<strong>The long read</strong>: A police raid on a gay bar New York led to the birth of the Pri movement half a century ago – but the fight for LGBTQ+ rights go back much further than that
Contents:
- GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
- GAY RIGHTS
- DIFFERENT FIGHT, 'SAME GOAL': HOW THE BLACK EEDOM MOVEMENT SPIRED EARLY GAY ACTIVISTS
- THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
- UNTEND NSEQUENC: THE LEGACY OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT
- HOW GAY ACTIVISTS CHALLENGED THE POLICS OF CIVILY
- GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
- PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI
GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Gay rights movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons—that is, for lbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons—and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life. * gay liberation movement goals *
In the Uned Stat this greater visibily brought some backlash, particularly om the ernment and the police: the ernment often fired gay civil servants, the ary attempted to purge s ranks of gay soldiers (a policy enacted durg World War II), and police vice squads equently raid gay bars and arrted their patrons. In the Uned Stat the first major male anizatn, found 1950–51 by Harry Hay Los Angel, was the Mattache Society (s name reputedly rived om a medieval French society of masked players, the Société Mattache, to reprent the public “maskg” of homosexualy), while the Dghters of Bilis (named after the Sapphic love poems of Pierre Louÿs, Chansons Bilis), found 1955 by Phyllis Lyon and Del Mart San Francis, was a leadg group for women. In Bra 1957 a missn chaired by Sir John Wolfenn issued a groundbreakg report (see Wolfenn Report) remendg that private homosexual liaisons between nsentg adults be removed om the doma of crimal law; a later the remendatn was implemented by Parliament the Sexual Offenc Act.
This support, along wh mpaigns by gay activists urgg gay men and women to “e out of the closet” (ed, the late 1980s, Natnal Comg Out Day was tablished, and is now celebrated on October 11 most untri), enuraged gay men and women to enter the polil arena as ndidat. Other issu of primary importance for the gay rights movement sce the 1970s clud batg the HIV/AIDS epimic and promotg disease preventn and fundg for rearch; lobbyg ernment for nondiscrimatory polici employment, hog, and other aspects of civil society; endg the ban on ary service for gay and lbian dividuals; expandg hate crim legislatn to clu protectns for gays, cludg transgenr dividuals; and securg marriage rights for same-sex upl (see same-sex marriage).
THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
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 movement goals *
Key potsIn the late 1960s and 1970s, Native Amerins, gay men, lbians, and women anized to change discrimatory laws and pursue ernment support for their terts, a strategy known as inty groups, whose aims and tactics posed a challenge to the existg state of affairs, often met wh hostily om dividuals, lol officials, and the US ernment. Shortly thereafter, the Gay Liberatn Front and Gay Activists’ Alliance were formed; the anizatns began to prott discrimatn, homophobia, and vlence agast gay people, and promoted gay liberatn and gay advocy anizatns lled for gay men and lbians to e out—reveal their sexual orientatn—gay and lbian muni moved om the urban unrground to the polil sphere.
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. ”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.
GAY RIGHTS
From s gay liberatn roots to today’s natnwi work of activists and supporters, the LGBTQ rights movement has always strived toward progrs. We celebrate the movement and every one of s members whose urageo ntributns and sacrific have steadily phed society the right directn. * gay liberation movement goals *
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. 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.
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.
DIFFERENT FIGHT, 'SAME GOAL': HOW THE BLACK EEDOM MOVEMENT SPIRED EARLY GAY ACTIVISTS
* gay liberation movement goals *
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. 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.
On April 25, 1965, three teenagers refed to leave Dewey’s Rtrant Philalphia after employe repeatedly nied service to “homosexuals and persons wearg nonnformist clothg, ” acrdg to Dm magaze, which was created by the Jan Society, an early gay rights teens were arrted and charged wh disorrly nduct, and Jan Society members protted outsi of the rtrant for the next five days, acrdg to Marc Ste, a history profsor at San Francis State Universy. C., one of the first homophile groups ("homophile" beg the adjective of choice at the time), and he drew strategi directly om the Black civil rights movement, acrdg to Eric Cervi, a historian and thor of “The Deviant’s War, ” which foc on Kameny and the early gay rights movement.
THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
(In fact, 1979, activists would anize a Natnal March on Washgton for Gay and Lbian Rights, which drew an timated 200, 000 protters, acrdg to the Natnal LGBT Chamber of Commerce) hold signs as they participate the Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian & Gay Rights Washgton, DC, on Oct. A aln of gay and lbian anizatns held a yearly peaceful prott at Inpennce Hall lled the Annual Remr om 1965 to 1969, which Ste said were fluenced by the early civil rights monstratns which monstrators were stcted to drs rpectably, wh women drs and men sus. ”“This ia of a aln between the two anizatns — that the Black Freedom Movement might be spirg this other group of Amerin cizens who are also margalized, and the fact that they may both be takg to the streets, perhaps ordatn — that is what sred them the most, ” Cervi said of the FBI and Southern racist Kameny and Mattache Society of Washgton members marchg New York, June Tob Lahen / NYPLHowever, the homophile movement, at least New York and Washgton, never ma that aln a realy, Cervi said he the word “plagiarism” to scribe how Kameny ed civil rights tactics whout workg wh or credg the activists whose tactics he ed.
Kuromiya -found the Gay Liberatn Front’s Philalphia chapter and beme a spokperson for a homosexual workshop at the Black Panther’s Revolutnary People's Constutnal Conventn September 1970, acrdg to gave a prentatn “to the huge dience of the nventn to applse, ” Ste said of Kuromiya, cg this as one of many exampl showg that the movements weren’t agmented or divid at the time some ci.
Outlg the group’s posn on the two emergg movements, Newton wrote: “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.
UNTEND NSEQUENC: THE LEGACY OF THE GAY LIBERATN FRONT
In the early 1970s, most zaps foced on prottg negative reprentatns of gays and lbians televisn shows, films and newspapers, like ABC's "Marc Welby MD" (zapped 1973 for s nflatn of homosexualy and illns), and NBC's "Police Woman" (zapped 1974 by the Lbian Femist Liberatn group, for pictg a gang of lbian murrers targetg elrly people a nursg home). The Daily Signal attend several panel discsns featurg speakers such as Janson Wu, executive director of the advocy group GLAD; Jam Esseks, director of the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and AIDS project at the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn; and Evan Wolfson, former print of Freedom to Marry, a mpaign largely creded wh wng the legalizatn of same-sex marriage. However, others wh LGBT movements have cricized inty polics as limed and flawed, [4] and have stead aimed to transform fundamental stutns of society (such as lbian femism) or have argued that all members of society have the potential for same-sex sexualy (such as Adolf Brand or Gay Liberatn) or a broar range of genr exprsn (such as the transgenr wrg of Kate Bornste).
Important amers of the movement clu Karl Ulrichs, who wrote about gay rights the 1860s, the revived wtern culture followg World War II, the new social movements of the 1960s, and the unprecented level of acceptance of the LGBT muny the later twentieth century. [8] In the 1890s, English socialist poet Edward Carpenter and Sttish anarchist John Henry Mackay wrote fense of same-sex love and androgyny; Carpenter and Brish homosexual rights advote John Addgton Symonds ntributed to the velopment of Havelock Ellis's groundbreakg book Sexual Inversn, which lled for tolerance towards "verts" and was supprsed when first published England. Their e of the word "gay" reprented a new unapologetic fiance—as an antonym for "straight" ("rpectable sexual behavr"), enpassed a range of non-normative sexuali and genr exprsns, such as transgenr street prostut, and sought ultimately to ee the bisexual potential everyone, renrg obsolete the tegori of homosexual and heterosexual.
From 1970 activists protted the classifitn of homosexualy as a mental illns by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn their DSM, and 1974, was replaced wh a tegory of "sexual orientatn disturbance" then "ego-dystonic homosexualy, " which was also leted, although "genr inty disorr" remas. From the anarchistic Gay Liberatn Movement of the early 1970s arose a more reformist and sgle-issue "Gay Rights Movement, " which portrayed gays and lbians as a mory group and ed the language of civil rights— many rpects ntug the work of the homophile perd.
HOW GAY ACTIVISTS CHALLENGED THE POLICS OF CIVILY
Many women of the Gay Liberatn movement felt trated at the domatn of the movement by men and formed separate anisatns; some who felt genr differenc between men and women uld not be rolved veloped "lbian separatism, " fluenced by wrgs such as Jill Johnston's 1973 book Lbian Natn. The Gays and Lbians For Individual Liberty filed a Supreme Court brief support of the right of the Boy Suts of Ameri to refe to adm gays to s ranks (notg that if the BSA were forced by ernment to adm gay members, gay anizatns might also be forced to adm anti-gay members). Outright Libertarians, favor an approach that do not require ernment ercn and seek to lim ernment actn to the implementatn of equal rights—rather than "special rights" such as legally-required preferential treatment on the basis of sexual orientatn employment, hog or tn that are often mand by other gay anizatns.
GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
The libertarian posn on gay rights unrsr the divi between liberal groups (who favor ENDA and hate crim laws as a primary vehicle for gay rights) and libertarians (who generally view gay rights as equal treatment areas such as marriage equaly and other posns that are broadly opposed by both Democrats and Republins).
GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
While mastream psychology has e around to the view that homosexualy is an nate ndn, although a dissentg mory regard as a disorr and have veloped specialized therapi that n enable those who are willg to al wh their same-sex attractn and settle to a heterosexual liftyle. The seri begs wh the headle “There are probably 2, 700 homosexuals at Cal”, and go to tail about how police officers have been crackg down on the "homosexual activy" on mp, cludg removg every other door the men’s rtroom, so that would stop people om drillg glory hol the stalls.
Durg this s- the stunts veloped a list of mands for the Universy which clud: the Universy support the repeal of sodomy laws, the Universy provi facili for the CGE, the Universy give permissn to hold the gay dance as planned, and the Universy enforce the rignatn of John Cox. Those who feel themselv to be homosexual or bisexual or who are uncerta about their sexual orientatn n expect sympathetic and nfintial nsiratn om most of the relig unselors and the staff of the Columbia Counsellg Service, as well as om the SHL [Stunt Homophile League] self. Soon they were advotg nothg ls than “gay liberatn” nscns-raisg groups to fundraisg danc, protts outsi hostile newspapers to refug for homels trans and queer people, this surge LGBTQ+ anisg took many forms, and as the first anniversary of the rts me to view, some the muny began discsg how bt to mark what was beg regard as the “Bastille day” of gay rights.
PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI
The roots of that bate go back to s earlit days, and suggt that Pri and the Stonewall rts have always been part of a ntent battle for inty and ownership – a battle that has helped produce the very ia of what beg a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr or queer person might Stonewall rts were not the birth of the gay rights movement.