<strong>Peter Tatchell:</strong> Forty years ago, the Gay Liberatn Front challenged society's genr system – luckily we've had some succs
Contents:
- GAY RIGHTS
- THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
- THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
- GAY LIBERATN FRONT
- FOUNDG MEMBER OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT CROSSWORD CLUE
- GAY LIBERATN FRONT RERDS, 1971-1972 COLLECTN NUMBER: 7805
- THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT'S SOCIAL REVOLUTN
- FOUNDG MEMBER OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT CROSSWORD CLUE
- THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT PLATFORM STATEMENT, DECEMBER 2, 1970.
GAY RIGHTS
The gay rights movement the Uned Stat began the 1920s and saw huge progrs the 2000s, wh laws prohibg homosexual activy stck down and a Supreme Court lg legalizg same-sex marriage. * gay liberation front members *
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.
THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
After beg oted om the U.S. ary for beg gay, she beme an early fighter for gay rights and a proment figure the nascent L.G.B.T.Q. rights movement. * gay liberation front members *
”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. 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.
THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
A short acunt of the Gay Liberatn Front the UK, wrten by Stuart Feather. * gay liberation front members *
" This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad. 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
* gay liberation front members *
Siar groups followed, cludg the Gay Activists Alliance, Radilbians, and Street Transvt Actn Revolutnari (STAR) 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, New York Cy muny members marched through lol streets memoratn of the event. 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. 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.
FOUNDG MEMBER OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT CROSSWORD CLUE
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. Her discharge om the ary over her homosexualy had turned her to an Tob/The New York Public LibraryPublished July 19, 2023Updated July 23, 2023Lilli Vcenz, who beme a gay rights activist the hhed, reprsive era before the Stonewall rebelln of 1969, when such a ncept srcely existed, makg a mark as a newspaper edor, documentary filmmaker and psychotherapist voted to L.
Vicenz beme, by most acunts, the first lbian to picket the Whe Hoe support of equal rights for gay people as a member of the Mattache Society of Washgton, an early gay rights prott — the first of s kd, acrdg to the Library of Congrs — and others that followed were small but brought visibily to a movement s fancy. Vcenz beme the first out lbian to appear on the ver of a natnal gay magaze, The Ladr, a publitn produced by the untry’s first lbian-rights group, the Dghters of Bilis, acrdg to a retrospective on her life and reer by Lillian Farman, a historian of lbian and gay her scbbed, all-Amerin looks, Dr. Vcenz looked like “every mother’s dream dghter, ” as Barbara Gtgs, The Ladr’s edor, put Vcenz also ntributed to the e on the other si of a mera, makg two 16-limeter films that were later hailed as signifint artifacts of the early gay rights first, tled “The Send-Largt Mory, ” documents a Mattache Society prott ont of Inpennce Hall Philalphia on July 4, morn ey, the black-and-whe film, roughly seven mut, seems anythg but seismic.
The first Gay Youth anizatn, GYNY; the first trans anizatn, STAR (Street Transvte Actn Revolutnari); the first LGBT Communy Center on Wt 3rd Street; the first monstratns agast media and police; and a ntual public prence as we took back our streets.
GAY LIBERATN FRONT RERDS, 1971-1972 COLLECTN NUMBER: 7805
There were people at Stonewall who passed by, people who crang their necks om around the rner watchg, people who tossed a stone and ran sce the police chased people up and down the street, but the spir of ristance that gave birth to the new movement was all the Gay Liberatn ont. Infightg the anizatn ed a spl and created the Gay Activists Alliance, which beme popular wh historians sce went back to those rpectable lookg homosexuals that they preferred reprent our muny and which were overwhelmgly whe men. The year 2020 brgs the 50th anniversary of the start of Gay Liberatn London, the moment when everythg changed Bra by settg off the first Gay Pri March 1972, makg 2022 the 50th anniversary of that polil monstratn and celebratn.
GLF’s aim is ‘Absolute Freedom for All’ and they empower the queer muny to achieve this through artistic and activist procs to nont a variety of forms of stutnalised homophobia cludg workshops, events, exhibns, street actns and muny anisg.
‘Out of the Closet and to the Streets’ is a polil tn and activism programme, that bats the rise homophobia and is part of velopg wir stggl for jtice agast domator culture and the rise of the far right and this is the programme that GLF will be nng wh Guerrilla backg. 2020 – 2022 – GLF tergeneratnal mentorg programme – Wh foundg members of ‘Pri’ om the ‘Gay Liberatn Front’ they have been meetg regularly aga sce the begng of 2019 to reclaim Pri back om the rporatns and are preparg to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the GLF 2020. S clu Harley Street private medil practice, who prevly promoted beg gay as a disease, the Ho of Parliament where the legendary abseilg lbians protted agast the troductn of ‘Sectn 28’, a heavily-policed cisg spot the early 20th Century on the Strand known hilarly as the ‘Notor Ural’, the 1980’s ‘dyk and faggots rints scheme’ to hoe sgle people hard-to-let flats led by a muny of punk femist lbians, the Deptford Dyk and Picdilly Circ to tip our hats to the ‘Dilly Boys’ and sex workers who have kept the wheels of sexual London greased for centuri.
THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT'S SOCIAL REVOLUTN
June 2020 – ‘Queer Freedom’ showse at Rich Mix – weekend of films, trags, workshops and events wh tersectnal grassroots LGBTQI+ movements buildg ntug the tersectnal legacy of ‘Gay Liberatn Fronts’ goal of ‘Absolute Freedom for All’.
FOUNDG MEMBER OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT CROSSWORD CLUE
Image source, Peter Tatchell / Jamie GarderImage ptn, The first Lbian and Gay Pri march central London, on 1 July 1972, was anised by the Gay Liberatn FrontFifty years ago about 2, 000 people took part London's first official Lbian and Gay Pri event, as part of a prott agast how the police treated that muny. Policg PriImage source, Peter Tatchell / Jamie GarderImage ptn, The first Lbian and Gay Pri march through central LondonImage source, Peter Tatchell / Jamie GarderImage ptn, Pri protters gathered Trafalgar Square on 1 July 1972The first Lbian and Gay Pri event the UK, on 1 July 1972 was a relatively small affair, although s roots are a gatherg a few away Highbury Fields held November tumn some 150 members of the Gay Liberatn Front (GLF) held a torchlight vigil to prott agast police harassment of gay people.
Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, The GLF march of the early 1970s were staged prott at police harassment of gay peopleImage source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Lbians played a key and very visible role GLF march throughout the 1970s and 80sPeople like Andrew Lumsn, who attend the first London Pri march 1972, saw those events as the begng of a huge change. The feelg was that we had broken down a barrier that was put ont of that said, 'you mt not be out, you mt not be seen', " he ptn, Stuart Feather and Andrew Lumsn took part the first London Pri march 50 years agoMr Lumsn, who will be marchg alongsi some of the origal Gay Liberatn Front members this year, says was also about fyg the anti-gay tablishment. Policians at PriImage source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Prime Mister Boris Johnson, then London mayor, at the 2008 Pri marchWhile the first march may have been held fiance of policians, 's somewhat different the days - every directly elected London mayor has attend Pri at some the 1980s, Pri foced on the Aids crisis and the troductn of Sectn 28, which saw the Conservative ernment of the day ban the promotn of homosexual liftyl schools.
Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, UK Black Pri 2019 - a celebratn of LGBTQ+ people of lourOthers have been dismayed at events that have taken place at Pri, cludg when members of the lbian and femist group Get The L Out gathered at the start of the para actns of the protters - scribed at the time as bigoted by Pri London - reflected, though, that there are those who wish to separate the "LGB" om the "T", argug that transgenr rights n impge on the rights of gay people, pecially s of solidary, 's fair to say there is an creasg number of people who feel the event has lost s way - that the culture around the Pri march and the rabow flag don't reprent them. Last year, some of the origal Gay Liberatn Front protters - cludg human rights mpaigner Peter Tatchell - held a Reclaim Pri to the origal route of the 1972 march, they lled for the return to the origal pot of Pri, as a celebratn of and a prott support of LGBTQ+ rights, whout the morn-day rporate sponsorship and mercialism.
THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT PLATFORM STATEMENT, DECEMBER 2, 1970.
“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.