Gay liberation

For the groups in the US, UK, and Canada, see Gay Liberation Front. For the group in Argentina, see Frente de Liberación Homosexual.
Gay liberation
Part of LGBT movements
and the sexual revolution
A color photograph of the Stonewall Inn, taken in the summer of 2016; the doorway and windows are decorated with rainbow flags
Gay liberation demonstration in 1970
Date1969 – c. 1980
Location
United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and other areas
Caused bySexual revolution, Homophobia
GoalsIncreasing legal rights for LGBT people
Increasing acceptance of LGBT people
Countering internalized homophobia
MethodsCivil resistance
Coming out
Consciousness raising
Direct action
Resulted inSuccess in many of the goals
Legalized same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights in some jurisdictions
Continuing widespread homophobia
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Lower-case lambda, first used in 1970 as a symbol representing gay rights[1][2]

The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s[a] in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.[5] In the feminist spirit of the personal being political, the most basic form of activism was an emphasis on coming out to family, friends, and colleagues, and living life as an openly lesbian or gay person.[5]

The Stonewall Inn in the gay village of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, was the site of the June 1969 Stonewall riots, and became the cradle of the modern LGBT rights movement, and the subsequent gay liberation movement.[6][7][8] Early in the seventies, annual political marches through major cities, (usually held in June, originally to commemorate the yearly anniversary of the events at Stonewall) were still known as "Gay Liberation" marches. Not until later in the seventies (in urban gay centers) and well into the eighties (in smaller communities) did the marches begin to be called "gay pride parades".[5] The movement involved the lesbian and gay communities in North America, South America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Gay liberation is also known for its links to the counterculture of the time (e.g. groups like the Radical Faeries) and for the gay liberationists' intent to transform or abolish fundamental institutions of society such as gender and the nuclear family,[5] regardless of whether they had anything to do with the actual principles of gay rights.[9] In general, the politics were radical, anti-racist, and anti-capitalist.[10] In order to achieve such goals, consciousness raising and direct action were employed. While HIV/AIDS activism and awareness (in groups such as ACT UP) radicalized a new wave of lesbians and gay men in the 1980s, and radical groups have continued to exist ever since, by the early 1990s the radicalism of gay liberation was eclipsed in the mainstream by newly-out, pro-assimilationist gay men and women who stressed civil rights and mainstream politics.[11]

The term gay liberation sometimes refers to the broader movement to end social and legal oppression against LGBT people.[12][13] Sometimes the term gay liberation movement is even used synonymously or interchangeably with the gay rights movement.[14] The Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee was formed in New York City to commemorate the first anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall riots, the beginning of the international tradition of a late-June event to celebrate gay pride.[15] The annual gay pride festivals in Berlin, Cologne, and other German cities are known as Christopher Street Days or "CSD"s.

  1. ^ Rapp, Linda (2003). "Symbols" (PDF). glbtq.com. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. ^ "1969, The Year of Gay Liberation". The New York Public Library. June 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. ^ Hoffman, 2007.
  4. ^ Phoenix (29 June 2012). "Gay Rights Are Not Queer Liberation". autostraddle.com. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii.
  6. ^ Julia Goicichea (August 16, 2017). "Why New York City Is a Major Destination for LGBT Travelers". The Culture Trip. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Eli Rosenberg (June 24, 2016). "Stonewall Inn Named National Monument, a First for the Gay Rights Movement". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  8. ^ "Workforce Diversity The Stonewall Inn, National Historic Landmark National Register Number: 99000562". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Bernadicou, August (2 October 2023). "Come Out!". The LGBTQ History Project.
  10. ^ "Gay Liberation Front: Manifesto. London". 1978 [1971].
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference HoffmanTerms was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "the definition of gay liberation". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  13. ^ "gay liberation Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  14. ^ "gay rights movement | political and social movement". Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  15. ^ Stryker, Susan. "Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day: 1970". PlanetOut. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2010.


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