Rememberg a 1966 'Sip-In' for Gay Rights : NPR

Contents:

• THE GAY ‘SIP-IN’ THAT DREW OM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO FIGHT DISCRIMATN
• REMEMBERG A 1966 'SIP-IN' FOR GAY RIGHTS
• GAY HISTORY – APRIL 24, 1965: THE PROTTS AND S-IN AT DEWEY’S RTRANT PHILALPHIA.
• JULI' BAR, SE OF HISTORIC GAY 'SIP-,' THREATENED BY PANMIC
• PHILLY’S LARGT GAY HANGOUT NIED SERVICE TO 150 PEOPLE 1965 FOR SIMPLY ‘LOOKG GAY’
• GAY S
• PHILALPHIAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS STAGE FIRST S- AT DEWEY'S RTRANT, 1965
• WHAT THE 'SIP-IN' DID FOR GAY RIGHTS: BEFORE STONEWALL, THE FIGHT FOR EQUALY INSPIRED A NEW YORK BAR CRAWL
• THE FIRST GAY S- HAPPENED 40 YEARS AGO
• MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

THE GAY ‘SIP-IN’ THAT DREW OM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO FIGHT DISCRIMATN

They approached the bartenr, proclaimed they were gay and then requted a drk—and were promptly nied tr had acplished their goal; their “Sip-In” had men, who were part of the Mattache Society—an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay rights—wanted to monstrate that bars the cy discrimated agast LGBTQ people. The practice of refg service to gay people bars was mon at the time, although was more veiled than discrimatory legislatn like Jim Crow laws the South that forced racial segregatn. Karsten Moran/The New York Tim/RxRandy Wicker (left) and Dick Lesch, members of the early gay rights group the Mattache Society, at Juli’ the Wt Village of New York, 2016.

” Intimate enunters between two men were emed disorrly, so gay men were often refed service at that served gay people ran the risk of havg their liquor license revoked.  “He was a liberal republin, ” says John D’E, historian and thor of Sexual Polics, Sexual Communi:The Makg of a Homosexual Mory the Uned Stat, 1940-1970.

Soon after, the Commissn on Human Rights got volved, claimg that homosexuals had the right to be served bars, and the discrimatory policy by the State Liquor Authory no longer viewed homosexuals as “disorrly. ”There had been dozens of raids before the “Sip-In” that never garnered such a fierce reactn as Stonewall, which happened three years after the three men had stepped up to Juli’ than 50 years later, Juli celebrat s history as one of the olst gay bars New York Cy. On April 21, 1966 they staged a "Sip-In": they went to a tavern, clared that they were gay, orred a drk — and waed to be served, or turned away, orr to sue.

REMEMBERG A 1966 'SIP-IN' FOR GAY RIGHTS

" In 1966, gay bars were technilly legal New York but they were often raid by agents of the State Liquor Authory, which had a regulatn agast servg homosexuals bars on the ia that they were disorrly. And on April 21 of 1966 the society cid to take spiratn om the civil rights s-s that tegrated so many lunch unters rtrants and stage a "sip-": go to a tavern, clared that were gay, orr a drk, then wa to be served or turned away, and then sue. The s-s were anized by members of the East Coast Homophile Organizatns (ECHO) and the Jan Society bee of Dewey’s discrimatory nials of service to “homosexuals, ” “mascule women, ” “feme men, ” and “persons wearg non-nformist clothg.

The first s- of April 25, 1965, a group of about 150 ECHO members gathered at Dewey’s Rtrant, a popular lunch spot downtown Philalphia that was known to discrimate agast gay ctomers.

The Jan Society foced on four objectiv particular, which they believe were acplished after the send s- on May 2nd: “(1) to brg about an immediate csatn to all discrimate nials of service, (2) to prevent addnal arrts, (3) to assure the homosexual muny that (a) we were ncerned wh the day-to-day problems and (b) we were prepared to terce helpg to solve the problems, (4) to create publicy for the anizatn and our objectiv. The Dewey Rtrant prott and s-s did not e whout some cricism om wh the LGBT muny self due to the volvement of DRUM magaze., a sexually explic, gay magaze that was ntroversial at the time, some the LGBT muny that DRUMS participatn and support st negative light on the Dewey’s s-s and provid “ammunn for enemi of the LGBT movement.

GAY HISTORY – APRIL 24, 1965: THE PROTTS AND S-IN AT DEWEY’S RTRANT PHILALPHIA.

Chanliers danglg overhead are ma om wagon wheels of horse-drawn rriag that once livered ’ had started attractg a gay followg at least by the 1950s and, acrdg to lol lore, was a popular hangout for midcentury queer lumari like Tennsee Williams, Tman Capote and Rudolf Cherry works at Juli' on March Constante Motal / NBC NewsBut New York State Liquor Authory regulatns at that time prohibed servg drks to “known or spected homosexuals, ” whose very prence was nsired disorrly behavr. “This law was ed to prevent the existence of gay bars, so the on that did exist were unr the ntrol of the crimal unrworld, ” Randy Wicker, a member of the New York chapter of the Mattache Society, one of the first gay rights groups, said. “We felt was very siar to how Black people were beg nied the right to s at a lunch unter, ” he ia for a prott, or a “sip-” as was eventually lled, was spired by the s-s of the civil rights movement: On April 21, 1966, four members of the New York Mattache chapter walked to a bar, clared they were homosexuals and mand to be served.

The first bar they vised, the Ukraian-Amerin Village Rtrant, had been tipped off and closed Howard Johnson’s, the group clared, “We’re homosexuals and we want to be served.

JULI' BAR, SE OF HISTORIC GAY 'SIP-,' THREATENED BY PANMIC

Juli’, turned out, was the perfect spot for their tt se: It had a sizable homosexual followg, Wicker said, but the management was termed not to let bee a “gay bar. “I thk ’s agast the law, ” he said, acrdg to was exactly the reactn Mattache members had hoped for: Publicy om the “sip-” led to the New York State Supreme Court lg a year later that simply beg gay — or even cisg or kissg — was not cent didn’t jt change liquor regulatns, Wicker said. ”And while New York’s gay bar scene has bee a shadow of s former size — a victim of assiatn, gentrifitn and datg apps — Juli’ remaed packed most weekends.

Cohn targeted ernment officials as munists and homosexuals, spe beg gay ’s no nyg Juli’ place history but, by drawg hundreds of revelers late to the night, the Mattache parti have helped keep the bar om turng to a mm 2016, the 50th anniversary of the sip-, Juli’ was placed on the Natnal Register of Historic Plac for s role “an important early event the morn gay rights movement. Some of the earlit LGBTQ s-s and protts followedIn the 1950s and 1960s, Philalphia’s Rtenhoe Square was known as a central meetg place for gay men and lbians. Soon workers were turng away ctomers by the drov — but most of them happened to “look homosexual” or drs genr-variant the urse of April 25 of that year, Dewey’s refed 150 people.

“All too often, there is a tenncy to be ncerned wh the rights of homosexuals as long as they somehow appear to be heterosexual, whatever that is, ” wrote the Jan Society a newsletter distributed followg the s-. Jan was an early homophile (a term later reed to “LGBT”) advocy anizatn, based ’s patrons clud drag queens, mascule women, feme men, streetwalkers, and transvt. The term “transgenr” was not yet e, though some queens who then intified as gay men would look back on their participatn as part of Ameri’s transgenr rights movement.

PHILLY’S LARGT GAY HANGOUT NIED SERVICE TO 150 PEOPLE 1965 FOR SIMPLY ‘LOOKG GAY’

(Pat Roc/ONE Archiv at USC Librari)Jan phased out the late 1960s, around the time the Gay Liberatn Front (GLF) formed New York Cy, immediately followg the 1969 Stonewall Rts.

And when O’Brien claimed that “the Stonewall rts were the first time homosexuals stood up and fought, ” he wasn’t exactly fact, the Dewey’s s-s were preced by the 1959 Cooper’s Donuts rt Los Angel and followed by the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria rt San Francis, both standoffs between drag queens and police was a slower lead-up to an era of tense civil unrt, durg which var mory groups overlapped prott tactics and msagg. In 2016 The New York Tim terviewed former members of the Mattache Society, another homophile anizatn that foced on troducg Ameri to a normative versn of gay people. The gay s is whenever you s weirdly or on anythg that is not a chair, like a kchen unter or a Why is Mike always stg wh his kne to his cht on the table?

After the prott monstratns end the newsletter om the Jan Society reported that they had achieved four central goals: "(1) to brg about an immediate csatn to all discrimate nials of service, (2) to prevent addnal arrts, (3) to assure the homosexual muny that (a) we were ncerned wh the day-to-day problems and (b) we were prepared to terce helpg to solve the problems, (4) to create publicy for the anizatn and our objectiv. The time perd for this specific actn is limed to six days bee was the rult a spontaneo rponse to an isolated se of discrimatn agast gays and lbians particular and radils general.

GAY S

It was supported by the Jan Society, which brought the people and rourc (pamphlets, etc) to make an effective prott possible, but was nsired separate om the larger homophile movement that took off only a few months afterward that clud protts ont of Inpennce Hall only several blocks away lled Annual Remrs.

This is not a ratg on the Jan Society's succs, survival, or growth as a part of the natnal homophile movement that surround this event both before and after happened. ” This cisn was expand by some employe to mean “homosexuals and persons wearg non-nformist clothg, " which, on April 25th, 1965, rulted the refal of service to over 150 people. They, along wh Clark Polak, a gay-rights lear Philalphia and edor of the LGBT-tert magaze DRUM who offered to fd the youth a lawyer, were arrted and found guilty for disorrly nduct.

PHILALPHIAN GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS STAGE FIRST S- AT DEWEY'S RTRANT, 1965

In the next week, the Jan Society, a Philalphian homophile anizatn that began the early 1960s as a more woman-oriented versn of the Los Angel/San Francis based Mattache Society that began the 1950s, tervened the prott by providg people and pamphlets to ntue the prott agast Dewey’s. Over the next 5 days, the origal s- of the three teenagers served as an impet for a “prott monstratn”, durg which gay rights activists associated wh Jan distributed over 1, 500 piec of lerature ont of the rtrant while gay movement lears negotiated mands wh the management of the der. ” DRUM magaze noted that this was “the first s- of s kd the history of the Uned Stat” referrg to the fact that was the first documented stance which a s- was held support of the rights of gays, lbians, and “non-nformists”.

It was a stark rejectn of the prr stance of other homophile anizatns, such as Mattache, that had built up s reputatn on appearg “prentable” and “employable. " The support of the Jan Society for those who drsed a non-nformist manner, such as mascule women and feme men, preempted this divisn that would ntue throughout the homophile movement. Instead of takg to the streets, they h the bars  New York Cy and mand to be served, spe laws statg homosexuals uld not was a rebelln that paid homage to the “S In” protts Southern Stat durg the Civil Rights movement, as those phg for equal rights would s at a “wh only” unter and mand to be April 1966, members of the Mattache Society plotted to go to one bar and try and get arrted for askg for an alholic drk.

WHAT THE 'SIP-IN' DID FOR GAY RIGHTS: BEFORE STONEWALL, THE FIGHT FOR EQUALY INSPIRED A NEW YORK BAR CRAWL

They tend to challenge New York State Liquor Authory (SLA) regulatns that ma so bars uld not serve drks to known or spected gay men or lbians bee jt their beg there was signated as "disorrly. “I thk this is what really happened the '60s, before Stonewall, is that we started challengg the ia that all homosexuals were sick, ” activist, “Sip-In” participant and Mattache Society treasurer Randy Wicker told Insi Edn Dry WellsIn the early 1960s, the New York State Liquor Authory refed to issue licens to gay bars as they were nsired “disorrly ho” and spots where “unlawful practic are habually rried on by the public. Stonewall Inn bartenr Tree told Insi Edn Digal 2019 that gay bars were hidn pla sight, and to fd one, you had to be taken there by someone who already knew where was.

“The wdows were pated, everythg was dark, black, you had to knock on the doors, ” said Tree, who asked that his last name not be were notor for raidg bars the Wt Village and Lower Manhattan, which were spected of servg homosexual ctomers. ”Members of the Mattache Society, an early gay rights group, looked to do somethg about the treatment members of the LGBTQ muny Mattache Society took their name om French Renaissance groups who were spired by the Italian theater character Mattacco, a urt jter who spoke tths to a kg, acrdg to Society started the early 1950s Los Angel before spreadg across the untry. Wicker said he would try to appear on rad shows, report newspapers and 1964, he spoke on MacDougal Street to a small crowd to raise awarens about the discrimatn gay men faced si bars.

THE FIRST GAY S- HAPPENED 40 YEARS AGO

“My legs were shakg at this moment, and I said, ‘Down the street, there is a bar that operat bee ters the homosexuals and operat only bee pays off the police, ’” he said.

’“And after a talk like that, lerally holdg my breath bee we ed to thk that people knew we were homosexual, we'd be stoned to ath on the street rner, " he ntued. Pourg on the ProttLesch along wh Mattache Society members, Craig Rodwell and John Timmons, ncted a plan to go a bar, walk , clare they were gay right away and see if they uld get served.

Wicker would jo them later on the to their surprise, the bar was closed and had a sign the wdow sayg, “If you are gay, please go away, ” acrdg to the Natnal Park is believed the owners of the Ukraian-Amerin Village Rtrant were tipped off by a New York Tim reporter about the “Sip-In” and opted to keep the doors shut, acrdg to The New York Tim. “The wars jt lghed and said, ‘No problem, of urse, ’ bee they had gay people there all the time, ” Wicker a wele they didn’t expect or want at Howard Johnson’s, they went to Waikiki, a well known Mafia-n Tiki bar, The New York Tim reported.

MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

The SLA's regulatn that prevented servg gay patrons was “Sip-In” was also vered by The New York Tim and the Village Voice, showsg what was happeng to gay men si the bars at the the SLA changed their stance on servg drks to gay men, was still illegal to engage simple behavrs like holdg hands or kissg someone of the same sex. He is the thor of Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov: Lbian and Gay Philalphia (Temple Universy Prs) and the edor of the three- volume Encyclopedia of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr History. Acrdg to an acunt provid several months later by Clark Polak, a gay-rights lear Philalphia, "the actn was a rult of Dewey's refal to serve a large number of homosexuals and persons wearg non-nformist clothg.

All four were soon found guilty of disorrly the next week, gay-rights activists affiliated wh the Jan Society of Ameri distributed 1, 500 leaflets outsi of Dewey's, while gay movement lears negotiated wh reprentativ of the rtrant and lol thori. " The Jan newsletter reported succs s four objectiv: "(1) to brg about an immediate csatn to all discrimate nials of service, (2) to prevent addnal arrts, (3) to assure the homosexual muny that (a) we were ncerned wh the day-to-day problems and (b) we were prepared to terce helpg to solve the problems, (4) to create publicy for the anizatn and our objectiv. " The newsletter also offered revealg ments about the genr and sexual polics of the prott: "All too often, there is a tenncy to be ncerned wh the rights of homosexuals as long as they somehow appear to be heterosexual, whatever that is.

The mascule woman and the feme man often are looked down upon by the official policy of homophile anizatns, but the Jan Society is ncerned wh the worth of an dividual and the manner which she or he ports himself.