Category Archives: Protests

What is (was) the Mattachine Society?

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By http://www.HarryHay.com/AH_gall.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22634459
By http://www.HarryHay.com/AH_gall.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22634459

The Mattachine Society was one of the earliest and most influential LGBTQ+ rights organizations in the United States. It was founded in 1950 by Harry Hay and a group of friends in Los Angeles. The society aimed to protect and improve the rights of gay men and women, as well as to advocate for social acceptance and equality.

The primary goals of the society were to

  1. “Unify homosexuals isolated from their own kind”;
  2. “Educate homosexuals and heterosexuals toward an ethical homosexual culture paralleling the cultures of the Negro, Mexican and Jewish peoples”;
  3. “Lead the more socially conscious homosexual to provide leadership to the whole mass of social variants”; and
  4. “Assist gays who are victimized daily as a result of oppression”.
Wikipedia

Key Points About the Mattachine Society:

1. Founding and Early Goals:

  • The society was initially a secret organization due to the intense social stigma and legal persecution faced by gay individuals at the time.
  • It aimed to unify homosexuals isolated from their own kind, educate homosexuals and heterosexuals toward an ethical homosexual culture paralleling the cultures of the Negro, Mexican and Jewish peoples, and lead more socially conscious homosexuals to provide leadership to the whole mass of social variants.


2. Publications and Outreach:

  • The society published a newsletter called “The Mattachine Review,” which discussed issues relevant to the LGBTQ+ community and advocated for social change.

3. Legal Advocacy:

  • The society played a significant role in the legal defense of individuals arrested on charges related to homosexuality, which was criminalized in many states.
  • One of its significant legal battles was the case of Dale Jennings, a founding member, who was arrested in 1952. His acquittal was a landmark victory for the LGBTQ+ movement.

4. Evolution and Influence:

  • Over time, the Mattachine Society became less secretive and more politically active, influencing other LGBTQ+ rights organizations and movements.
  • The society eventually saw a shift in leadership and focus, moving from a radical approach to a more moderate stance, which led to internal disagreements and the eventual decline of the original society.

5. Legacy

  • The Mattachine Society’s pioneering efforts laid the groundwork for later LGBTQ+ rights movements and organizations.
  • It is credited with helping to spark the broader gay rights movement that gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Mattachine Society’s work was instrumental in changing the public perception of LGBTQ+ individuals and advocating for their rights at a time when such efforts were both rare and risky.

Pride is a Protest

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Pride is more than lip service. Remember the roots:

“In 1965, the gay rights protest movement was visible at the Annual Reminder pickets, organized by members of the lesbian group Daughters of Bilitis, and the gay men’s group Mattachine Society.[5] Mattachine members were also involved in demonstrations in support of homosexuals imprisoned in Cuban labor camps. All of these groups held protests at the United Nations and the White House, in 1965.[10] Early on the morning of Saturday, June 28, 1969, LGBTQ people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.[1][11][12][8] The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar which catered to an assortment of patrons, but which was popular with the most marginalized people in the gay community: transvestites, transgender people, effeminate young men, hustlers, and homeless youth.”

Wikipedia

We’re not spilling out of the bars onto the streets once a year to show that we exist and have a parade that is thoroughly co-opted by corporations and other unsavory entities that see us as cash cows instead of human beings with human rights. We’re here to protest … all of that. We’re an army and and we have a bigger message and goal than just as purchasers of container ships full of crap with rainbows plastered all over.

The message is simple: Leave us alone to be who and what we are. Get your hands and your religion off our bodies. Respect us even if you don’t want to or are told, falsely, to actively hate us. Stop forcing your heterosexual imaging and messaging on us. Give us the equality we deserve as a basic human right. To paraphrase Nina Simone: “You don’t have to live next to me, just give me my equality.” (Mississippi Goddamn).

Our lives and our safety and our sanity depend on more than just waving a flag on the sidewalk once a year. We’ve made huge progress, but there are people actively working to roll the clock back to the 19th century. March, sure. But work.