The 1969 Stonewall Rts marked a historic turng pot for gay rights, but several smaller uprisgs preced Stonewall as LGBTQ muni phed back agast harassment and equaly.
Contents:
- UNRSTANDG LOS ANGEL (AND WT HOLLYWOOD) GAY HISTORY: CONTUY AND DISNTUY
- LA’S GAY PAST: THIS IS LGBT HISTORY, TOLD SIX LANDMARKS
UNRSTANDG LOS ANGEL (AND WT HOLLYWOOD) GAY HISTORY: CONTUY AND DISNTUY
The two-story mm serv as a time psule for historic years of queer culture, and also functns as LA's Downtown gay muny center—hostg exhibns, art shows and cematic screengs for both the USC stunt populatn and Los Angel at large. Ntled between two gay bars, the Harold's and the Waldorf, the fé was one of few tablishments the cy to wele trans ctomers at a time when many gay and lbian bars turned them away fear of LAPD targetg and persecutg transgenr and genr non-nformg form of LAPD's route harassment clud targetg well-known LGBTQ spac and mandg intifitn om genr non-nformg patrons. Fundraisg nights, benefs and galas were monplace at Circ Dis, raisg money for anizatns like the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn Foundatn Gay Rights Chapter, the Norton Sound 8, and even creatg a scholarship fund to benef young gay men and women.
Among the center's foundg group of anizers was gay and lbian rights activist Morris group opened s first "Liberatn Hoe" for homels LGBTQ dividuals and opened s headquarters at 1614 Wilshire Boulevard 1971, providg servic like unselg, fay servic and a venereal disease clic.
Troy Perry and Gay Liberatn Front founr Morris Kight prsured the new owner, Irw Held, to take down the sign; Held followed were persistent protts outsi Barney's Beanery which led to the temporary removal of the sign only for to be remounted along wh more hostile signage. In 2012, the ncrete steps adjacent to Hay's home were named the Mattache Steps, memoratg his ntributns to the gay rights movement and honorg his home — what some nsir "the birthplace of the gay rights movement. WeHo Pri 2019, on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebelln, the very reason for Pri’s existence, pletely ignored that earth-shakg event, pretendg like had never LA LGBT Center’s attempted 2019 to falsely rewre s early history and rrectly ced 1969 as the date for s 50th anniversary celebratn even though 1971 was the date ed to memorate s 25th Archiv refed to operate an attempt to provi a venue to asss the impact of Stonewall on the velopment of the Los Angel gay vic 1967 LAPD raid on the Black Cat, a Silver Lake gay bar, and s aftermath is skewed today to the pot of misreprentatn, and there are other exampl.
LA’S GAY PAST: THIS IS LGBT HISTORY, TOLD SIX LANDMARKS
To honor the seven men—Harry Hay, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, Rudi Gernreich, Dale Jenngs, Jam Gber, Konrad Stevens—who rpond to Hay’s origal ll for a homosexual anizatn that 1951 beme the Mattache Society, named after the masked mattachi urt jters of medieval Europe thought by Hay to be largely homosexual men. History, homosexuals intified themselv as an opprsed mory group, affirmed that there was such a thg as a homosexual culture, implied, but never actualized, llective polil actn, and anized succsful, but secret, discsn groups entirely by word of mouth. (a name rived om Thomas Carlyle’s “A mystic bond of brotherhood mak all men one”) replaced Mattache and started g the scriptive term “homophile” (lover of man or same), importantly broang inty om a solely sexual fn to also clu relatnship.
As Mattache had started homosexuals talkg to each other about their opprsn, albe secretly, the Homophile era was important that, through s pneerg publitns, the wrten word also me out of the closet for the first time. Addnal fg characteristics of the Homophile era clud nyg that a homosexual culture existed, law reform was a panacea, advot for social acceptance for homophil should not be homophil themselv but hetero profsnals (misters, attorneys, psychologists and psychiatrists), and, for safety purpos, psdonyms were wily ed to shield real inti. D’E, lookg back over the attempted erasure of Mattache and the ascenncy of the Homophile effort, wr, “In sum, acmodatn to social norms replaced the affirmatn of a distctive gay inty, llective effort gave way to dividual actn, and nfince the abily of gay men and lbians to terpret their own experience yield to the wisdom of the experts.