn Report) remendg that private homosexual liaisons between nsentg adults be removed om the doma of crimal law; a later the remendatn was implemented by Parliament the Sexual Offenc Act.

Now headquartered Geneva and renamed the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA World), plays a signifint role ordatg ternatnal efforts to promote human rights and fight discrimatn agast LGBTQ and tersex persons. This support, along wh mpaigns by gay activists urgg gay men and women to “e out of the closet” (ed, the late 1980s, Natnal Comg Out Day was tablished, and is now celebrated on October 11 most untri), enuraged gay men and women to enter the polil arena as ndidat.

HOW GAY ACTIVISTS CHALLENGED THE POLICS OF CIVILY

Other issu of primary importance for the gay rights movement sce the 1970s clud batg the HIV/AIDS epimic and promotg disease preventn and fundg for rearch; lobbyg ernment for nondiscrimatory polici employment, hog, and other aspects of civil society; endg the ban on ary service for gay and lbian dividuals; expandg hate crim legislatn to clu protectns for gays, cludg transgenr dividuals; and securg marriage rights for same-sex upl (see same-sex marriage). Ary’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (1993–2011), which had permted gay and lbian dividuals to serve the ary if they did not disclose their sexual orientatn or engage homosexual activy; the repeal effectively end the ban on homosexuals the ary.

In the early 1970s, most zaps foced on prottg negative reprentatns of gays and lbians televisn shows, films and newspapers, like ABC's "Marc Welby MD" (zapped 1973 for s nflatn of homosexualy and illns), and NBC's "Police Woman" (zapped 1974 by the Lbian Femist Liberatn group, for pictg a gang of lbian murrers targetg elrly people a nursg home). The biggt moment of the year volved former bety queen, sger, and Florida orange juice spokwoman Ana Bryant, who created the “Save Our Children” mpaign Miami, a Christian aln purportg to protect young people om recment by gay and lbian sexual predators.

Key potsIn the late 1960s and 1970s, Native Amerins, gay men, lbians, and women anized to change discrimatory laws and pursue ernment support for their terts, a strategy known as inty groups, whose aims and tactics posed a challenge to the existg state of affairs, often met wh hostily om dividuals, lol officials, and the US ernment.

GAY RIGHTS

Shortly thereafter, the Gay Liberatn Front and Gay Activists’ Alliance were formed; the anizatns began to prott discrimatn, homophobia, and vlence agast gay people, and promoted gay liberatn and gay advocy anizatns lled for gay men and lbians to e out—reveal their sexual orientatn—gay and lbian muni moved om the urban unrground to the polil sphere. Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group ’s small group published a few issu of s newsletter “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter.

Ernment signated Gerber’s Chigo hoe a Natnal Historic Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

Addnally, 1948, his book Sexual Behavr the Human Male, Aled Ksey proposed that male sexual orientatn li on a ntuum between exclively homosexual to exclively Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group. ”Though started off small, the foundatn, which sought to improve the liv of gay men through discsn groups and related activi, expand after foundg member Dale Jenngs was arrted 1952 for solicatn and then later set ee due to a adlocked the end of the year, Jenngs formed another anizatn lled One, Inc., which weled women and published ONE, the untry’s first pro-gay magaze. Post Office, which 1954 clared the magaze “obscene” and refed to liver Mattache Society Mattache Foundatn members rtctured the anizatn to form the Mattache Society, which had lol chapters other parts of the untry and 1955 began publishg the untry’s send gay publitn, The Mattache Review.

THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN

That same year, four lbian upl San Francis found an anizatn lled the Dghters of Bilis, which soon began publishg a newsletter lled The Ladr, the first lbian publitn of any early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr followg year, Print Dwight D. ”In fear of beg shut down by thori, bartenrs would ny drks to patrons spected of beg gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drks but force them to s facg away om other ctomers to prevent them om 1966, members of the Mattache Society New York Cy staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue. They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.

1 / 12: NY Daily News Archive/Getty ImagChristopher Street Liberatn Day Shortly after the Stonewall uprisg, members of the Mattache Society spl off to form the Gay Liberatn Front, a radil group that lnched public monstratns, protts and nontatns wh polil officials.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT

Addnally, several openly LGBTQ dividuals secured public office posns: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, Cy Council 1974, beg the first out Amerin to be elected to public Milk, who mpaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, beme the San Francis cy supervisor 1978, beg the first openly gay man elected to a polil office asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that reprents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pri. In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn published a report about five prevly healthy homosexual men beg fected wh a rare type of 1984, rearchers had intified the e of AIDS—the human immunoficiency vis, or HIV—and the Food and Dg Admistratn licensed the first mercial blood tt for HIV 1985. But after failg to garner enough support for such an open policy, Print Clton 1993 passed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which allowed gay men and women to serve the ary as long as they kept their sexualy a rights advot cried the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, as did ltle to stop people om beg discharged on the grounds of their 2011, Print Obama fulfilled a mpaign promise to repeal DADT; by that time, more than 12, 000 officers had been discharged om the ary unr DADT for refg to hi their sexualy.

GAY LIBERATN NEW YORK CY, 1969-1973, BY LDSAY BRANSON

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was officially repealed on September 20, Marriage and Beyond In 1992, the District of Columbia passed a law that allowed gay and lbian upl to register as domtic partners, grantg them some of the rights of marriage (the cy of San Francis passed a siar ordance three years prr and California would later extend those rights to the entire state 1999) 1993, the hight urt  Hawaii led that a ban on gay marriage may go agast the state’s nstutn. In 1994, a new anti-hate-crime law allowed judg to impose harsher sentenc if a crime was motivated by a victim’s sexual Matthew Shepard ActCourty of the Matthew Shepard FoundatnMatthew Shepard, who was btally killed a hate crime 2003, gay rights proponents had another b of happy news: the U. Gay rights proponents mt also ntent wh an creasg number of “relig liberty” state laws, which allow bs to ny service to LGBTQ dividuals due to relig beliefs, as well as “bathroom laws” that prevent transgenr dividuals om g public bathrooms that don’t rrpond to their sex at birth.

THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOO?

It was at this pot the emergence of a divi wh the gay activist movement occurred maly due to a difference iologi, after which a number of groups cludg Organisatn for Lbian and Gay Actn (OLGA), Stonewall Equaly Limed (which foced on lobby tactics), the Lbian Avengers and OutRage! But though there were some rts and noisy nontatns durg the era, protts were typilly well-mannered monstratns like the “Annual Remr, ” a yearly event at which protters bs attire quietly picketed Philalphia’s Inpennce Hall an attempt to show gay men as orrly, ntributg members of me the June 28, 1969, Stonewall uprisg. In 1971, for example, the GAA and the Dghters of Bilis, a lbian group, targeted Filifacts, a New York-based pany that performed background checks and was acced of vtigatg and targetg LGBTQ pany’s print had stated that his le of thumb for intifyg gay people was that “if looks like a duck, walks like a duck, associat only wh ducks and quacks like a duck, he is probably a duck.

PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI

” He was prottg major works’ pictn of LGBTQ people and the way their verage ignored thgs like gay pri paras and equaly worked: Not only did the work beg verg LGBTQ issu, but Cronke beiend Segal and began to report on the stggl and succs of the movement. Zappg spread: spired by the actn on the other si of the Atlantic,  September 1971, the newly-formed Gay Liberatn Front (GLF) zapped the Ftival of Light, a Christian-led mpaign for a church-based moraly that opposed open homosexualy, amongst other thgs. Hdman not; by the end of the 1970s, there were more than 2, then, however, zaps had mostly fad away as movement lears, facg public cricism and fightg over ant prott tactics, began to ph for LGBTQ rights on a natnal sle through anisatns like the Natnal Gay Task Force (now the Natnal LGBTQ Task Force) legacy lived on, however, and the tactic was revived the late 1980s, when participants the AIDS Coaln to Unleash Power (ACT UP) began a seri of powerfully disptive monstratns that drew upon zap tactics.

Where MSNY had attempted to tegrate gays and lbians to existg stctur, GLFers would work to brg about the velopment of an entirely new society; and where homophile activists had sought to project an image of rpectabily, the new gay liberatnists would fight agast mastream attus and valu. The laws were ed to jtify sweeps of spected gay bars and public parks, and LGBTQ people risked public huiatn, job loss, and even crimal prosecutn for their gay and lbian groups that emerged durg the 1950s and 1960s did publicly prott anti-LGBTQ discrimatn. Hdman not; by the end of the 1970s, there were more than 2, then, however, zaps had mostly fad away as movement lears, facg public cricism and fightg over ant prott tactics, began to ph for LGBTQ rights on a natnal sle through anizatns like the Natnal Gay Task Force (now the Natnal LGBTQ Task Force) legacy lived on, however, and the tactic was revived the late 1980s, when participants the AIDS Coaln to Unleash Power (ACT UP) began a seri of powerfully disptive monstratns that drew upon zap tactics.

Few stanc the morn movement for gay and lbian equaly (what we now ll the LGBT movement) produced as much ntroversy — and turmoil — as the New York Gay Liberatn Front’s relatnship wh the Black Panthers, a late 1960s-early 1970s radil anizatn that stood for the plete overthrow of the palist Amerin ernment to achieve equaly for Ain-Amerins.

GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT

A lot of olr, old-school activists who had been Mattache Society members were self-righteoly sure this was gog to be the last nail the ff of the rambunctly youthful Gay Liberatn Front: The self-styled gay “radils” were only tryg to buy a polilly rrect versn of “righteons” — wrapped si a distorted mirror-image of tough street credibily — by fundg an anizatn that was om the outset unr nstant police surveillance. He said about women and gays that, bee of the pth of their opprsn, they uld be as “revolutnary as anyone, maybe even more so, ” spe the fact that, for many black men, their first gut reactn wh women was “to tell them to shut up, ” and wh gays was, well, to — “punch them the face.

Soon they were advotg nothg ls than “gay liberatn” nscns-raisg groups to fundraisg danc, protts outsi hostile newspapers to refug for homels trans and queer people, this surge LGBTQ+ anisg took many forms, and as the first anniversary of the rts me to view, some the muny began discsg how bt to mark what was beg regard as the “Bastille day” of gay rights. The roots of that bate go back to s earlit days, and suggt that Pri and the Stonewall rts have always been part of a ntent battle for inty and ownership – a battle that has helped produce the very ia of what beg a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer person might Stonewall rts were not the birth of the gay rights movement.

Seven years before that, when police had raid Coopers, a donut shop the cy ntled between two gay bars, LGBTQ+ patrons had attacked officers after the arrt of a number of drag queens, sex workers and gay had been a gay rights movement the US among people scribg themselv as “homophil” sce the late 40s. Hirschfeld’s scientific approach, bed wh his sympathetic treatment of LGBTQ+ people – he was himself homosexual – had been key velopg the ia that their shared experienc uld be unrstood not jt as discrete sexual (and crimal) acts, nor as psychiatric illns, but as a legible sexual and genr inty, which uld be afford civil rights.