43. Rainbow Rising: Homo-Feels about Homophiles, Part 2

For this episode, Leigh is joined again by guest host Tyler Albertario, as we continue our discussion of the history of the Homophile movement. In the second and final part of this discussion, Leigh and Tyler cover the rise of East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO), its restructuring as the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO), and the ultimate downfall of NACHO and most of its member organizations in the wake of the Stonewall Rebellion.

Tyler Albertario is an amateur LGBTQ+ historian specializing in the history of organizations integral to the struggle for queer liberation and equality. Since 2019, he has worked as a consultant on projects for a wide range of LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, educational nonprofits, and content creators.

Locate Tyler upon the internet:

• Articles on Medium

• @TylerAlbertario on Twitter

• Support Tyler on Patreon!

• Linktree for even more!

ECHO

On January 26, 1963, representatives of the Daughters of Bilitis, the Mattachine Society of Washington, the Mattachine Society of New York, and Philadelphia’s Janus Society met in Philadelphia to discuss reorganizing the growing Homophile movement into a broader organization to promote better communication and coordination between various Homophile groups. The organization that was established as a result of this meeting was the East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO), which held its first official conference at the Drake Hotel in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend.

A brochure for ECHO’s inaugural conference, held at the Drake Hotel in Philadelphia from August 31-September 1, 1963

Although not much came of this first conference, the second conference, held in Washington, D.C. in October of 1964 proved much more dramatic, and the participating organizations set an aggressive agenda of direct action going forward, which manifested in the form of picketing and public protest.

A brochure for ECHO’s 2nd annual conference, held in Washington, D.C. from October 10-11, 1964

In addition to a series of pickets at the White House and other federal buildings throughout 1965, ECHO also sponsored the “Annual Reminder” picket, a demonstration held every July 4th outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia. 

Picketers at the 1966 Annual Reminder demonstration in Philadelphia.

By the end of 1965, with ECHO’s expansion and the emergence of other major Homophile organizations in the Midwest and on the West Coast, it became apparent that the structure of the movement needed to move beyond its base in the Northeast.

Delegates posing for a picture at ECHO’s 3rd annual conference, held in New York City from September 24-26, 1965

NACHO

Following ECHO’s 1965 conference, the decision was made to restructure the group into a national organization, in order to include newer and emerging Homophile groups in the Midwest and West Coast. At a planning conference held in Kansas City in February 1966, the decision was made to restructure ECHO into the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations, or NACHO.

Kansas City newspaper headline covering the February 1966 conference to restructure ECHO

NACHO continued many of ECHO’s activities and operations, while providing a substantive voice for Homophile organizations outside of the Northeast and providing a platform to coordinate national actions, such as the Armed Forces Day picket of May 21, 1966, the first multi-city gay rights picket.

Armed Forces Day picketers in San Francisco (May 21, 1966)

Despite this, NACHO’s cumbersome process for certifying and credentialing new organizations was a constant source of agitation, sometimes taking upwards of six months. Additionally, much of the decision-making influence within NACHO was soon concentrated into the hands of the regional sub-body of Northeast NACHO member organizations—the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations, or ERCHO—much to the anger of groups from the Midwest and West Coast.

Moreover, with the rise of the student movement against the Vietnam War, more radical politics began to infiltrate the ranks of NACHO, in particular with the rise of the Student Homophile League (SHL), lead by Columbia University student Stephen Donaldson.

Stephen Donaldson (1947-1996)

At the 1968 NACHO conference in Chicago—mere days before the police riot outside the Democratic National Convention there—a contingent lead by Donaldson and other SHL members pushed through a declaration of a “Homosexual Bill of Rights,” as well as a resolution approving of the slogan “Gay is Good,” a play on the radical Black Liberation slogan “Black is Beautiful.”

Change was clearly afoot.

The Downfall of the Homophile Movement

Even before the Stonewall Rebellion, NACHO’s organizing structure had already started to come under internal pressures from more radical youth-led organizations, who wanted to adopt more confrontational protest tactics, as well as escalating East-West tensions, the latter of which lead to the August 1969 NACHO conference being “practically boycotted” by West Coast organizations.

With the firestorm of action around the Stonewall Rebellion, NACHO leaders’ reluctance to let go of tactics that had served them to this point and give way to the new energy that was encapsulating the movement, caused the core tenets of the homophile movement and its organizing structure to somewhat crumble— homophile organizations were missing from the first Stonewall anniversary march, which had been proposed as a replacement for the Annual Reminder picket, and would evolve into New York Pride.

Regardless of how the homophile movement ended, we still need and want to express gratitude and awe at how instrumental and integral this work was in opening the door to what would become the gay liberation era of the 1970s.

If you want to learn more, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles & Resources:

• Rainbow History Project Query: ECHO

• Rainbow History Project Query: NACHO

• Making Gay History: Frank Kameny

• Making Gay History: Barbara Gittings & Kay Lahusen

• Making Gay History: Dick Leitsch

Books and Print Articles:

• Joan Fleischmann Collection; John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives at the William Way LGBT Community Center, Philadelphia

• "Convention Plans Axed by NACHO." The Advocate Sep 15 1971: 11. ProQuest. Web. 5 Aug. 2022

• Cole, Rob. "Old, New Ideas Tangle at NACHO Convention." The Advocate Sep 30 1970: 1,2, 6-7, 12, 23. ProQuest. Web. 5 Aug. 2022 .

• The Deviant’s War by Eric Cervini

• City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves by Marc Stein

• Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present by Neil Miller

• Queer America: A People’s GLBT History of the United States by Vicki L. Eaklor

• Gay American History: Lesbians & Gay Men in the U.S.A. by Jonathan Ned Katz

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

42. Rainbow Rising: Homo-Feels about Homophiles, Part 1

We return with another episode in your podfeeds today, this time from our long-since visited mini-series, Rainbow Rising! Leigh is joined by guest host Tyler Albertario to talk about pre-Stonewall gay rights and the rise, heydey, and subsequent fall of the Homophile movement and how the fight for gay civil rights evolved into the struggle for queer liberation. In this first episode of a two-parter, Leigh and Tyler discuss the birth of the homophile movement and some of the main players – gay civil rights organizations in 1950s-1960s America who dared to gather together amid communism moral panic, FBI raids, and spurious homomedicalist points of view about queer identity. Scandalous tales found within, including secret identities and anonymous cells, the gaslighting J. Edgar Hoover himself, fake “ancient Greek” lesbian poetry, and more!

Next time, we’ll come back in Part 2 to discuss how all these groups came together at regional and national conferences to organize, including all the juicy drama and disagreements, and the decline of homophile-style organizing post-Stonewall.

Tyler Albertario is an amateur LGBTQ+ historian specializing in the history of organizations integral to the struggle for queer liberation and equality. Since 2019, he has worked as a consultant on projects for a wide range of LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, educational nonprofits, and content creators.

Locate Tyler upon the internet:

• Articles on Medium

• @TylerAlbertario on Twitter

• Support Tyler on Patreon!

• Linktree for even more!

Newspaper headline and article showcasing the atmosphere of panic and fear around the Lavender Scare, connecting queer people to communism and declaring them a national security risk.

Mattachine

Founded initially as the Mattachine Foundation by Harry Hay in 1950, Mattachine was instrumental in kicking off the homophile movement and offering up opportunities for gay men to meet, socialize, and organize.

The Mattachine founders at a 1951 Christmas party (left to right): Paul Bernard, Chuck Rowland, Stan Witt, Rudi Gernreich, Harry Hay, and Dale Jennings

Mattachine took its name from Renaissance French masque groups called sociétés mattachines, who would wear masks and perform public rituals and dances during the Feast of Fools mocking the rulers.

“Feast of Fools” engraving by Pieter Van der Heyden from 1559

May 1959 issue of Mattachine Review

Dr. Evelyn Hooker’s “The adjustment of the male overt homosexual” study was instrumental in starting to dismantle the homo-medicalist theories that gayness was a psychological sickness. At a time when homosexuality was in the DSM as a “sexual deviation” under the umbrella of “sociopathic personality disturbance” disorders, her pioneering study of 30 gay men who were not incarcerated, institutionalized, or under any sort of treatment, was groundbreaking in dispelling myths about the pathology of queer people.

ONE, Inc.

Evolving from the communist-leader purge of the Mattachine Foundation, ONE, Inc. was founded in 1952 in Los Angeles, and the founders featured some of the Fifth Order members of the original Mattachine Foundation, including Harry Hay, Chuck Rowland, and Ken Jennings, but also other pre-homophile activists like W. Dorr Legg and Merton Bird of the Knights of the Clock organization, Tony Reyes, Martin Block, Don Slater, and Jim Kepner.

October 1954 issue of ONE Magazine that was held by the post-office, leading to ONE v Olsen

Jim Kepner and W. Dorr Legg standing outside the ONE, Inc. office, the first public, physical location for a gay organization in the U.S.

Daughters of Bilitis

Early homophile organizing wasn’t just for gay men, though! The Daughters of Bilitis was founded as the first lesbian organization in the U.S., founded by four lesbian couples: Rose Bamberger & Rosemarie Sliepen, Noni Frey and Marcia Foster, a Chicana woman named Mary, and Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin.

Members of the Daughters of Bilitis around 1956, Del Martin on the far left, Phyllis Lyon on the far right

Drawing on the same strategy as Mattachine of using an obscure reference for the title of their organization to avoid scrutiny by authorities, DOB was named so after this 1894 book of poems by Pierre Louÿs, in which he claimed he had translated several Sapphic-style poem fragments written by a contemporary of Sappho, found in a tomb in Cyprus. It’s all BS, but it’s hilarious and wonderful.

Cover image of Pierre Louy’s Songs of Bilitis in the original french

Daughters of Bilitis membership card

Statement of purpose and guiding principles of Daughters of Bilitis, printed inside The Ladder.

First issue of Daughters of Bilitis’ publication, The Ladder, in 1956 — the first nationally-distributed lesbian magazine in the U.S.

October 1957 issue of The Ladder, alluding to the “masked” imagery commonly used among homophile organizations.

Barbara Gittings, president of the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis, and editor of The Ladder. She would team up with Frank Kameny of the Mattachine Society of Washington and begin picketing for gay rights — which we’ll discuss in the next episode.

If you want to learn more, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles & Resources:

• Before Stonewall: The Homophile Movement

• The Homophile Movement: Making History

• ‘Homophiles’: The LGBTQ rights movement began long before Stonewall

• “From Homophile Movement to Gay Liberation” by Clark A. Pomerleau

• “The Women of Color Behind the Daughters of Bilitis” by Malinda Lo

• GLBT Historical Society’s Primary Source Set: Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon

• Making Gay History: Dr. Evelyn Hooker

• Making Gay History: Harry Hay

• Queer Serial

Books and Print Articles:

• Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis by Marcia Gallo

• The Deviant’s War by Eric Cervini

• Domenico Rizzo, “Public Spheres and Gay Politics since the Second World War” in Gay Life and Culture: A World History, ed. Robert Aldrich

• Queer America: A People’s GLBT History of the United States by Vicki L. Eaklor

• Amanda H. Littauer, "Sexual Minorities at the Apex of Heteronormativity (1940s-1965) in The Routledge History of Queer America, ed. Don Romesburg

• Gay American History: Lesbians & Gay Men in the U.S.A. by Jonathan Ned Katz

• “Behind the Mask of Respectability: Reconsidering the Mattachine Society and Male Homophile Practice, 1950s and 1960s” by Martin Meeker; Journal of the History of Sexuality, Jan. 2001, Vol. 10, No 1.

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

41. Send in the Clowns: Anita Bryant, John Briggs, & the Anti-Gay Christian Right

For this episode, Leigh is joined once again by guest host Aubree Calvin, for a crossover episode with Southern Queeries talking about the rise of the anti-gay Christian right movement and homophobic legislation that swept the United States in the 1970s with Anita Bryant, Save Our Children, and the Briggs Initiative, whose proponents used “parental rights” language to justify their homophobia, in an eerily similar manner as we are seeing today with anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans legislation and arguments. Listen to this episode to hear the history behind all this, as well as some bits of levity we made sure to put in (listen to Anita Bryant get hit with a pie and learn about the glorious protest tactic of glitterbombing), and hear how the LGBTQ community of yesteryear rose up to fight these counter-movements, and what we can learn from them in today’s fight. 

Then, when you’re finished with this episode, head over to Southern Queeries for the second part of our conversation, talking in depth about the current rash of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the country, our reactions and feelings, and how it’s the same conversation and language as back in 1977 and 1978.

• www.aubreecalvin.com

• Aubree Writes on Facebook

• @BreeinTX on Twitter

Aubree, or Bree to her friends and enemies alike, is a black, queer trans woman on the edge of turning 40. A southerner for most of her life, Aubree has family roots across the south. She loves studying politics, history, and learning about all aspects of queer culture. Aubree started her podcast, Southern Queeries, because she’s tired of society ignoring the south's diverse communities. Professionally, Aubree is a community college government professor and part time writer. When not talking, teaching, or writing, Aubree’s spending her free time with her wonderful wife and daughter.

Dade County, FL, Anita Bryant, and Save Our Children

In 1977, Dade County, Florida, passed a human-rights ordinance that expanded non-discrimination coverage to sexual orientation, something that was being done throughout the country in several other municipalities as the gay rights movement has begun to make some progress post-Stonewall.

However, the backlash was severe, and was led primarily by Anita Bryant, singer, former Miss America runner-up and brand ambassador for the Florida Citrus Commission, turned anti-gay activist.

Together with her husband, Anita Bryant started the anti-gay organization Save Our Children (From Homosexuality), Inc., and ran a 6 month crusade to repeal the ordinance, ultimately forcing it back onto the ballot once they had collected several thousand signatures, and the ordinance was repealed in the referendum election later that year.

Amid this campaign, lies about queer people recruiting,, being child molesters, and more, were at the center of their campaign tactics.

Following the results in Dade County, several other states rolled back their own protections for queer people, and Anita Bryant traveled the country supporting these campaigns, culminating in Proposition 6, a statewide attempt to repeal a human-rights ordinance in California, spearheaded with Orange County senator John Briggs who had campaigned with Anita Bryant.

LGBTQ Response

The LGBTQ community in Dade County and all across the U.S. fought hard, though, and mobilized throughout the country and galvanized a queer rights movement that had somewhat grown complacent in the years since Stonewall— with Anita Bryant, there was a huge enemy, and one that could be utilized to their advantage.

The tactics of LGBTQ rights organizing drastically changed with the rise of these counter-movements, and a lot of it was focused on education, as well as direct responses and attacks on Anita Bryant and Save Our Children.

And in the case of CA, the grassroots organizing of teachers’ unions, intersectional labor and civil-rights coalitions, Harvey Milk and Sally Gearhart, and more, was enough to defeat Prop 6, the first in this string of legislation that was overturned— marking a turning point and changes in organizing tactics for the queer community and bringing LGBTQ rights to a national level of attention.

Gay bars around florida and the whole country started a boycott of florida orange juice, and refused to serve cocktails made with such, including screwdrivers. they instead began to offer “anita bryant” cocktails, made with vodka and apple juice.

Pins, shirts, and more were made that said “anita bryant sucks”, “fuck anita bryant, etc.

A Dartboard emblazoned with the face of anita bryant. Art and Artifacts Collection, Courtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

Spectators at the 1977 San Francisco Gay Day Parade, wearing shirts with matching slogan "Stop V.D., FUCK ORANGES”, in reference to anita bryant’s connection with the florida citrus commission. Marie Ueda Collection, COurtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

Women marching behind a banner saying "Lesbian School Workers," while others carry signs including many which say "NO! on the Briggs Initiative.", Crawford Wayne Barton collection (1993-11), Courtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

1977 San Francisco Gay Day Parade; a contingent holding signs with pictures of (left to right) Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Anita Bryant, burning crosses, and Idi Amin Dada. Marie Ueda Collection, COurtesy of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society

Anita Bryant’s Pie to the Face

October 14, 1977 – Bryant & her husband were in Des Moines, Iowa for a televised press conference, when gay activist Thom Higgins walked up mid-speech and threw a pie straight in her face. It’s the best thing we’ve ever seen.

We’ll leave you with mention from our Pop-Culture Tie Ins segment anti-Anita Bryant sketch from the Carol Burnett Show:

And also this news segment from 1990, reflecting on the legacy of Anita Bryant, Save Our Children, and the progress of the LGBTQ rights movement:

If you want to learn more, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles & Resources:

• HISTORY OF THE ANTI-GAY MOVEMENT SINCE 1977

• Anita Bryant: The Power of Protest - Out in the Archives 

• Atlanta’s Anita Bryant moment inspires new short film

• Anita Bryant - Bar Raids in Houston Exhibit 

• The Year Activists Defeated an Anti-LGBTQ Initiative

• Column: How 2.8 million California voters nearly banned gay teachers from public schools

• The Briggs Initiative: Remembering a Crucial Moment in Gay History

• Celebrating Harvey Milk and the Defeat of the Briggs Initiative - #ACLUTimeMachine

• 1977: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights 

• How the National Conversation on LGBT Non-Discrimination Has Evolved 40 Years After Anita Bryant Campaign

• The granddaughter of a notorious anti-gay rights activist is marrying a woman — and she's not sure whether to invite her grandmother to the wedding

Books and Print Articles:

• “Working Anita Bryant: The Impact of Christian Anti-Gay Activism on Lesbian and Gay Movement Claims” by Tina Fetner, Social Problems, Vol. 48, No 3 (August 2001)

• "The Civil Rights of Parents": Race and Conservative Politics in Anita Bryant's Campaign against Gay Rights in 1970s Florida”, Gillian Frank, Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 22, No. 1 (January 2013)

• Out For Good, by Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney

Primary Source News Articles

• “Gay Rights Dispute Stops Bryant’s Show”, Jay Clarke, Washington Post, February 25, 1977

• “Anita Bryant Visit Here Sparks Demonstration”, Phil McCombs and John Feinstein, Washington Post, January 23, 1978

• “Bryant: Still ‘Effective?’, Washington Post, June 20, 1977

• “Dade Approves Ordinance Banning Bias against Gays”, Miami Herald, 19 January 1977

• “Miami Gay Bill Passes as Celebrities Lead Foes”, Gay Community News, 29 January 1977

• “Gay Law Foes to Plan Vote Drive”, Miami Herald, 26 January 1977

• “Miami’s Gays Gear Up for Referendum Battle”, Gay Community News, 12 February 1977

• “Fight Gay Rights,” Miami News, 29 April 1977

• “Singer Anita Bryant Coming”, Baptist Beacon 25, no. 4 (1977)

• “The Gay Issue: Whose Rights Prevail?”, Miami Herald, 4 April 1977

• “Grim Moms March against Gay Law”, Miami Herald, 19 February 1977

• “Gay-Law Foes Claim 59,918 Back Views”, Miami Herald, 2 March 1977

• “Dade Man Is Linked to Scout Sex Inquiry”, Miami Herald, 18 May 1977

• “Taking a Stand on Gay Rights No Easy Task”, Miami Herald, 29 March 1977

• DCCHR, “Release to All Gay Media Publications”, 3 June 1977

• Advertisements of Anita Bryant gag gifts– Advocate, 10 August 1977

• “June, Polls Show Human Rights Election a Virtual Tie – Gay Turnout Crucial,” Alive, 12 June 1977

• “Dade County, Fla., Repeals Rights Ordinance by 7-to-3 Margin,” Washington Star, 8 June 1977

• “Dade Gay-Rights Loses, Anita Dances, Calls Result Win ‘for God,’” Miami Herald, 8 June 1977

• “Florida’s Vote: Hopeful Symptom,” Reno Evening Gazette, 15 June 1977

• “Wichita Could be Next,” Gay Community News, 31 December 1977

• “Miami Post Mortem–Lessons from Losing, Four Perspectives of Dade County,” Advocate, 24 August 1977

• “Gays Lose Battle – Set Out to Win the War,” Alive!, July 1977

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

36 & 37. The Life of Pauli Murray

For this two-part episode, Leigh is joined by return guest host, Aubree Calvin to do a deep dive into the story of Pauli Murray, an important African American lawyer, and activist who is finally getting the historical attention they deserve. In their time, Murray was a labor rights, civil rights, and women’s rights activist, and broke significant barriers all while facing sexism and racism. In addition to having a brilliant legal mind, they were a writer, poet, and priest, and had time to be friends with Eleanor Roosevelt. Pauli Murray should be in every U.S. History book in every K-12 school.

So, if Pauli Murray was so important to so many movements, why has history largely forgotten them? Leigh and Aubree try to answer that across two episodes — the first, looking at their upbringing, many careers, and accomplishments, then in part two, discussing their multfaceted queerness and try to get a handle, as best we can, on their gender identity.

• www.aubreecalvin.com

• Aubree Writes on Facebook

• @BreeinTX on Twitter

Aubree, or Bree to her friends and enemies alike, is a black, queer trans woman on the edge of turning 40. A southerner for most of her life, Aubree has family roots across the south. She loves studying politics, history, and learning about all aspects of queer culture. Aubree started her podcast, Southern Queeries, because she’s tired of society ignoring the south's diverse communities. Professionally, Aubree is a community college government professor and part time writer. When not talking, teaching, or writing, Aubree’s spending her free time with her wonderful wife and daughter.

We also got the opportunity to speak with amazing activist, lawyer, and reproductive justice advocate Preston Mitchum, previously Policy Director at URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity) and current Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, on his own personal history coming to Pauli Murray’s story, how they influenced him as a Black queer man, and continues to inspire and influence current and future generations of queer civil rights attorneys all across the country.

Preston Mitchum is a Black and queer civil rights advocate, writer and public speaker who uses critical thinking and intersectionality in his writing and analyses. In his role as Policy Director at URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, he shaped state and federal strategies and policies that center the voices and leadership of young people in the South and Midwest. Prior to joining URGE, Preston served as senior legal and international policy analyst with Advocates for Youth. Preston is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center teaching LGBTQ Health Law and Policy, is the co-chair of the board of directors for the Collective Action for Safe Spaces and was also the first openly LGBTQ chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

Preston can be found online at:

• www.prestonmitchum.com

• @preston.mitchum on Instagram

• @prestonmitchum on Twitter

A Closer Look at Pauli Murray

Pauli presenting their family biography, Proud Shoes, presents the first edition of their book to Lloyd K. Garrison, former president of the National Urban League.

Pauli in Ghana, where they taught law briefly in the 1960s.

Pauli after earning their JSD from Yale in 1965.

Pauli with Betty Friedan and others who would be influential in founding NOW

A Little Glimpse into Pauli’s Gender Journey

“Why do I prefer experimentation on the male side, instead of attempted adjustment as a normal woman?”

Pauli’s various “identities” they tried out and modeled in a 1930s photo album they titled “The Life and Times of an American Called Pauli Murray”:

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"The Vagabond"

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"The Crusader"

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"The Imp"

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"The Dude"

Pauli in New Hampshire, Nov 1955. They sent this photo to Eleanor Roosevelt, describing it as “It’s my most natural self, I think”. Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library

Some of Pauli’s Loves

Pauli’s longtime partner Irene “Renee” Barlow

Pauli with their girlfriend Peggy Holmes, who they met at the New Deal Women’s Camp. LOOK HOW CUTE THIS IS!

Pauli with their dog, Doc, at Benedict College, SC in 1967.

Pauli with another of their dogs, Roy, in 1976

Pauli with their BFF for life, Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1962 on a trip to Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park.

Pauli, The Reverend and Poet

Pauli in their Virginia apartment, 1977, after becoming a reverend.

Pauli’s portrait at Yale Law, unveiled in November 2018.

Listen to Pauli read the entirety of Dark Testament:

Pauli reading from their epic poem, “Dark Testament”

“Rediscovering Pauli Murray”, a panel discussion from 2017 at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard, featuring panelists Patricia Bell-Scott, Brittney Cooper, Rosalind Rosenberg, and Kenneth W. Mack.

If you liked hearing our episode on Pauli, you might also you might also enjoy these Pop-Culture Tie-Ins:

• My Name is Pauli Murray (2021)

• Amend: The Fight for America, Episode 4: “Control” on Netflix

If you want to learn more about Pauli Murray, the 14th Amendment, and more, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles & Resources:

• Meet the Forgotten Woman Who Forever Changed The Lives of LGBTQ+ Workers

• Who is Pauli Murray? | The Pauli Murray Center 

• QSpirit: Pauli Murray - Queer saint who stood for racial and gender equality

• "The Many Lives of Pauli Murray" by Kathryn Schulz 

• The Pauli Murray Family Home | National Park Service 

• N.O.W. | Finding Pauli Murray: The Black Queer Feminist Civil Rights Lawyer Priest who co-founded NOW, but that History Nearly Forgot

• Imp, Crusader, Dude, Priest

• Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Beloved Radical

Books and Print Articles:

• Proud Shoes: The Story of an American Family by Pauli Murray

• Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage by Pauli Murray

• Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosalind Rosenberg

• Dark Testament: and Other Poems by Pauli Murray

• The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship by Patricia Bell-Scott

• “Poetry, Ethics, and the Legacy of Pauli Murray” by Christiana Z. Peppard in Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring/Summer 2010).

• “Boy-girl, Imp, Priest: Pauli Murray and the Limits of Identity” by Doreen M. Drury in Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring 2013).

Films/Audio:

• Pauli Murray reads "Dark Testament"

• Sundance Doc Honors Civil Rights Pioneer Pauli Murray 

• RBG Wanted People To Know More About One of Her Legal Heroes | TIME

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

34. Queers in the Civil Rights Movement

For today’s episode, Leigh is joined by return guest host, Aubree Calvin, to commemorate Black History Month by telling the stories of some folks who made contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s whose queerness has been overlooked or erased, and the ways in which the tremendous work done by Black activists was absolutely essential to the evolution of LGBTQ rights actions. Listen to hear about Freedom Rides organizer Rodney Powell’s epic takedown of Rev. Rick Warren, Ernestine Eckstein’s directions for the homophile movement, and Lorraine Hansberry’s thoughts on Eartha Kitt’s legs.

Our wonderful returning guest host for this episode is our fantastic friend and co-host of Southern Queeries Podcast, Aubree Calvin!

• www.aubreecalvin.com

• Aubree Writes on Facebook

• @BreeinTX on Twitter

Aubree, or Bree to her friends and enemies alike, is a black, queer trans woman on the edge of turning 40. A southerner for most of her life, Aubree has family roots across the south. She loves studying politics, history, and learning about all aspects of queer culture. Aubree started her podcast, Southern Queeries, because she’s tired of society ignoring the south's diverse communities. Professionally, Aubree is a community college government professor and part time writer. When not talking, teaching, or writing, Aubree’s spending her free time with her wonderful wife and daughter.

You can also hear Aubree in our episode on Sister Rosetta Tharpe!

A Closer Look at Queer Folks in the Civil Rights Movement…

Rodney Powell

Rodney Powell’s school photo at St. Joseph’s University

Rodney Powell with his husband, Bob Eddinger, in hawaii

Rodney (standing) at the lunch counter of a Nashville Walgreens in March 1960.

Ernestine Eckstein

Ernestine Eckstein on the cover of the June 1966 edition of The Ladder. Credit: Photo by Kay Lahusen, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

Ernestine Eckstein in the White House picket line, October 23, 1965. Her sign reads: “Denial of Equality of Opportunity is Immoral.” Photo by Kay Lahusen, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

Ernestine’s class photo at Indiana University, showing her given name.

Ernestine with the Indiana Daily Student newspaper staff at Indiana University

Aaron Henry

Aaron Henry at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, reading from a document while seated before the Credentials Committee.

Brochure from Henry’s 1971 campaign for the Mississippi State Legislature.

Aaron Henry, circa 1980s. Photo from the Erle E. Johnston Jr. Papers, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry at her typewriter

Lorraine’s list from age 28 of things in her “Notes on Myself” entries. Check out Dorothy Secules’ name under the “I want”. Image courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library

Lorraine Hansberry with Nina Simone

Below, a video of Nina Simone performing “To Be Young, Gifted and Black”, which was inspired by and written about Lorraine Hansberry.

If you want to learn more about the folks we covered in this episode, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles & Resources:

• Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust

• Freedom Indivisible: Gays and Lesbians in the African American Civil Rights Movement by Jared E. Leighton, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• “Rodney Powell: A Second Fight for Equal Rights” by Jaquetta White

• “A Letter from Rodney Powell, Gay Man Who Helped Lead the Freedom Rides”

• The Civil Rights Collection of the Nashville Public Library

• Across Decades, Rodney Powell ‘57 Fought for Change

• Aaron Henry, Who Speaks for the Negro? Archival Collection

• ”The History Behind Why We Say a Person ‘Came Out of the Closet’” by Olivia B. Waxman

• ”What is the Origin of the Phrase ‘Come Out of the Closet’?” by Arika Okrent

• ”The Double Life of Lorraine Hansberry” (OUT Magazine, September 1999)

• The Quiet Lesbian Biography of Lorraine Hansberry

• ”Lorraine Hansberry’s Gay Politics” by Kai Wright

• “Lorraine Hansberry’s Secret Lesbian Herstory Touched Upon in New Documentary” by Shervin Kayvon

• Lorraine Hansberry: Letters to The Ladder - Illinois History & Lincoln Collections

• “Lorraine Hansberry’s Letters Reveal the Playwright’s Private Struggle” by Melissa Anderson

• “Opening the Restricted Box: Lorraine Hansberry’s Lesbian Writing” by Kevin Mumford

• Wikipedia: Rodney N. Powell

• Wikipedia: Ernestine Eckstein

• “The Importance of Being Ernestine Eckstein, Pioneer in the Early Gay Rights Movement” by Lester Fabian Brathwaite

• “Gay Liberation Needed the Civil Rights Movement” by Michelle Garcia

• Making Gay History: Ernestine Eckstein

Books and Print Articles:

• Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry by Dr. Imani Perry

• Aaron Henry: The Fire Ever Burning by Aaron Henry, Constance Curry

• Gavins, R. (2016). March on Washington Movement (MOWM). In The Cambridge Guide to African American History (p. 178). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Corrigan, L. (2019). Queering the Panthers: Rhetorical Adjacency and Black/Queer Liberation Politics. In QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking . Vol. 6, Number 2, Summer 2009.

• The Ladder: A Lesbian Review, June 1966 issue

Films/Videos:

• An Open Letter to Pastor Warren by Dr. Rodney Powell

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

22. Bae-yard Rustin: The Man Behind the March

February means love and Black history, so join Gretchen and Leigh as they celebrate both by diving into into the life and work of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin! Due to his being gay, Rustin’s role as advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and in organizing the 1963 March on Washtington was actively erased for several decades. Fortunately, he’s been gaining more recognition in recent years and both queer history and civil rights history is actively recovering his memory and legacy. Whether it be for his pacifism, being gay, protesting all over the world, or riding a bus, Rustin was arrested over 25 times. He was a man who stood up for injustice wherever he saw it, even in prison! So join us as we talk about one of the most impactful but least well-known activists of the civil rights movement.  

A Closer Look at Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin’s Grandmother Julia Rustin.

School photo with Bayard Rustin (center), Photo Courtesy of the Chester County, Pennsylvania, Historical Society.

Bayard Rustin’s mug shot from his 1944 arrest for resisting the draft.

Rustin in the late 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Estate of Bayard Rustin.

Rustin protesting in Washington in the late 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Estate of Bayard Rustin.

Bayard Rustin and Cleveland Robinson with a sign advertising the march on washington, 1963.

Rustin and A. Philip Randolph on the cover of life magazine, from the march on Washington, 1963.

Program from the 1963 march on washington.

Rustin at the headquarters for the Citywide Committee for Integration in New York City, 1964.

Rustin speaking at the ralley for school integration at City hall in New York, 1964.

Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr., 1965.

Bayard Rustin with walter Neagle, his partner from 1977 to Rustin’s death in 1987.

rustin at Trafalgar’s Square, 1983.

If you want to learn more about Bayard Rustin, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles:

• Bayard Rustin's Civil Rights Legacy Began with Grandmother Julia Rustin

• Not-so-secret life of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin

• Who Designed the March on Washington?

• Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

• AFLCIO - Bayard Rustin

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute - Bayard Rustin

• Why MLK's Right-Hand Man, Bayard Rustin, Was Nearly Written Out of History

• Bayard Rustin’s Legacy Is Complicated, And That’s Okay

• Bayard Rustin: Martin Luther King’s Views on Gay People

Books and Print Articles:

• Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement by James Haskins

• Bayard Rustin: Troubles I’ve Seen, A Biography by Jervis Anderson

• Queer, There, and Everywhere by Sarah Prager

• Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin, ed. By Devon W. Carbado and Donald Weise

• “Remembering Bayard Rustin” by John D’Emilio, in the OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 20, No. 2, History is Sexuality (March 2006)

• “Humanrights Hero: Remembering Bayard Rustin” by Walter Neagle, in Human Rights, Vol. 40, No. , The Fierce Urgency of Now: 50 YEARS LATER

• “Bayard Rustin’s Brief Encounters with Higher Education”, in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 16

Videos, Interviews, and Other Audio-visual Media:

• Making Gay History Podcast: Bayard Rustin

• Walter Naegle Talks About His Relationship With Bayard Rustin and Equality

• Bayard & Me

• Michelle Meow Interviews Walter Naegle Part 1 and Part 2

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!

14. The Labor Struggle is Real Queer

Leigh and Gretchen have a special History is Gay treat for you this Labor Day. Join them as they discuss the history of the labor movement as it relates to the struggle for queer civil rights in America. You may not know, but the labor and LGBTQ+ movements have been allies for a long time. Just how far back does the partnership go? Listen and find out! Learn about Jewish lesbian feminists fighting for better workplace conditions during WWI, the mostly-queer marine cooks union in the 30s and 40s, lesbian bus drivers’ unions, the Coors boycott, and more. We end with a discussion of what needs to be done and Gretchen may or may not end up on a soapbox. Happy Labor Gay!

A Closer Look at People in the Labor and LGBTQ+ Movements

Pauline Newman (1887-1986)

Rose Schneiderman (1882-1972)

Dr. Marie Equi (1872-1952)

A gathering of the Nation Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards (NUMCS)

Cooks and Stewards on the HF Alexander

Newspaper of the NUMCS

Stephen Blair, Vice President of the NUMCS

Revels Clayton of the NUMCS

Judy Mage, who led the NYC Department of Welfare strike in 1965

Howard Wallace, who helped lead the Coors boycott in 1974

One of the most famous protest signs of the Coors boycott in the 1970s

Joni Christian, labor activist and transgender icon (Image courtesy of the NY Times)

If you want to learn more about the alliance between the Labor and LGBTQ+ movements, check out our full list of sources and further reading below!

Online Articles

• Labor Unions and LGBT Equality - A Long and Deep Commitment

• Queer Activism in the Labor Movement

• The Long, Powerful History Between Labor and LGBT Activists

• How the Labor Movement and the Gay Rights Movement Work Together

• Workers Rights are LGBT Rights

• Janus is This Term's Worst LGBT Ruling

• Why Working People in Unions Are Fighting LGBTQ Discrimination in the Workplace

• Trade Unions and LGBT Activism

• Socialism and LGBT Liberation

• Stephen Blair Photograph Collection

• Blatantly militant: The hidden history of queers in the U.S. labor movement

• The shared goals of labor and the gay rights movement

• Marine Cooks and Stewards

  • Desegregating a Maritime Union The Marine Cooks and Stewards

  • Photo Archive for the NUMCS

  • Revels Cayton: African American Communist and Labor Activist

Books

• Out in the Union by Miriam Frank

• My Desire for History: Essays in Gay, Community, and Labor History by Allan Bérubé, edited by Estelle B. Freedman

• Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants by Phil Tiemeyer

• Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers by Anne Balay

• Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation by Sherry Wolf

Videos

• Narration of Allan Bérubé’s lecture on the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union, “No Red-Baiting! No Race-Baiting! No Queer-Baiting!” (Note: Linked page incorrectly titles it “No Red-Baiting! No Race-Baiting! No Queen-Baiting!”)

Until next time, stay queer and stay curious!