How the Gay Liberatn Front Manifto helped to shape me | Peter Tatchell | The Guardian

Contents:

• LONDON GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO 1971
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO
• HOW THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO HELPED TO SHAPE ME
• THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT AND THE HOMOSEXUAL REVOLUTN – HAVE YOU READ THE MANIFTO?
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO, LONDON 1971
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO.
• MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST
• GAY LIBERATN FRONT UK

LONDON GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO 1971

It n easily be seen that homosexuals don’t f to the stereotyp of mascule and feme and this is one of the ma reasons why we bee the object of spicn, sce everyone is tght that the and only the two rol are appropriate….

But gay men don’t need to opprs women orr to fulfil their own psycho-sexual needs, and gay women don’t have to relate sexually to the male opprsor, so that at this moment time, the et and most equal relatnships are most likely to be between homosexuals. The married guy who mak on the si secretly; the guy who will go to bed once but won't velop any gay relatnships; the pretenr at work or school who chang the genr of the iend he's talkg about; the guy who'll suck ck the bh but won't go to bed.

Police or n men who shake down the straight gay return for not revealg him; the bookstor and movie makers who keep raisg pric bee they are the only outlet for pornography; heads of ‘molg’ agenci and other pimps who explo both the htlers and the johns — the are the paras who flourish the ghetto. 2) a lbian uc is probably the bt way to attack gay guys' male chvism, and challenge the straightns of women's liberatn; 3) as mal we mt be sensive to their velopg inti as women, and rpect that; if we know what our eedom is about, they certaly know what's bt for them.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO

This problem is pecially acute for our movement sce so much of our opprsn nsists precisely beg forced to choose between a personal life a gay ghetto or a -personalized life straight society — ually to the triment of dividual growth, no matter which optn is taken. The homosexual who his his inty for the sake of the polil movement, the good of his fay or whatever, is likely to n to the dilemma of all “borg om wh”; the abily to effect change bee he is not regnized for what he is or has actually fotten who he is himself. Many gay rights anisatns that emerged durg the urse of the 1980s and 1990s would have their re prcipl rooted the work of the manifto digised here is the first what will bee an onle library of key LGBTQ+ texts om the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, held the Special Collectns and Archiv here at the Manifto, 1971GLF Manifto, 1979Further readg our LGBTQ+ CollectnsWhat We Do.

HOW THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO HELPED TO SHAPE ME

Although cril of the misogyny and homophobia of the "straight left", posned the LGBT stggle as part of the broar anti-palist, anti-imperialist movement, strivg for the emancipatn of all importantly, argued that LGBT people need to embrace and ally wh femism: "As we nnot rry out this revolutnary change alone … we will work to form a strategic alliance wh the women's liberatn movement … In orr to build this alliance, the brothers gay liberatn will have to be prepared to sacrifice that gree of male chvism and male privilege that they still all posss.

THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT AND THE HOMOSEXUAL REVOLUTN – HAVE YOU READ THE MANIFTO?

It criqu homophobia, sexism, marriage, the nuclear fay, monogamy, the cults of youth and bety, patriarchy, the gay ghetto and rigid male and female genr well as opposg the way thgs are, outl an alternative visn, cludg livg munally, genr-subversive radil drag and non-posssive multi-partner open relatnships. In echo of Franz Fanon and Mallm X, stated that the prendn for this social revolutn is transformg our own nscns and liv: "The startg pot of our liberatn mt be to rid ourselv of the opprsn which li the head of every one of … we mt root out the ia that homosexualy is bad, sick or immoral, and velop a gay pri.

Subvertg the supremacy of heterosexual masculy was the key to genue manifto argu that much LGBT opprsn rults om the way we queers viate om the socially prcribed, orthodox genr rol of mascule and feme: "By our very existence as gay people, we challenge the rol. This failure to meet tradnal genr expectatns is profoundly threateng to straight male supremacism: "The long-term goal of gay liberatn, which evably brgs to nflict wh the stutnalised sexism of this society, is to rid society of the genr-role system which is at the root of our opprsn. The poal of "radil drag" and "genr-benr" polics is a ll to opt out of male privilege – an attempt to subvert the opprsivens of heterosexual masculy bee we unrstood that staed both the subordatn of women and same-sex manifto posed that LGBT people were often the foreont of this important stggle: "Gay shows the way.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO, LONDON 1971

The group’s 1970 manifto – displayg a raised fist – remas s most endurg GAY LIBERATION FRONT MANIFESTOWhen statg their objectiv, the group wrote unequivolly that “Gay liberatn do not jt mean reforms. LEGALIZING PEDOLPHILIA AND POLYGAMYTwo years after the GLF manifto lled for “revolutnary change, ” the Natnal Coaln of Gay Organizatns Conventn Chigo adopted the radil 1972 Gay Rights aln sought to legalize pedophilia and polygamy, llg for the “repeal of all laws erng the age of sexual nsent” and “legislative provisns that rtrict the sex or number of persons enterg to a marriage un. ”“A LARGE SCALE MEDIA CAMPAIGN”Months after Swift’s “Gay Revolutnary, ” Gui Magaze published Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen’s “The Overhlg of Straight Ameri” that lled for “A large-sle media mpaign … to change the image of gays Ameri.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT

”In 1989, Madsen and Kirk expand the article to After the Ball - How Ameri will nquer s fear and hatred of Gays the 90’s – which was published by Doubleday, one of Ameri’s largt publishers at the time. The attorneys tasked wh fendg Texas laws ced Swift’s manifto as one of several sourc that they claimed poted to a larger agenda behd the overturng laws prohibg homosexual went on to quote pedophilia advote David Thorstad, who -found the North Amerin Man/Boy Love Associatn (NAMBLA) – a group that seeks to remove age-of-nsent laws. ” While many the LGBTQ movement have sought to disassociate om Thorstad and NAMBLA, the 1972 Gay Rights Platform plit those Ettelbrick, a legal activist for the LGBTQ movement who phed to expand the fn of what nstut a fay, also appears the fense’s argument.

Cross-drsg men dancg like strippers ont of kids – or readg stori to children librari across the Wtern world – are now ordated and borrg on stutnalized homosexualized attacks on tradnal valu and the sancty of of urse, the riger BDSM/leather ntgent brought the ual sexualized vlence. There are strong historil and iologil ti to munist and socialist 1972, an article the Socialist Workers Party Discsn Bullet not: “We should work toward advancg the mass gay liberatn movement and s nontatn wh the palist system and s ernment.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT MANIFTO.

J Atks opens by makg the followg claim: “The morn movement for queer liberatn – or gay liberatn to e the as-yet ls clive termology of the 1960s and ’70s – wouldn’t exist whout the Communist Party USA. On the 4th July Lbians and Gay Men om the Matache Society New York, rponse to the rts, staged a walk-out and moved to the Alternative Universy Greenwich Village where they found what beme the Gay Liberatn Front.

“Not only did liberatnists go to Philalphia to show solidary wh the black movement, but was there that Huey Newton as lear of the Panthers, first gave clear support of the Gay Cse, sayg that homosexuals were maybe the most opprsed people of Amerin society, and uld well be the most revolutnary. On 13th November, GLF ma the first ever, public monstratn the UK by lbians and gay men at Highbury Fields, Islgton, to prott the e of “pretty policemen” agent provotrs ed by the police to entrap gay men to attemptg acts of gross cency, a standard police practice and an easy way for them to crease the figur for crime tectn and prosecutn. An Anti-Psychiatry Group foced on analysg and attackg the Psychiatric Establishments wholale acceptance of Juo Christian prejudice, Biblil thory, and the e of electric shock/emetic dg programm on gays and lbians who did not f , or who were found guilty of breakg the law.

An Actn Group anisg public GLF danc held lol town halls, and later the Gay Days the parks, an Office Collective, and the Steerg Group, later the Co-ordatg Commtee to n the Wednday night General Meetgs. In all about a hundred gay men and lbians were active the var GLF Groups, while by mid-January, ’71 there were up to five hundred people a week attendg the General Meetg, which suggts that many thoands of gay men and lbians passed through the doors.

MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

David Rben’s book, “Everythg you wanted to know about sex – but were aaid to ask”, which claimed to tell ndid facts whilst avoidg moral judgement and the sectns on gays and lbians ntaed referenc to light bulbs, cucumbers, and the e of wire at hangers for abortns.

GAY LIBERATN FRONT UK

At the end of ’71 ser spls were occurrg between the men who saw ‘g out’ as only the first step the transformatn of gay men and the send the nontatn wh the social ials of masculy, and sexism, whilst followg the Manifto aim of movg toward munal livg. Opposg them were the men who ignored the Manifto, refed to acknowledge their heterosexist quali, were learng to mpaign on sgle issu, but need, as straight men do, an anised stcture which to operate, one that gay lib was liberately signed not to provi.