CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: A Rabow Black: The Gay Polics of the Black Panther Party on JSTOR

Contents:

• THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOO?
• (1970) HUEY P. NEWTON, “THE WOMEN’S LIBERATN AND GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENTS”
• THE INCREDIBLE TE ADVENTURE OF FIVE GAY ACTIVISTS SEARCH OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
• THE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOOTHE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOOTHE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOOTHE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOOTHE BLACK PANTHERS AND THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT: DID BLACK LIV MATTER THEN, TOO
• DIFFERENT FIGHT, 'SAME GOAL': HOW THE BLACK EEDOM MOVEMENT SPIRED EARLY GAY ACTIVISTS

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

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. The Gay Liberatn Front was the first and most radil anizatn to be formed after the Stonewall Rts (or Uprisg) June of 1969. It is difficult to image this time of social workg and, too often, smetics-ep “celebry” polics, any anizatn as dited to plete rebelln as the Panthers, or for that matter the Gay Liberatn Front.

The Gay Liberatn Front took most of s cu om femism and the femist movement. The money was raised by a weekly gay-muny dance at Alternate Universy, a large space on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue that was home to many radil anizatns and their activi.

(1970) HUEY P. NEWTON, “THE WOMEN’S LIBERATN AND GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENTS”

There were young street queens sleepg on siwalks or out on the piers on the Hudson; olr gays and lbians stgglg to eat; and, also, an ia floatg around that we should start our own muny center. It was a turng pot this explosive perd of gay polics. 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.

It fanned a smug reactn also wh the broar gay muny self, that still shared an attu that everythg to do wh blackns was outsi — and outsi most “normal” human feelgs as well. The gift also spurred a sh for some polilly active men to jo the Gay Activists Alliance, a newer petg group started by ex-GLFers who only wanted a sgle-issue, gay-foced anizatn that would appeal basilly to whe, middle-class men. 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.

What they did not see was that this was the first time that an open and actively gay anizatn had embraced another opprsed group, as part of regnizg a mon opprsn wh them. The tth was the Gay Liberatn Front unrstood this 1970.

THE INCREDIBLE TE ADVENTURE OF FIVE GAY ACTIVISTS SEARCH OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY

Photo Cred: Robert Carl Cohen, 1970 the Black Panther Party ved Jean Ge, the famo French gay wrer and activist, to the U. '"Angela Davis charted the important lks between black polil nscns and gay rights that same speech:"One last important pot: It was Ge who heightened the Black Panther Party awarens to the homosexual rights issue. David Hilliard told me that when they were travelg together om state to state, om one universy to another, some members of the party were g very and homophobic words to sult Nixon or (U.

He had jt wanted to brg about a discsn on the siari between the stggle agast racism and the stggle agast homophobia.

After the trips 1970, David Hilliard and his mat largely spoke of the matter wh Huey Newton (the Black Panther Party's print, jail at the time) and later published an important article the party's newspaper, sayg:"Whatever your personal opns and your securi about homosexualy and the var liberatn movements among homosexuals and women (Ge also had spokenabout women's liberatn durg his stay, acrdg to Davis), we should try to une wh them a revolutnary fashn. I say: 'Whatever your securi are' bee as we very well know, sometim our first stct is to want to h a homosexual the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet.

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

We want to h a homosexual the mouth bee we are aaid that we might be homosexual; and we want to h the women or shut her up bee we are aaid that she might strate , or take the nuts that we might not have to start wh....

I do not remember our ever nstutg any value that said that a revolutnary mt say offensive thgs towards homosexuals, or that a revolutnary should make sure that women do not speak out about their particular kd of opprsn.... And I know through readg, and through my life experience and observatns that homosexuals are not given eedom and liberty by anyone the society. “All of Us Are Unapprehend Felons”: Gay Liberatn, the Black Panther Party, and Intermunal Efforts Agast Police Btaly the Bay Area - 24 Hours accs.

Newton, the -founr of the Black Panther Party, gave a speech New York Cy where he outled the Party’s posn on two emergg movements at the time, the women’s liberatn movement and the gay liberatn movement. Durg the past few years strong movements have veloped among women and among homosexuals seekg their liberatn. Whatever your personal opns and your securi about homosexualy and the var liberatn movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as opprsed groups), we should try to une wh them a revolutnary fashn.

DIFFERENT FIGHT, 'SAME GOAL': HOW THE BLACK EEDOM MOVEMENT SPIRED EARLY GAY ACTIVISTS

I say “whatever your securi are” bee as we very well know, sometim our first stct is to want to h a homosexual the mouth and want a woman to be quiet. We want to h a homosexual the mouth bee we are aaid that we might be homosexual; and we want to h the woman or shut her up bee we are aaid that she might strate or take the nuts that we might not have to start wh.

I do not remember our ever nstutg any value that said that a revolutnary mt say offensive thgs towards homosexuals, or that a revolutnary should make sure that women do not speak out about their own particular kd of opprsn. We have not said much about the homosexual at all, but we mt relate to the homosexual movement bee is a real thg.

And what ma them homosexual? But whatever the se is, we know that homosexualy is a fact that exists, and we mt unrstand s purt form: that is, a person should have the eedom to e his body whatever way he wants. That is not endorsg thgs homosexualy that we wouldn’t view as revolutnary.