A Glimpse of Gay Pri the 1950s

The 1967 Sexual Offenc Act was a game-changer for gay men. Our wrers reflect on what changed, and what didn’t * 50 years gay *

I rell durg our bate about gay marriage, a Ukip uncilllor, who is a grown adult, an ted man, genuely said that if the UK legalised gay marriage, we would be “bet by natural disasters such as storms, disease, ptilence and war”. I wore my disobedience and ristance to heterosexualy like a badge of between beg sacked om jobs, thrown out of pubs, beaten up, sexually asslted, and labelled a “eak” and “kiddy fiddler”, I was rmed by some gay men and heterosexuals that lbians were not opprsed bee we were “not illegal”. I wnsed women havg their children removed and placed the ctody of vlent ex-partners; beg raped by police officers as “punishment” when our clubs were raid on a pretext; and beg celly rejected by fai and childhood thor Mreen Duffy, now 83, was the first lbian the UK to e out pre-1967 and speak agast anti-gay discrimatn.

When I terviewed Duffy she told me that her opn there has long been an assumptn that lbians have historilly not suffered as much direct prejudice as gay men bee the crimal law, until Sectn 28, targeted only men.

The ia that gay people the UK would be nied the right to marry seems antiquated – let alone the ia that they would be if the last few years of polil upheaval have tght anythg, is that the path to equaly is rarely a lear one. Straight iends are shocked to learn that the UK there are still signifint rtrictns on gay men givg blood, or that there are still 29 US stat where is legal to fire somebody for beg gay (never md the untri where rri a ath penalty)’s not to ny how much posive change has occurred - there’s never been a better time to be gay the UK. But Diamond and other rearchers have piled numero se studi of gay men who spent years feelg (and actg) fully and fortably homosexual, only then to fall unexpectedly love wh a heterosexual woman.

IT IS NOW 50 YEARS SCE GAY PEOPLE WERE “CURED"

ONE Natnal Gay & Lbian Archiv shar a rare glimpse at gay life the 1950s honor of LGBT Pri month. * 50 years gay *

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first LGBT Pri march held New York Cy, on June 28, 1970, one year after the Stonewall Rts that were precipated by years of anti-gay persecutn and harassment. New York Tim article relayg the New Jersey Supreme Court’s lg that First Amendment rights applied to gay and lbian rints, spe how unfortable some of jtic said they were at nduct protected among heterosexuals.

The May 1980 issue of Challenge, the newsletter of the Gay Activist Alliance Morris County (GAAMC), which members ved Congrswoman Millicent Fenwick to discs opposn to legislatn which teachers uld be fired for beg gay. GAAMC ordated statewi events wh the New Jersey Lbian and Gay Coaln om the early 1970s, fought legislatn aimed at re-crimalizg homosexualy New Jersey, tablished a speakers seri and the natn’s first Gay Blood Blank, anized mpg and ski trips, and held protts to hold hands across the Gee Washgton Bridge and around the Statue of Liberty.

GIGI’S CELEBRAT 50 YEARS: THE OLST GAY-OWNED GAY BAR DETRO IS NOW A HALF-CENTURY OLD

How beg gay went om a mental disorr to a human-rights movement. * 50 years gay *

By 1992, the Gay Helple of New Jersey was staffed by two volunteers om 7:30-10:30 pm seven days a week, who rpond to over 3, 000 lls per year, and returned thoands more answerg mache msag.

In 1978, a New Jersey state senator sought to re-crimalize gay and lbian acts between nsentg adults wh Senate bill 1276, which threatened penalti of five to 10 years imprisonment and/or a $7, 500 fe, while exemptg straight upl mtg the same acts. Wh growg acceptance of LGBT Amerins over the past 50 years, gay and lbian anizatns have had to shoulr ls of the burn of providg legal advocy, safe plac to meet and socialize, and guibooks to bs where one will not be refed servic based on their inty.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY, ‘THE CORNER BAR’ MA HISTORY WH TV’S FIRST OUT GAY CHARACTER (GUT BLOG)

Disver all facts and statistics on Homosexualy (gays and lbians) the U.S. on ! * 50 years gay *

For stance, the state’s first Gay Pri Para and Rally held Asbury Park 1992 has grown to bee one of the largt Pri events the regn, attractg thoands of gay and straight dividuals, upl, and fai alike. ” Commemoratg the one-year anniversary of the historic Stonewall uprisg on Christopher Street New York Cy, the march was followed the next afternoon, June 28, by an timate “gay-” piic at Speedway Meadows Goln Gate years later, the most gathergs of 1970 have evolved to San Francis Pri, a globally famo annual para and celebratn.

Over time, Pri has been transformed and diversified om a largely whe, male, middle-class gay gatherg to an event that reprents the full spectm of genr, race, ethnicy, class, genr inty and exprsn, sexualy and abily. Phyllis Lyon (left) and Del Mart (right), founrs of the pneerg lbian anizatn the Dghters of Bilis, as Grand Marshals of the 1989 Gay Freedom Day Para on the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Rts; photograph by Tom Levy, urty of the San Francis Chronicle, ed wh permissn, all rights rerved.

The photographers provi a val lens to LGBTQ history, illtratg that together: We rose up after the assassatns of San Francis Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official California, and Mayor Gee Mosne 1978.

GLAD TO BE GAY: LEADG FIGUR ON 50 YEARS OF LIBERATN

Gigi’s, one of the most beloved and rpected gay bars on the Michigan map, is celebratg a tone few venu manage to reach — 50 years the * 50 years gay *

Burns (left) om the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and -founr of Gay Amerin Indians 1975, and Bambi Raven Ltlefeather (right) om Tlg Natn and the Taktaan Raven Clan, 2000; photograph by Daniel Niletta, ed wh permissn, all rights rerved.

ONE Natnal Gay & Lbian Archiv at the Universy of Southern California Librari, the largt reposory of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer materials the world, shared a heartwarmg uple of photos wh Time of two gay men showg affectn a photo booth durg the early 1950s honor of LGBT Pri public displays of affectn by same-sex upl are monplace today, the fact that this picture was taken 1953 - a time when LGBT people uld be arrted for simply holdg hands wh someone of the same sex - mak a powerful and betiful image monstratg the spir of LGBT Pri. Marchers the 1986 Pri para rried a banner for the Mnota AIDS Project, a grassroots effort found by gay volunteers that galvanized the state’s public-health rponse to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Xochi la Luna: Before I dug to the history, seemed like this big rporate ftival for gay whe men and, yeah, sure, lbians, but seemed overwhelmgly whe, and always the p prence turned me off.

Psychiatric diagnosg of homosexualy as a mental disorr began the 19th century, most promently the work of Richard von Krafft-Ebg, who thought was due to “generatn” of the nervo system—generacy beg a now-disproven medil theory of that era.

While the June 1969 uprisg at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street New York Cy was a val talyst expandg gay activism, limatns rema. * 50 years gay *

They found homosexualy to be more mon the general populatn than was generally believed—a fdg at odds wh psychiatric claims of the time that homosexualy was extremely rare the general populatn. All this changed the wake of the 1969 Stonewall rts New York Cy, an event that energized gay and lbian activists who believed psychiatric diagnosis to be a major ntributor to anti-homosexual social stigma.

A 1971 panel, entled “Gay is Good” featured Kameny, Barbara Gtgs, and Ron Gold, who explaed to psychiatrists, many of whom were hearg for the first time, the stigma ed by the “homosexualy” diagnosis. H Anonymo, a “homosexual psychiatrist" who, given the realistic fear of adverse profsnal nsequenc for g out at that time, disguised his te inty om the dience and spoke of the discrimatn gay psychiatrists faced their own profsn. Whout a medil or scientific ratnalizatn for discrimatn, bat about homosexualy gradually shifted away om medice and psychiatry and to the moral and polil realms of relign, ernment, the ary, the media, and tnal stutns.

AARP Pri: The Gay Man's Gui to Datg After ...

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THE GAY MAN'S GUI TO DATG AFTER 50

7 REASONS WHY MY BEG GAY AND OVER 50 IS TRAGIC, ACRDG TO EVERYONE ELSE