The Gay Liberatn Movement - Makg History

Contents:

• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• DIFFERENT FIGHT, 'SAME GOAL': HOW THE BLACK EEDOM MOVEMENT SPIRED EARLY GAY ACTIVISTS
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
• THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC. GOALS AND TENTNS
• THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
• GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT SUMMARY
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT: ONE VICTORY AT A TIME

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

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.

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 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.

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

Army service World War I, Gerber was spired to create his anizatn by the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee, a “homosexual emancipatn” group Germany.Gerber’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 Landmark.The Pk TriangleCorbis/Getty ImagHomosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, 1938.The gay rights movement stagnated for the next few s, though LGBT dividuals around the world did e to the spotlight a few tim.For example, English poet and thor Radclyffe Hall stirred up ntroversy 1928 when she published her lbian-themed novel, The Well of Lonels.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

And durg World War II, the Nazis held homosexual men ncentratn mps, brandg them wh the famo pk triangle badge, which was also given to sexual predators.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 heterosexual.The Homophile Years In 1950, Harry Hay found the Mattache Foundatn, one of the natn’s first gay rights group. The Los Angel anizatn ed the term “homophile,” which was nsired ls clil and foced on sexual activy than “homosexual.”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 jury.At 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 .The 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 kd.The early years of the movement also faced some notable setbacks: the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn listed homosexualy as a form of mental disorr 1952.The followg year, Print Dwight D.

In fact, gay men and women New York Cy uld not be served alhol public due to liquor laws that nsired the gatherg of homosexuals to be “disorrly.”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 socializg.In 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.

THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC. GOALS AND TENTNS

They were nied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Juli, rultg much publicy and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor laws.The Stonewall Inn A few years later, 1969, a now-famo event talyzed the gay rights movement: The Stonewall Rts.The clanste gay club Stonewall Inn was an stutn Greenwich Village bee was large, cheap, allowed dancg and weled drag queens and homels youths.But the early hours of June 28, 1969, New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn.

After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village." This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay rights.In 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.” The amed newspaper article hangs near the entrance of Stonewall Inn to this day.An unintified group of young people celebrate outsi the board-up Stonewall Inn after the rts. More and more supporters gathered outsi the bar, chantg slogans like “gay power” and “we shall overe.”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement.

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.Siar groups followed, cludg the Gay Activists Alliance, Radilbians, and Street Transvt Actn Revolutnari (STAR).In 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, New York Cy muny members marched through lol streets memoratn of the event. In 1977, for stance, the New York Supreme Court led that transgenr woman Renée Richards uld play at the Uned Stat Open tennis tournament as a woman.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 office.Harvey 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 California.Milk 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.

THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT

Baker signed and stched together the first rabow flag, which he unveiled at a pri para 1978.The followg year, 1979, more than 100,000 people took part the first Natnal March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights.Outbreak of AIDS The outbreak of AIDS the Uned Stat domated the stggle for gay rights the 1980s and early 1990s. 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 pnmonia.By 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 secret.Gay 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 sexualy.In 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.

GAY-RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was officially repealed on September 20, 2011.Gay 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).In 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 orientatn.The Matthew Shepard ActCourty of the Matthew Shepard FoundatnMatthew Shepard, who was btally killed a hate crime 1998.In 2003, gay rights proponents had another b of happy news: the U.S. The murr was thought to be driven by Shepard’s perceived homosexualy.In 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.A uple of years later, the Supreme Court led agast Sectn 3 of DOMA, which allowed the ernment to ny feral benefs to married same-sex upl.

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. (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.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT SUMMARY

”“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.

Biblil terpretatn ma illegal for a woman to wear pants or a man to adopt female drs, and sensatnalized public trials warned agast “viants” but also ma such martyrs and hero popular: Joan of Arc is one example, and the chillg origs of the word “faggot” clu a stick of wood ed public burngs of gay men. This creasg awarens of an existg and vulnerable populatn, upled wh Senator Joseph McCarthy’s vtigatn of homosexuals holdg ernment jobs durg the early 1950s outraged wrers and feral employe whose own liv were shown to be send-class unr the law, cludg Frank Kameny, Barbara Gtgs, Allen Gsberg, and Harry Hay. Fstrated wh the male learship of most gay liberatn groups, lbians fluenced by the femist movement of the 1970s formed their own llectiv, rerd labels, mic ftivals, newspapers, bookstor, and publishg ho, and lled for lbian rights mastream femist groups like the Natnal Organizatn for Women.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

The creasg expansn of a global LGBT rights movement suffered a setback durg the 1980s, as the gay male muny was cimated by the Aids epimic, mands for passn and medil fundg led to renewed alns between men and women as well as angry street theatre by groups like Aids Coaln to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Queer Natn. Wh greater media attentn to gay and lbian civil rights the 1990s, trans and tersex voic began to ga space through works such as Kate Boernste’s “Genr Outlaw” (1994) and “My Genr Workbook” (1998), Ann Fsto-Sterlg’s “Myths of Genr” (1992) and Llie Feberg’s “Transgenr Warrrs” (1998), enhancg shifts women’s and genr studi to bee more clive of transgenr and nonbary inti.

Th, is important to historicize the urse of the early homosexual liberatn movement, not only to give cred to the pneers the fight for the advancement of sexual mori but also to better unrstand the origs and therefore the tactics and obstacl of today's gay rights movement and social movements general. Tied to this advocy of male raship and ancient Greek culture was a feelg of superry, which kept the Communy of the Special largely om workg wh other segments of the homosexual emancipatn movement as well as wh other liberatn movements general, and led them to adopt a rather rogative attu toward certa societal groups like Jews and pecially women (Steakley 1975: 44-49, 60-62). Consequently, the League was more ncerned wh issu such as disarmament, anti-arism and European unifitn (Kuczynski 1926b: 11-15; Der Brüsseler Kongreß 1926: 1-9) and ls wh the liberatn of homosexuals, which is why I do not nsir part of the gay rights movement Weimar Germany for the purpose of this paper.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT: ONE VICTORY AT A TIME

In one of the early issu of s yearbook, the Commtee stated s goals as follows: “(1) to w legislative bodi to the posn of abolishg the antigay paragraph of the German penal , Paragraph 175; (2) enlighteng public opn on homosexualy; (3) ‘tertg the homosexual himself the stggle for his rights’” (Lrsen and Thorstad 1995: 8). In the Weimar Republic, homosexualy was illegal unr Paragraph 175, which read as follows: “Unnatural vice mted by two persons of the male sex or by people wh animals is to be punished by imprisonment; the verdict may also clu the loss of civil rights” (no thor 1997: 63).