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⚫ In the late 1960s and early 1970s following decades of societal abuse against sexual minorities, LGBT advocacy, formerly centered around the ] movement, became more active, political, and aggressive; it surged again in the 1980s and 1990s in response to perceived shortcomings in society's response to the then-nascent ] epidemic.
'''Gay militants''' are individuals and groups who campaign for political recognition of ] using vigorous, aggressive and sometimes violent tactics. Gay militancy is a modern phenomena, first appearing in organized form during the second half of the twentieth century, concurrent with the evolution of the less confrontational ] movement. Both gay militancy and gay pride are continuations of the earlier ] movement, which in turn was a descendant of the ] movement.

⚫ Gay militance took hold in the late 1960s and early 1970s following decades of societal abuse against sexual minorities, and surged in the 1980s and 1990s in response to perceived shortcomings in society's response to the then-nascent ] epidemic. Today, gay militance is often focused on the struggle for ].

==Etymology==
The term ] originated in the 15th century and comes from the ] "''militant''," meaning "serving as a soldier".<ref name="oxford">{{cite web | url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/militant?region=us&q=militant | title=Definition of militant - Oxford Dictionaries (US English) | publisher=] | accessdate=August 03, 2012}}</ref> Dictionaries variously define the word as meaning "combative and aggressive in support of a political or social cause," "aggressively active," or "engaged in warfare."<ref name=oxford /><ref name="merriam-webster">{{cite web | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militant?show=0&t=1344035854 | title=Militant - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary | publisher=] | accessdate=August 03, 2012}}</ref><ref name="dictionary">{{cite web | url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/militant?s=t | title=Define Militant at Dictionary.com | publisher=] | accessdate=August 03, 2012}}</ref>


==Early history== ==Early history==
Gay militance began to appear in the United States during the years following ], as part of the ]. The ] was a homophile group founded in 1950 and organized following the model of ] cell groups.<ref>{{cite book | title=Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940–1970 | publisher=The University of Chicago Press | author=D'Emilio, John | year=1983 | pages=64 | isbn=0226142655}}</ref> In 1965, the New York chapter of Mattachine elected militant leaders and began to organize annual picketing, which "created the necessary mind-set for gays demonstrating in public," according to historic leader ].<ref name=landmark>{{cite book | title=The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America | publisher=Grove Press | author=Kaiser, Charles | year=2007 | pages=142 | isbn=9780802143174}}</ref> Kameny, who had been fired from a government job for homosexuality, engaged in "a Herculean struggle with the American establishment" seeking to "spearhead a new period of militancy in the homosexual rights movement".<ref name=blade>{{cite news |last=Chibbaro Jr. |first=Lou |title=Kameny's work finds new home |work=] |date=2006-10-04 |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/TF_in_news/06_1012/stories/34_WashBlade_Kameny.pdf |accessdate=2008-03-28}}</ref><ref name=johnson>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=David K. |year=2002 |contribution = Franklin E. Kameny (1925-) |editor-last = Bullough |editor-first = Vern L. |editor-link = Vern Bullough |title=Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context |place = New York |publisher=The Haworth Press |pages=209–218 |isbn=1560231939 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref> Kameny encouraged the homophile movement to adopt the tactics of the ].<ref name=johnson /> In 1965, the New York chapter of the ] elected pro-demonstration leaders, throwing out earlier reactionary leaders who opposed a statement that homosexuality was not an illness, and began to organize annual picketing, which "created the necessary mind-set for gays demonstrating in public," according to historic leader ].<ref name=landmark>{{cite book | title=The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America | publisher=Grove Press | author=Kaiser, Charles | year=2007 | pages=142 | isbn=9780802143174}}</ref> Kameny, who had been fired from a government job for homosexuality, engaged in "a Herculean struggle with the American establishment" seeking to "spearhead a new period of militancy in the homosexual rights movement".<ref name=blade>{{cite news |last=Chibbaro Jr. |first=Lou |title=Kameny's work finds new home |work=] |date=2006-10-04 |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.thetaskforce.org/TF_in_news/06_1012/stories/34_WashBlade_Kameny.pdf |accessdate=2008-03-28}}</ref><ref name=johnson>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=David K. |year=2002 |contribution = Franklin E. Kameny (1925-) |editor-last = Bullough |editor-first = Vern L. |editor-link = Vern Bullough |title=Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context |place = New York |publisher=The Haworth Press |pages=209–218 |isbn=1560231939 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref> Kameny encouraged the homophile movement to adopt the tactics of the ].<ref name=johnson />


On the west coast circa 1969-1970, ] (SIR) leader Leo Laurence encouraged gay groups to form partnerships with radical organizations such as the ], an opinion that was shared by Panthers leader ].<ref name="carter">{{cite book | title=Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution | publisher=Macmillan | author=Carter, David | year=2005 | pages=117 | isbn=9780312671938}}</ref><ref name="egl">{{cite book | title=ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Zimmerman, Bonnie | year=1999 | pages=545 | isbn=9780815333548}}</ref> Laurence, who was openly gay and who had clashed with fellow activists he described as "timid ... middle-aged uptight conservatives" in a ''Vector'' magazine piece, would eventually be expelled from SIR and go on to found the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) along with his partner, Gale Whittington.<ref name=carter /> When CHF took on Whittington's employer in a dispute over anti-gay employment discrimination, Laurence said, "militant homosexuals will show that company what Gay Power really means." On the west coast circa 1969-1970, ] (SIR) leader Leo Laurence encouraged gay groups to form partnerships with radical organizations such as the ], an opinion that was shared by Panthers leader ].<ref name="carter">{{cite book | title=Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution | publisher=Macmillan | author=Carter, David | year=2005 | pages=117 | isbn=9780312671938}}</ref><ref name="egl">{{cite book | title=ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Zimmerman, Bonnie | year=1999 | pages=545 | isbn=9780815333548}}</ref> Laurence, who was openly gay and who had clashed with fellow activists he described as "timid ... middle-aged uptight conservatives" in a ''Vector'' magazine piece, would eventually be expelled from SIR and go on to found the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) along with his partner, Gale Whittington.<ref name=carter /> When CHF took on Whittington's employer in a dispute over anti-gay employment discrimination, Laurence said, "militant homosexuals will show that company what Gay Power really means."


A watershed moment in gay militance was the historic ], a violent clash in June, 1969 between gays and police in ] that culminated years of police harassment against gays gathering in bars and other public places. One result of Stonewall was the formation of the Marxist ] (GLF), just days later.<ref name=egl /> A GLF splinter group, the ], was made up of GLF members who were less radical, though still militant, and who disapproved of GLF's structureless nature.<ref name="stein">{{cite book | title=Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement | publisher=Routledge | author=Stein, Marc | year=2012 | pages=100 | isbn=9780415874106}}</ref> Also around this same time, leftist lesbian group ] was forming in Washington, D.C. The Furies modeled itself on the radical ], and saw itself as "revolutionary" and "outlaw".<ref name=egl /> The ], a violent clash in June, 1969 between gays and police in ] that culminated years of police harassment against gays gathering in bars and other public places, were the catalyst for the formation of radical activist groups. The name of the ] (GLF), formed just days later, demonstrated proud self-identification as gay (rather than "homosexual" with its medical connotations or "homophile" with its associations with more conservative movements), its emphasis on a broad agenda of justice and equality, and its goal of leading a revolutionary movement.<ref name="stein"/> A GLF splinter group, the ], was made up of GLF members who believed that a gay and lesbian organization should focus exclusively on gay and lesbian issues, rather than forming partnerships with other groups as part of a broader radical campaign.<ref name="stein">{{cite book | title=Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement | publisher=Routledge | author=Stein, Marc | year=2012 | pages=100 | isbn=9780415874106}}</ref>


==1970s== ==1970s==
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==1990s== ==1990s==
Another spin-off of ACT-UP, ] was formed in 1990 and drew attention to itself with the highly controversial tactic of ] gays in positions of power or prominence who preferred to keep their sexual identity private.<ref name=rimmerman2>{{cite book | title=From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States | publisher=Temple University Press | author=Rimmerman, Craig A. | year=2002 | pages=109 | isbn=9781566399050}}</ref> Queer Nation was seen as divisive by some gays, both because of its involuntary outings and also because of it's embrace of terms generally seen as pejorative, such as "queer" and "faggot".<ref name=rimmerman2 /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/nyregion/militants-back-queer-shoving-gay-the-way-of-negro.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Militants Back 'Queer,' Shoving 'Gay' the Way of 'Negro' | publisher=] | date=April 06, 1991 | accessdate=August 04, 2012 | author=Stanley, Alessandra}}</ref> Members of Queer Nation also sought to increase awareness of gays by coordinating ] ''en masse'' in places where gays did not usually predominate.<ref name="mj">{{cite journal | title=Queer/Straight | author=Cunningham, Michael | journal=Mother Jones Magazine | year=1992 | month=May-June | pages=60–68}}</ref><ref name="eg5">{{cite book | title=ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Zimmerman, Bonnie | year=1999 | pages=231 | isbn=9780815333548}}</ref> Another spin-off of ACT-UP, ] was formed in 1990 and drew attention to itself with the highly controversial tactic of ] gays in positions of power or prominence who preferred to keep their sexual identity private.<ref name=rimmerman2>{{cite book | title=From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States | publisher=Temple University Press | author=Rimmerman, Craig A. | year=2002 | pages=109 | isbn=9781566399050}}</ref> Queer Nation was seen as divisive by some gays, both because of its involuntary outings and also because of it's embrace of terms generally seen as pejorative, such as "queer" and "faggot".<ref name=rimmerman2 /><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/nyregion/militants-back-queer-shoving-gay-the-way-of-negro.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Militants Back 'Queer,' Shoving 'Gay' the Way of 'Negro' | publisher=] | date=April 06, 1991 | accessdate=August 04, 2012 | author=Stanley, Alessandra}}</ref> Members of Queer Nation also sought to increase awareness of gays by coordinating ] ''en masse'' in places where gays did not usually predominate.<ref name="mj">{{cite journal | title=Queer/Straight | author=Cunningham, Michael | journal=Mother Jones Magazine | year=1992 | month=May-June | pages=60–68}}</ref><ref name="eg5">{{cite book | title=ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Zimmerman, Bonnie | year=1999 | pages=231 | isbn=9780815333548}}</ref>

] (WHAM) was a radical militant lesbian group formed in 1989, largely to advocate for abortion rights.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/nyregion/no-more-nice-girls-in-angry-droves-radical-feminists-just-want-to-have-impact.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=No More Nice Girls; In Angry Droves, Radical Feminists Just Want to Have Impact | publisher=] | date=July 12, 1992 | accessdate=August 04, 2012 | author=Manegold, Catherine S.}}</ref> WHAM made headlines with direct action protests such as placing a banner over the face of the ], staging office takeovers against pharmaceutical companies, and for acting in concert with ACT-UP to disrupt Catholic church services.<ref name="blasius">{{cite book | title=We Are Everywhere: A Historical Sourcebook of Gay and Lesbian Politics | publisher=Psychology Press | author=Blasius, Mark | year=1997 | pages=623 | isbn=9780415908597}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/24/nyregion/cardinal-is-denounced-in-rally-at-st-patrick-s.html | title=Cardinal Is Denounced In Rally at St. Patrick's | publisher=] | date=September 24, 1990 | accessdate=August 04, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/1993summer/Summer1993_Pfister.php | title=Communiques from the Front: Young Activists Chart Feminism's Third Wave | publisher=On The Issues Magazine | date=Summer 1993 | accessdate=August 04, 2012 | author=Pfister, Bonnie}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==

Revision as of 19:54, 4 August 2012

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In the late 1960s and early 1970s following decades of societal abuse against sexual minorities, LGBT advocacy, formerly centered around the homophile movement, became more active, political, and aggressive; it surged again in the 1980s and 1990s in response to perceived shortcomings in society's response to the then-nascent AIDS epidemic.

Early history

In 1965, the New York chapter of the Mattachine Society elected pro-demonstration leaders, throwing out earlier reactionary leaders who opposed a statement that homosexuality was not an illness, and began to organize annual picketing, which "created the necessary mind-set for gays demonstrating in public," according to historic leader Frank Kameny. Kameny, who had been fired from a government job for homosexuality, engaged in "a Herculean struggle with the American establishment" seeking to "spearhead a new period of militancy in the homosexual rights movement". Kameny encouraged the homophile movement to adopt the tactics of the civil rights movement.

On the west coast circa 1969-1970, Society for Individual Rights (SIR) leader Leo Laurence encouraged gay groups to form partnerships with radical organizations such as the Black Panthers, an opinion that was shared by Panthers leader Huey Newton. Laurence, who was openly gay and who had clashed with fellow activists he described as "timid ... middle-aged uptight conservatives" in a Vector magazine piece, would eventually be expelled from SIR and go on to found the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) along with his partner, Gale Whittington. When CHF took on Whittington's employer in a dispute over anti-gay employment discrimination, Laurence said, "militant homosexuals will show that company what Gay Power really means."

The Stonewall riots, a violent clash in June, 1969 between gays and police in Greenwich Village that culminated years of police harassment against gays gathering in bars and other public places, were the catalyst for the formation of radical activist groups. The name of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), formed just days later, demonstrated proud self-identification as gay (rather than "homosexual" with its medical connotations or "homophile" with its associations with more conservative movements), its emphasis on a broad agenda of justice and equality, and its goal of leading a revolutionary movement. A GLF splinter group, the Gay Activists Alliance, was made up of GLF members who believed that a gay and lesbian organization should focus exclusively on gay and lesbian issues, rather than forming partnerships with other groups as part of a broader radical campaign.

1970s

File:Newsweek coverage of militant gays in 1971.png
Newsweek Magazine coverage of the Gay Liberation movement from 1971.

In the early 1970s, the proliferation of highly vocal activist groups began to attract national media attention. A story in Newsweek magazine said, "Today's militant homosexuals are demanding not merely acceptance, with the full legal, social and economic equality that goes with it; they want approval as well." Life magazine published a photo essay consisting largely of photos from a GAA protest in New York City that was termed "a direct assault on laws and customs."

Singer Anita Bryant's highly public 1977 campaign against gay rights legislation in Dade County, Florida, and elsewhere across the country, brought even wider media attention, reaching some Americans for the first time. Bryant, an evangelical Christian, was joined by Southern Baptist televangelist Jerry Falwell, who would go on to found the Moral Majority. Although the gay response to Bryant's Save Our Children campaign did not carry the day in Dade County (the anti-discrimination ordinance Bryant campaigned against was overwhelmingly defeated), Bryant paid for the victory with her career. A boycott organized by gay activists cost Bryant her spokesperson arrangement with the Florida Citrus Commission, and across the country Bryant's public appearances were greeted by protests.

1980s

The onset of the AIDS epidemic radicalized LGBT movements against government inaction. Direct action group ACT-UP was formed in 1987 to function as "the shock troops of AIDS activism." "Quickly becoming the movement's radical cutting edge," ACT-UP staged numerous protests and employed theatrics, militance and persistence, and sometimes used tactics such as blocking traffic, disrupting church services or defacing church buildings to capture public attention. ACT-UP was a deliberately unstructured organization, in part because "we didn’t want anything to do with the government," according on one closely involved member. ACT-UP splintered in 1991 over disagreements about the scope and mission of the group, and a successor organization continues today as the Treatment Action Group.

1990s

Another spin-off of ACT-UP, Queer Nation was formed in 1990 and drew attention to itself with the highly controversial tactic of outing gays in positions of power or prominence who preferred to keep their sexual identity private. Queer Nation was seen as divisive by some gays, both because of its involuntary outings and also because of it's embrace of terms generally seen as pejorative, such as "queer" and "faggot". Members of Queer Nation also sought to increase awareness of gays by coordinating public displays of affection en masse in places where gays did not usually predominate.

See also

References

  1. Kaiser, Charles (2007). The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. Grove Press. p. 142. ISBN 9780802143174.
  2. Chibbaro Jr., Lou (2006-10-04). "Kameny's work finds new home" (PDF). Washington Blade. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
  3. ^ Johnson, David K. (2002). "Franklin E. Kameny (1925-)". In Bullough, Vern L. (ed.). Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context. New York: The Haworth Press. pp. 209–218. ISBN 1560231939Template:Inconsistent citations{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ^ Carter, David (2005). Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. Macmillan. p. 117. ISBN 9780312671938.
  5. ^ Zimmerman, Bonnie (1999). ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN. Taylor & Francis. p. 545. ISBN 9780815333548. Cite error: The named reference "egl" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ Stein, Marc (2012). Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 9780415874106.
  7. ^ Fejes, Fred (2008). Gay Rights and Moral Panic: A History of the Early National Gay Rights Debate. MacMillan. pp. 41–42. ISBN 9781403980694.
  8. ""The Militant Homosexual"". August 23, 1971. pp. 45–48.
  9. ""Homosexuals in Revolt: The Year That One Liberation Movement Turned Militant"". Life Magazine. Time-Life. December 31, 1971. pp. 62–72. Retrieved August 03, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. "1977 Year in Review - Miami Demonstrations". United Press International. Retrieved August 03, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ Rimmerman, Craig A. (2002). From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States. Temple University Press. pp. 127–131. ISBN 9781566399050.
  12. Stone, Amy L. (2012). Gay Rights At The Ballot Box. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9780816675470.
  13. Stein, Marc (2012). Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement. Routledge. p. 140. ISBN 9780415874106.
  14. Sheumaker, Helen; Wajda, Shirley Teresa (2008). Material Culture in America: Understanding Everyday Life. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576076477.
  15. Stein, Marc (2012). Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement. Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 9780415874106.
  16. Martin, Bradford (2011). The Other Eighties: A Secret History of America in the Age of Reagan. MacMillan. p. 172. ISBN 9780809074617.
  17. Allen, Peter Lewis (2000). The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, Past and Present. University of Chicago Press. p. 143. ISBN 9780226014616.
  18. Stein, Marc (2012). Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 9780415874106.
  19. "Interviewee: Maria Maggenti" (PDF). ACT-UP Oral History Project. The New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival, Inc. 2003. p. 7. Retrieved August 04, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. "Interviewee: Mark Harrington" (PDF). ACT-UP Oral History Project. The New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival, Inc. 2003. p. 58. Retrieved August 04, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. "Interviewee: Maxine Wolfe" (PDF). ACT-UP Oral History Project. The New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival, Inc. 2003. p. 98. Retrieved August 04, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ Rimmerman, Craig A. (2002). From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States. Temple University Press. p. 109. ISBN 9781566399050.
  23. Stanley, Alessandra (April 06, 1991). "Militants Back 'Queer,' Shoving 'Gay' the Way of 'Negro'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 04, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  24. Cunningham, Michael (1992). "Queer/Straight". Mother Jones Magazine: 60–68. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  25. Zimmerman, Bonnie (1999). ENCYCLOPEDIA GAY & LESBIAN. Taylor & Francis. p. 231. ISBN 9780815333548.

Further reading

  • Carter, David (2004). Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 031234269.
  • Duberman, Martin (1993). Stonewall Dutton, New York. ISBN 0-452-27206-8.
  • Loughery, John (1998). The Other Side of Silence – Men's Lives and Gay Identities: A Twentieth-Century History. New York, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-3896-5.
  • Marotta, Toby (1981). The Politics of Homosexuality. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-31338-4.
  • Teal, Donn (1971). The Gay Militants. New York, Stein and Day. ISBN 0-8128-1373-1.
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