Page 8, Out in the Mountains

Gay Rights Movement in Perspective

by Warren Thompson

I have found that many of us do not
know the development of the Gay Rights
movement in this country. I did not know

myself. I thought perhaps a brief summary
would be welcomed. So, briefly here is
some of it.

The struggle for human and civil rights
of homosexuals gained an impetus from
World War II. The labor needs of the war
involved such large numbers of young people
in the various services that more freedom
for gay relationships was possible. In post
war years these relationships continued and

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many gay men and lesbians settled in the
large cities to work and renew their
friendships and make new contacts. These
were preliminary steps to the formation of
the homophile groups in the late forties in
Europe and in the early fifties in the United
States.

It was in Los Angeles in 1950 when
Henry (Harry) Hay met with four other men
on a Saturday afternoon to discuss his
proposal to form a homosexual organization
for the "liberation of one of our country's
largest minorities from... social persecution."
As a result of the meeting of this group,
the Mattachine Society was formed. In the
first ten years, this society experienced
varying purposes. It started with activism
when its members successfully challenged the
police use of entrapment in Los Angeles in
1952. This caused a surge in the
membership to about 200. During the rest
of the decade, the Mattachine Society
functioned more as a support group to its
members as their concern became involved
with the fear of exposure. The approach
changed to making efforts to work through
professional groups for recognition and
understanding.

The next ten years, 1959-1969, were a
return to activism under the leadership and
activism of Franklin Kameny, a Harvard
graduate and astronomer, who had lost his
job in the government service because it was
discovered he was living with his lover. He
was persuasive and gained a following. He
founded the Washington Mattachine Sqciety.

Yet, despite his leadership, the movement’s
membership did not expand to any great
numbers in the fifties. The strongholds for
these homophile organization were in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City,
Washington and Detroit. At the end of the
fifties the membership was about 2,000
nationally.

In the fifties Del Martin and Phyllis
Lyons were the major figures in establishing
the Daughters of Bilitis, a lesbian group.
They worked closely with the Mattachine
Society but were no more successful in
gaining a large membership and were more
cautious about the exposure of their
sexuality.

There were three publications during
these decades. Qfl was an independent
publication whose purpose was to stir up
activism. The Mattachine society had its own
publication of information and news about
the movement. The Daughters of Bilitis
published THE LADDER which supported
other women's movements as well as the
movement for lesbian rights.

The main event that started the
Liberation Movement of the seventies was
the STONEWALL INN riot that happened
on June 27, 1969 in New York City on
Manhattan's Christopher Street in the heart
of Greenwich Village. What started as a
routine police raid finished as a two day riot

continued, page 10

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in July & August