(1989)]]

Vito Russo (born July 11, 1946, New York City – died November 7, 1990, New York City) was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet (1981, revised edition 1987).

Russo developed his material following screenings of camp films shown as fundraisers for the early gay rights organization Gay Activists Alliance. He traveled throughout the country from 1972 to 1982, delivering The Celluloid Closet as a live lecture presentation with film clips at colleges, universities, and small cinemas such as the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco. In both the book and in the lecture/film clip presentation, he related the history of gay and lesbian moments – and the treatment of gay and lesbian characters – in American and foreign films of the past.

In 1983, Russo wrote, produced, and co-hosted a series focusing on the gay community called Our Time for WNYC-TV. This series featured the nation's first GLBT hard news and documentary video segment produced and directed by social behaviorist D. S. Vanderbilt.

Russo's concern over how LGBT people were presented in the popular media led him to co-found the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a watchdog group that monitors LGBT representation in the mainstream media and presents the annual GLAAD Media Awards. The Vito Russo Award is named in his memory and is presented to an openly gay or lesbian member of the media community for their outstanding contribution in combating homophobia. Russo was also actively involved in the AIDS direct action group ACT UP.

Russo appeared in the 1989 Academy Award-winning documentary as a "storyteller," relating the life and death of his lover Jeffrey Sevcik.

In 1990 Vito Russo spent a year in California at the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching a class, also entitled "The Celluloid Closet". He enjoyed being a professor, spending lecture breaks smoking and joking with his students.

Also in 1990, Merrill College at UC Santa Cruz established Vito Russo House to promote Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered awareness and provide a safe and comfortable living environment for queer, straight-supportive and all students who value and appreciate diversity. The house tailors its programming to meet the needs of GLBT students and offers all an opportunity to build understanding and tolerance.

Death and legacy

Russo died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. His work was posthumously brought to television in the 1996 HBO documentary film The Celluloid Closet, narrated by Lily Tomlin.

After his death there was a memorial in Santa Cruz put on by students and colleagues. There were testimonials about how inspirational he had been and en masse, the group sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in his memory.

Russo's papers are held by the New York Public Library.

A documentary on the life of Vito Russo, "Activist: The Times of Vito Russo" is currently in production by Los Angeles production company Automat Pictures and producer Jeffrey Schwarz.

A family-approved biography of Vito's life, written by NYIT professor Michael Schiavi, titled Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in the spring of 2011.

The documentary is scheduled to start running in film festivals in the fall of 2011.

References

UCSC Teaching & Memorial

External links

"Vito" Facebook Page

"Vito" Official Website

Finding Aid: Vito Russo papers, 1969–1990, New York Public Library.

Category:1946 births Category:1990 deaths Category:AIDS activists Category:AIDS-related deaths in California Category:Film historians Category:American writers of Italian descent Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty

Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Enrique Martín Morales
Alias	Ricky Martin
Born	December 24, 1971San Juan, Puerto Rico
Genre	Pop, Latin pop, dance-pop, world, reggae, Urban pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actor
Years active	1984–present
Label	Columbia, Sony Music Latin, Sony Music Mexico
Associated acts	Menudo
Url

Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.

During his career he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of Ricky Martin Foundation (in Spanish Fundación Ricky Martin), a non-profit charity organization. Ricky Martin's exuberant 1999 single "Livin' la Vida Loca" made him a prominent figure of Latin dance-pop. Martin got his start with the all-boy pop group Menudo; after five years with the group, he released his Spanish-language solo album, Ricky Martin, in 1991. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star there. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), which included the salsa-style "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 17 million copies and brought Martin international fame. His other albums include A Medio Vivir (1995), Vuelve (1998), Sound Loaded (2000, with the hit "She Bangs"), Life (2005), and the compilation album 17 (2008). In 2010 Martin announced that he was a "fortunate homosexual man", ending years of fan speculation on the topic.

On the edge of the new millennium, Martin—almost by himself—gave Latino music an international face. An acclaimed performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards launched Martin into worldwide super-stardom. As Entertainment Weekly's Andrew Essex reported, "his leather-pants, electro-pelvis version of 'La Copa de la Vida' single-handedly goosed a very dull [Grammy] telecast, earning him a standing ovation."

Martin's twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, were born via a surrogate mother in 2008. Martin also co-owns a Miami restaurant, Casa Salsa, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

Early life

Martin was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Nereida Morales, an accountant, and Enrique Martín Negroni, a psychologist. His parents divorced when he was two; his father remarried. Martin has two maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, and two paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a paternal half-sister Vanessa Martín. Martin grew up in a Roman Catholic home and was an altar boy until he joined Menudo. Martin has some Corsican and Catalan ancestry as his paternal fourth great-grandfathers were born in Rogliano, Cap Corse, Corsica, and Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia.

Career

Early solo work

After completing high school, Martin left San Juan and moved to New York City. Later, Martin moved to Mexico City where he attended the national school of space. He started in a musical-theater in 1989 named Mis Tennis Rojos (My red tennis shoes) next to Angelica Vale and then followed another theater productions Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). He then participated in a telenovela (soap opera) titled Alcanzar Una Estrella II (Reach for a Star 2) next to Sasha Sökol. Out of this soap opera a musical group was formed named Muñecos de Papel in which he was one of the 6 members; they toured several cities in Mexico and recorded 2 albums. His main single was Juego de Ajedrez. A film based on the TV series was also produced in which Martin played Pablo, earning a Heraldo Award in 1993.

While acting in Mexico, Martin was signed to Sony Discos, the company's Latin imprint, in 1990. He released his first solo album, the Spanish-language Ricky Martin, in 1991, which included the single "Fuego Contra Fuego". The hit release earned Gold records in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Puerto Rico, and he performed a string of sold-out concert dates across South America.

In 1993, Martin released his second solo album, Me Amarás, which featured a Spanish-language cover of the Laura Branigan hit "Self Control", as "Que Día Es Hoy", and sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Martin moved to Los Angeles, California in 1994 and landed a role as bartender and singer Miguel Morez in the American soap opera General Hospital.

Breakthrough

In 1995, Martin refocused on his music career, and his third album, A Medio Vivir, would be a major international breakthrough. With this album, Martin made a shift from formulaic hit ballads to a more risky fusion of music centered around traditional Latin sounds, epitomized by the hit "Maria". "Maria" broke Martin into Europe via Spain. The single went to number one and became one of the biggest hits of the year in France and Belgium, hitting the Top 10 throughout Europe and even making its way into the lower reaches of the U.S. Hot 100. With the ballad "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo", Martin furthered his expansion from Latin American and Spanish-speaking audiences to the European and Asian markets, and several other tracks hit the Latin Pop Airplay charts. The album went Gold in the U.S., Switzerland and Finland, Platinum in France, and 4X Platinum in Spain.

After the conclusion of a worldwide tour, Martin returned to New York to appear in a Broadway theatre production for the first time, joining the cast of the hit musical Les Misérables to play the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy.

While on Broadway, Martin returned to the studio and recorded his fourth album, Vuelve. The title track and the ballad "Perdido Sin Ti" both hit number one on the Hot Latin Tracks and Latin Pop Airplay charts, with further hits including "La Bomba" and "Corazonado". The album's pinnacle, however, was "La Copa de la Vida", which Martin made a major hit in an English version when he was chosen to sing the anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. "La Copa de la Vida" reached number one on the charts in various countries. The song went Platinum in France, Sweden and in Australia, where it ultimately became the number one single of the year. The song was awarded "Pop Song of the Year" at the 1999 Premio Lo Nuestro awards. Martin was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album, and was booked to sing on the show's live TV broadcast. The now-legendary performance of "The Cup of Life" stopped the show, earning Martin an unexpected standing ovation and introducing the star to the mainstream American audience. Martin capped off the evening by winning the award for Best Latin Pop Performance. Vuelve became Martin's first Top 40 album on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart in the U.S., where it was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album notably went to #1 in Norway for three weeks, going on to sell eight million copies worldwide.

Crossover to English

After several years as a major star in Spanish-speaking countries, Martin prepared his first English album in 1999. The self-titled album contained material by producers such as Desmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit, George Noriega and his longtime childhood friend (producer/singer) Robi Draco Rosa. The album also featured special guests Madonna (on the Spanish-English duet "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi Corazón)") and Meja (Private Emotion). As Turkey was one of the countries where Martin's popularity was at its peak, he sang the song with Sertab Erener, Turkish winner of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, instead of Meja in Turkish versions of the album.

The first and most prominent single was "Livin' la Vida Loca", which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and South Africa. He followed up with the hit "She's All I Ever Had" which peaked at #2 on The Billboard Hot 100. This album became one of the top-selling albums of 1999, and was certified 7 times platinum, selling over 22 million copies worldwide to date.

After the success of Ricky Martin, a new English-language album, Sound Loaded, was released in November 2000. Though the album did debut in the top ten (number four), it failed to reach number one. Three singles were released from Sound Loaded: the first was "She Bangs", which was followed by a duet with Christina Aguilera called "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". Unlike the first two singles released from Ricky Martin, neither of the first two singles from this album reached the U.S. Top Ten on Billboard's Hot 100; they reached twelve and thirteen respectively. The third single, "Loaded" reached ninety-seven on Billboard's Hot 100. Sound Loaded eventually sold two million copies in the U.S.

In 2001, Martin released a Spanish Greatest Hits album entitled La Historia, which went to number one in the Latin Charts and stayed there for five weeks. The album contained reworkings of two of his early songs Fuego contra fuego and El amor de mi vida. In the same year, he released his English greatest hits album, The Best of Ricky Martin, which went on to sell over one million copies. The album contained no new material save for two remixes of the track Amor. Both remixes were released to radio in some European countries and a single was also released.

In 2003, Martin released a new Spanish album "Almas del Silencio" ("Souls of Silence"). The first single, "Tal Vez", went to number one on the Latin Charts and stayed there for twelve weeks. He said of the new album: "I really needed to go back to focus, to my center, to the beginning. I had the need to search within, and really dig deep, and find those emotions that, because of the adrenaline and the euphoria that I lived for a couple of years, were probably sabotaged." Almas del Silencio debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, reached number one on the Latin Albums charts and stayed there for six weeks. The next singles, "Jaleo" and "Y Todo Queda en Nada", reached number one on the Latin Charts, and the album sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.

On October 11, 2005, Martin released his first English language album since 2000's Sound Loaded and the tenth album of his career. Most of the songs on the album, called Life, were co-written by Martin. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production." The album debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The first single from the album was "I Don't Care"/"Qué Más Da", featuring guest appearances by Fat Joe, Amerie and drummer Joseph Quevedo "Joey Q".

Another single was released "Drop It on Me", which did not chart. Soon after, Martin announced his Latin American tour called Una Noche con Ricky Martin/One Night Only, promoting his latest album Life. Starting in Latin America, the tour premiered on November 15 in Mexico City. After finishing the first leg of the tour (which included Latin America and the U.S.), he released his next single, "It's Alright" (Spanish version: "Déjate Llevar"). A different version appeared in France, which included additional vocals by French R&B; singer M. Pokora. The song went to number 4 in France.

Martin performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Turin. A few days later, he announced the second leg of his world tour (which included Europe and Africa) called One Night Only/Una Noche Con Ricky Martin World Tour. The second leg started on April 21 in Manchester, UK, and ended on June 3 in Tel Aviv, Israel, including shows that sold-out in two hours (Italy and Finland). In addition, he performed at the World Cup Fan Party in Berlin (Brandenburger Tor) on June 7, 2006, and at Lebanon's Beiteddine Festival on May 27 at the BIEL seafront hall in Beirut and on May 28 in Egypt, his first concerts in the Arab world following a promise to Queen Noor on his 2005 visit to the Arab Conference in Jordan. During this visit, he recorded an Arabic/Spanglish version of "Drop It on Me" and "Enta Omri" with Arabic pop star Cheb Mami. An anticipated 8-month tour ended early due to a lack of advertising.

In 2007, Martin began an international promotional tour titled Blanco y Negro

Ricky Martin announced the new singles from his upcoming 2011 album via his Twitter account.

Martin's first Spanish language single is "Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tú", a duet with Spanish singer Natalia Jimenez. An English version of the track, titled "The Best Thing About Me Is You", features Joss Stone. Both tracks went to radio on November 2.

Martin's bilingual album titled Música + Alma + Sexo was released on February 1, 2011.

MTV Diary and MTV Unplugged

MTV aired "MTV Diary: Ricky Martin" in November 2006, showcasing scenes from the "One Night Only" tour, on the road and onstage. MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3́s co-produced the "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" show to be taped in Miami on August 17, 2006 and premiered on MTV Latin America, MTV Tr3́s and MTV Puerto Rico in October 2006.

"Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" was released by Sony BMG on November 7, 2006 in both separate CD and DVD formats, and in May 2007, was re-released together in a CD/DVD combo-package. Available exclusively at Wal-Mart with the original CD purchase is a separate Ricky Martin DVD titled "Making of Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged", which includes a 40 minute behind the scenes documentary and the music video to "Tu Recuerdo". (It should be noted the music video for "Tu Recuerdo" is just an extracted live performance of the song from MTV Unplugged.)

The first single of the album, "Tu Recuerdo", featuring La Mari from Chambao, reached number one on the U.S. Latin Charts. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Latin Charts and number thirty-eight on Billboard 200.

This album includes Puerto Rican influences, particularly "Tu Recuerdo" (based mainly on a Puerto Rican "aguinaldo jíbaro", and finishing with an "aguinaldo orocoveño") and "Pégate", a Puerto Rican plena. Christian Nieves plays the Puerto Rican cuatro on both tracks. Viento de agua and Joseph Quevedo played the plena drums in "Pégate".

Personal life

in New York City]] In the past Martin stated he was in love with Mexican TV host Rebecca de Alba, with whom he had an off-and-on-again relationship for over 14 years. They even talked of starting a family together, and at one point Martin planned on proposing. However with the release of Life in 2005, Martin confirmed he and De Alba had parted ways.

In August 2008, Martin became the father of twin boys, Matteo and Valentino. The babies were birthed by a surrogate mother.

After the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca", Martin's personal life became a subject of interest due to his large gay following, and he was questioned about his sexual orientation. In a December 2000 interview with The Mirror, Martin was asked to comment on the rumors surrounding his sexuality. He replied that "I don't think I should have to tell anyone if I am gay or not, or who I've slept with or not." Along with this, Martin reportedly stated in an interview with Plus 7 Days magazine, "If I were gay, why not admit it? I am a normal man. I love women and sex. I am a real hot-blooded Puerto Rican, but I have never been attracted by sex with a man."

On March 29, 2010, Martin publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in a post on his official web site by stating, "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Martin said that "these years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within, and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed." In 2010, prior to Martin coming out, Barbara Walters expressed some regret for pushing Martin in a 2000 interview to admit if he was gay. The Toronto Star quoted her as saying, "When I think back on it now, I feel it was an inappropriate question."

Martin announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he is in a relationship though he has chosen to shield his boyfriend from the spotlight, believing that he might find the attention "overwhelming". Martin has also expressed support for same-sex marriage in an interview on Larry King Live, and commented on his experience of being closeted and coming out. "[E]verything about saying [that I am gay] feels right...", Martin stated, adding "if I’d known how good it was going to feel, I would have done it ten years ago." debuting at #5 on the Hardcover Nonfiction list. A Spanish-language edition entitled "Yo" was published simultaneously.

Humanitarian work

Martin is the founder of Fundación Ricky Martin (), a non-profit organization. Among the events promoted by the foundation was a summer camp, which included Martin's personal participation.

Martin has been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts including:

The Leadership in the Arts Award

Billboard's Spirit of Hope Award

The Alma Award

Vanguard Award

International Humanitarian Award by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

Hispanic Heritage Award for his humanitarian work through the Sabera Foundation in rescuing three orphan girls from the streets of Calcutta (September 2002)

Martin has also collaborated with the International Organization for Migration on the "Llama y Vive" (Call and Live), a campaign which is aimed to facilitate prevention of human trafficking, protection of the youngest victims of child trafficking, and prosecution of the traffickers. For his work against human trafficking, the U.S. State Department named Martin one of its "Heroes in Ending Modern-Day Slavery" in 2005.

Politics

(far left) and Tom Lantos.]] Martin was a headliner in the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush; he even invited the newly elected president to join him on stage to dance. This image was captured by photographers and broadcast in various media throughout the world. Martin referred to it in a later song, Asignatura Pendiente.

Martin has since changed his position on the former President. In a concert in Puerto Rico during the song Asignatura Pendiente Martin thrust his middle finger disapprovingly in the air while singing the line "photo with Bush". The gesture met with audience approval but caused a minor controversy with the media. Martin said in an e-mail statement sent to the Associated Press via a spokesman: "My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it".

Martin supported Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the landslide Clinton victory in the Puerto Rican Democratic primary on June 3, 2008.

Discography

Ricky Martin (1991)

Me Amarás (1993)

A Medio Vivir (1995)

Vuelve (1998)

Ricky Martin (1999)

Sound Loaded (2000)

Almas del Silencio (2003)

Life (2005)

Música + Alma + Sexo (2011)

Filmography

1987 : Por siempre amigos (TV series) as Ricky

1990 : Alcanzar una estrella (TV series) as Pablo Loredo

1991 : Alcanzar una estrella II (TV series) as Pablo Loredo

1992 : Más que alcanzar una estrella as Enrique

1993 : Getting By (TV series) as Martin

1993 : General Hospital (TV series) as Miguel Morez (1994–1996)

1996 : Barefoot in Paradise (TV series) as Sandoval

1997 : Hercules (Spanish Language, Voice Only) as Hercules.

2002 : Les Diables as Brian Rodriquez

2003 : Ricky Martin: En la intimidad (TV) as a guest star

;Television appearances

Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd (2003) – as himself (guest appearance in season 6)

General Hospital (1995) (television series) – Miguel Morez (unknown episodes, 1994–95)

Alcanzar una estrella (1991) (television series)

"Sos Mi Vida (2006) – as himself

"The Oprah Winfrey Show (2011) – as himself (guest appearance in season 25)

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (2011) - as himself

Theatre

Les Misérables (1996), Broadway – Marius

Evita, (2012), Broadway – scheduled

Tours

{| |- ! style="width:350px;"| ! style="width:350px;"| |- ||Ricky Martin Tour || (1992) |- ||Me Amaras Tour || (1993–1994) |- ||A Medio Vivir Tour || (1995–1997) |- ||Vuelve World Tour || (1998) |- ||Livin' la Vida Loca Tour || (1999–2000) |- ||One Night Only with Ricky Martin || (2005–2006) |- ||Black and White Tour || (2007) |- ||Música + Alma + Sexo World Tour || (2011) |}

Records and achievements

Martin was chosen along with Félix Trinidad in 1999, to lead Puerto Rico's worldwide tourism campaign, both exemplifying Puerto Rico's youthfulness, enthusiasm and indefatigable character.

In February 2004, Martin received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lo Nuestro Awards in Miami, Florida.

Martin was honored as the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year by the Latin Recording Academy on November 1, 2006. He was chosen for his accomplishments as a world renowned entertainer, consummate performer and passionate humanitarian. A portion of the proceeds from the evening's tribute dinner was used for benefitting Ricky Martin's charitable efforts.

On October 16, 2007, Martin received the 2351st Hollywood Walk of Fame star, shortly after receiving the key to the city of Miami Beach, Florida on October 11. The star is located besides the Hollywood and Highland complex. Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Rita Moreno were invited to the unveiling ceremony.

In addition to the numerous awards received throughout his musical career, Martin has also been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts.

He is currently nominated for seven nominations in Premios Juventud 2011.

|- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Grammy |- style="background:#ddd;" | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;"| Latin Grammy

See also

List of best-selling music artists

List of Puerto Ricans

Honorific nicknames in popular music

White Latin American

Notes

External links

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:20th-century actors Category:American humanitarians Category:American philanthropists Category:English-language singers Category:Gay actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Latin pop singers Category:LGBT Christians Category:LGBT parents Category:LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people Category:LGBT people from Puerto Rico Category:LGBT television personalities Category:LGBT musicians from the United States Category:Menudo members Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Category:Puerto Rican male singers Category:Puerto Rican people of Catalonian descent Category:Puerto Rican people of Corsican descent Category:Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Category:Puerto Rican pop singers Category:Puerto Rican Roman Catholics Category:Puerto Rican soap opera actors Category:Puerto Rican stage actors Category:Spanish-language singers Category:World Music Awards winners

Birth date	April 06, 1955
Birth place	New Jersey, United States
Years active	1978–present
Birth name	Robert P. Epstein
Occupation	film director, producer
Academyawards	Best Documentary Feature1984 The Times of Harvey Milk1989

Rob Epstein, also credited as Robert P. Epstein (born April 6, 1955, New Jersey, USA) is an non-fiction filmmaker, director, producer, writer and editor. Epstein has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature for the films The Times of Harvey Milk and .

Biography

Epstein began his filmmaking career working on the 1978 film , a documentary about the lives of gay and lesbian Americans. and went on to receive worldwide acclaim and distribution, showing at major film festivals, theaters, and on television on almost every continent. This film was selected by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Sundance Institute as a preservation project and a 35mm digitially re-mastered version of the film was released in June 2000.

In 1987, Epstein teamed up with filmmaker Jeffrey Friedman to form Telling Pictures in San Francisco, California. Their first film together was , inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Mall in Washington DC. Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, Common Threads tells the dramatic story of the first decade of AIDS in America through stories of five individuals featured in the Quilt. Epstein won his second Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Common Threads, which also won the Peabody Award and an Emmy for Bobby McFerrin’s original all-vocal score.

Their next film, The Celluloid Closet, based on the book by film historian Vito Russo, depicts a 100-year history of homosexual characters in Hollywood movies. Narrated by Lily Tomlin, The Celluloid Closet had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, was featured at the Toronto, New York, and Sundance Film Festivals (at which it won the Freedom of Expression Award from the jury), and numerous international festivals, including Berlin, Tokyo, and Sydney. In addition to winning the Peabody Award and Columbia DuPont Journalism Award, Epstein and Friedman won Emmys for directing.

In 2000, Epstein and Friedman directed and produced Paragraph 175, a film that explores a hidden chapter in history: the experiences of homosexuals during the Nazi regime in Europe. Narrated by Rupert Everett, and filmed in Germany, France and Spain, Paragraph 175 had its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2000, where it was awarded the documentary Grand Jury Prize for Directing, followed by a European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February, where it won the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics Association Award).

Rob Epstein is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and is a member of the Directors Guild of America, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for which he serves as a Board Governor on the Documentary Branch.

He has taught in the graduate program at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU), and is currently Chair of the Film Program at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, California.

Filmography

— Director (1978)

The Times of Harvey Milk — Director, Producer, Editor (1984)

The AIDS Show — Director, Producer (1986)

— Director, Producer, Writer (1989)

Where Are We? Our Trip Through America — Director, Producer (1989)

The Celluloid Closet — Director, Producer, Writer (1995)

Paragraph 175 — Director, Producer (2000)

Underground Zero (segment "Isaiah's Rap") — Director (2002)

"Crime & Punishment" (TV Series) — Director, Producer (2002)

An Evening with Eddie Gomez — Director (2005)

Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America: Gold Rush (TV series) — Director (2006)

Howl — Director, Writer (2010)

References

External links

Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

Name	Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr.
Caption	Harry Hay, April 1996, Anza-Borrego Desert, Radical Faeries Campout
Birth date	April 7, 1912
Birth place	Worthing, England
Death date	October 24, 2002 (aged 90)
Death place	San Francisco, California
Spouse	Anita Platky (1938–1951)
Partner	Rudi Gernreich (1950–1952) Jorn Kamgren (1952–1962) John Burnside (1963–2002)
Known for	LGBT rights activist; co-founder, Mattachine Society; co-founder, Radical Faeries
Nationality	American

Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002) was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.

Hay was exposed early in life to the principles of Marxism and to the idea of same-sex sexual attraction. He drew upon these experiences to develop his view of homosexuals as a cultural minority. A long time member of the Communist Party USA, Hay's Marxist history led to his resignation from the Mattachine leadership in 1953. Hay's involvement in the gay movement became more informal after that, although he did co-found the Los Angeles chapter of the Gay Liberation Front in 1969. Following a move to New Mexico with his longtime companion John Burnside in 1970, Hay's ongoing interest in Native American spirituality led the couple to co-found the Radical Faeries.

Hay's belief in the cultural minority status of homosexuals led him to take a stand against assimilationism. This stance led him to offer public support to controversial groups like the North American Man Boy Love Association and to criticize both the mainstream gay rights movement and some of the movement's radical components, including the AIDS activist group ACT UP.

Hay died on October 24, 2002, following a series of illnesses.

Early life

Hay was born April 7, 1912 to Americans Margaret (née Neall) and Harry Hay, Sr. in the coastal town of Worthing, Sussex, England. His father was a mining engineer who had worked for Cecil Rhodes and the Guggenheim family. Hay was raised Catholic, in deference to his mother Margaret's family as a condition for the marriage. While Harry Sr. was negotiating his Guggenheim contract, Margaret gave birth to their second child, Margaret Caroline (nicknamed "Peggy") in February 1914. Hay's family moved to Chuquicamata, Chile in 1914, where his father managed an Anaconda Copper mine. In May 1916, Hay's brother John William (nicknamed "Jack") was born in Chile. Harry Sr. managed the mine until an accident in June 1916 cost him a leg. The family moved to the United States and settled in California where Harry Sr. bought and ran several commercial citrus farms. The Hay family moved to Los Angeles in 1919. In an incident Hay recalled as being at the root of his later lack of guilt over his sexuality, Harry Sr. made a statement about Egypt over an evening meal and Hay, knowing him to be wrong, tried to correct him. Harry Sr. flew into a rage, beating his son with a razor strop in a futile attempt to get the boy to recant. After later confirming that he was indeed correct, Hay realized, "If my father could be wrong, then the teacher could be wrong. And if the teacher could be wrong, then the priest could be wrong. And if the priest could be wrong, then maybe even God could be wrong." Hay's mother, on the other hand, was devoted to Hay, making no secret of the fact that he was her favorite. She encouraged his early interest in and talent for music, spending hours playing the piano and singing with him and arranging for piano and dance lessons. Hay became an accomplished pianist and organist and a professional-caliber ballroom dancer. When his dance instructor suggested he take ballet, Harry Sr. put a stop to the lessons.

In 1922, Hay joined a boys' club called the Western Rangers. Through the Rangers, Hay was first exposed to Native American spirituality when he witnessed members of the Hopi tribe performing rituals and, later, performing traditional dances for the group.

Hay spent summers growing up working on cattle ranches, where he was introduced to the tenets of Marxism through fellow ranch hands who were members of the Industrial Workers of the World ("Wobblies"). They taught him Marxist philosophy and gave him books and pamphlets written by Karl Marx. He also learned about men having sex with other men,

In 1925, Hay attended a feast day celebration at the invitation of a Native American co-worker, where he met the Ghost Dance prophet Wovoka. Wovoka blessed Hay, saying that Hay would one day be a great friend to the Native American people. In 1926, Hay met and had sex with a sailor named Matt. Through Matt, a decade his senior, he was introduced to the concept of homosexual men as a world-wide "secret brotherhood".

College, acting and politicization

Hay graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1929 and went to work at a law firm. At around this time he discovered the cruising scene in Pershing Square, where he met a man who told him about the Society for Human Rights, a homosexual rights group that had existed briefly in Chicago in the 1920s (although Hay would later deny that he had any knowledge of previous LGBT activism). In 1930 Hay enrolled in Stanford University, and in 1931 he came out as "temperamental" (then a code word for "homosexual") to friends and classmates. He relocated again, to Hollywood, finding work as a stunt rider in B movies. Unable to secure steady employment in films, Hay joined an agitprop theatre group that entertained at strikes and demonstrations. Many of his associates in the theatre group were members of the Communist Party and Hay joined the Party in 1934. From the time he joined the Party until leaving it in the early 1950s, Hay taught courses in subjects ranging from Marxist theory to folk music at the "People's Educational Center" in Hollywood and later throughout the Los Angeles area.

Also in 1934, Hay joined the cast of the Tony Pastor Theatre. There he met and became lovers with fellow actor Will Geer, whom Hay credited as his political mentor. Hay and Geer participated in a milk strike in Los Angeles, where Hay was first exposed to radical gay activism in the person of "Clarabelle", a drag queen who held court in the Bunker Hill neighborhood, who hid Hay from police. Later that year, Hay and Geer performed in support of the San Francisco General Strike. Hay witnessed police firing on demonstrators and this cemented his commitment to social change. The couple adopted two daughters, Hannah Margaret in 1943 and Kate Neall in 1945. Hay realized by 1941 that his therapist had been wrong and that he was not going to become heterosexual through marriage.

Mattachine Society

Hay conceived of the idea of a homosexual activist group in 1948. After signing a petition for Progressive Party presidential candidate Henry A. Wallace, Hay spoke with other gay men at a party about forming a gay support organization for him called "Bachelors for Wallace". However, the men who had been interested at the party were less than enthused the following morning. Over the next two years, Hay refined his idea, finally conceiving of an "international...fraternal order" to serve as "a service and welfare organization devoted to the protection and improvement of Society's Androgynous Minority". He planned to call this organization "Bachelors Anonymous" and envisioned it serving a similar function and purpose as Alcoholics Anonymous. Hay met Rudi Gernreich in July 1950. The two became lovers, and Hay showed Gernreich The Call. Gernreich, declaring the document "the most dangerous thing [he had] ever read", (going instead by the initial "R"). Finally on November 11, 1950, Hay, along with Gernreich and friends Dale Jennings and lovers Bob Hull and Chuck Rowland, held the first meeting of the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles, under the name "Society of Fools". The group changed its name to "Mattachine Society" in April 1951, a name chosen by Hay at the suggestion of fellow Mattachine member James Gruber, based on Medieval French secret societies of masked men who, through their anonymity, were empowered to criticize ruling monarchs with impunity.

Mattachine was originally organized in similar structure to the Communist Party, with cells, oaths of secrecy and five different levels of membership, each of which required greater levels of involvement and commitment. As the organization grew, the levels were expected to subdivide into new cells, creating both the potential for horizontal and vertical growth. The founding members constituted the so-called "Fifth Order" and from the outset remained anonymous. Mattachine's membership grew slowly at first but received a major boost in February 1952 when founder Jennings was arrested in a Los Angeles park and charged with lewd behavior. Often, men in Jennings' situation would simply plead guilty to the charge and hope to quietly rebuild their lives. Jennings and the rest of the Fifth Order saw the charges as a means to address the issue of police entrapment of homosexual men. The group began publicizing the case (under the name "Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment") and the publicity it generated brought in financial support and volunteers. Jennings admitted during his trial to being a homosexual but insisted he was not guilty of the specific charge. The jury deadlocked (11-1 in favor of acquittal) and Mattachine declared victory.

Following the Jennings trial, the group expanded rapidly, with founders estimating membership in California by May 1953 at over 2,000 with as many as 100 people joining a typical discussion group. Membership diversified, with more women and people from a broader political spectrum becoming involved. With that growth came concern about the radical left slant of the organization. In particular, Hal Call and others out of San Francisco along with Ken Burns from Los Angeles wanted Mattachine to amend its constitution to clarify its opposition to so-called "subversive elements" and to affirm that members were loyal to the United States and its laws (which laws declared homosexuality illegal). In an effort to preserve their vision of the organization, the Fifth Order members revealed their identities and resigned their leadership positions at Mattachine's May 1953 convention. With the founders gone, Call, Burns and other like-minded individuals stepped into the leadership void, and Mattachine officially adopted non-confrontation as an organizational policy. The reduced effectiveness of this newly-organized Mattachine led to a precipitous drop in membership and participation. The Los Angeles branch of Mattachine shut down in 1961.

After Mattachine

Following the end of his involvement with Mattachine, Hay became largely disillusioned with the homosexual political scene and withdrew. Hay had become involved with a young Danish immigrant named Jorn Kamgren in 1952, several months before severing ties with Mattachine. Kamgren was a miliner. Hay helped him establish a hat shop, attempting to use his contacts within the fashion and entertainment industries to get exposure for Kamgren's work and meeting with moderate success. Hay's time with Kamgren was not particularly happy, although Hay's mother Margaret liked Kamgren and encouraged Hay to remain with him (even going so far as to invest some $25,000 into the hat business). Hay spent much of his time studying Native American society and culture, in particular the Two-Spirit or berdache and their roles in native societies. Hay's studies in this area led him into further areas of historical research, in which he searched for any evidence or indication of homosexuals and the societal and cultural roles that they played.

In 1955, Hay was called to testify before a subcommittee of the House Un-American Activities Committee that was investigating Communist activity in Southern California. Hay had been identified before the subcommittee as a Communist, which was particularly interested in Marxist teachers like Hay. Hay struggled to find legal representation, feared losing his job and worried that his sexuality would be used to smear the Party. Ultimately his appearance, on July 2 of that year, was brief; he was asked if he was currently a member of the Party, to which he could truthfully answer "no". A committee member angrily asked when he had quit the Party to which Hay replied that he did not "confide in stool pigeons or their buddies on this committee". Amid gales of laughter from the audience, Hay was dismissed.

Hay maintained some contact with activists, including Jim Kepner of ONE, Inc., and continued his social contacts in the homophile community through ONE events. After 11 years with Kamgren, Hay moved out of their house and ended the relationship. Hay and Kepner had a brief affair in 1963, then Hay met inventor John Burnside through a ONE event, who became his life partner. Together the two created a group called the Circle of Loving Friends (although Hay and Burnside were frequently the only members of the circle). As the Circle they participated in early homophile demonstrations throughout the 1960s and helped establish the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO) in 1966. Following the Stonewall riots, the couple helped organize a Gay Liberation Front chapter in Los Angeles and Hay was elected its first chair.

Radical Faeries

In 1970, Hay and Burnside moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they became involved in activism over water rights to the Rio Grande. They also became involved with a local LGBT rights group, Lambdas de New Mexico. There Hay continued his studies into Native American culture. Hay, along with Los Angeles activist Don Kilhefner and Jungian therapist Mitch Walker, co-hosted a workshop on the subject at UCLA in 1978. Building on that workshop, the three collaborated for months to develop a "Spiritual Conference for Radical Fairies". This conference, held over the Labor Day weekend in Benson, Arizona, attracted over two hundred participants, and led the three, along with Burnside, to form the Radical Faeries.

However, less than a year after the Faeries formed, internal pressures threatened to fracture the group. Walker secretly formed the "Faerie Fascist Police" to combat "Faerie fascism" and "power-tripping" within the Faeries. He specifically targeted Hay: "I recruited people to spy on Harry and see when he was manipulating people, so we could undo his undermining of the scene." At a gathering in Oregon designed to discuss acquiring land for a Faerie sanctuary, a newcomer to the group, coached by Walker, confronted Harry about the power dynamics within the core circle. In the ensuing conflict, the core circle splintered. Plans for the land sanctuary stalled and a separate circle formed. The core circle made an attempt to reconcile, but at a meeting that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday", Kilhefner quit, accusing Hay and Burnside of "power tripping". Then Walker resigned, in the process allegedly calling Hay a "cancer on the gay movement" (a remark Walker later denied making). Walker and Kilhefner formed a new gay spiritual group called Treeroots.

Anti-assimilation

As he had throughout his life of activism, Hay continued to oppose what he perceived as harmful assimilationist attitudes within the gay community. "We pulled ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity over us, and that's how we got through school with a full set of teeth," Hay once explained. "We know how to live through their eyes. We can always play their games, but are we denying ourselves by doing this? If you're going to carry the skin of conformity over you, you are going to suppress the beautiful prince or princess within you." Having rooted his political philosophy from the founding of Mattachine in the belief that homosexuals constituted a cultural minority, Hay was wary of discarding the unique attributes of that minority in favor of adopting the cultural traits of the majority for the purpose of societal acceptance. Having witnessed the move of Mattachine away from its founding Marxist activist principles and having seen the gay community marginalize drag queens and leather enthusiasts through the first decade of the post-Stonewall gay movement, Hay opposed what he believed were efforts to move other groups to the margins as the gay rights movement progressed.

In the early 1980s, Hay joined other early gay rights activists protesting the exclusion of the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) from participation in LGBT social movements, most noticeably pride parades on the grounds that such exclusions constituted a betrayal by the gay community. In 1983, at a New York University forum, sponsored by an on-campus gay organization, he remarked "[I]f the parents and friends of gays are truly friends of gays, they would know from their gay kids that the relationship with an older man is precisely what thirteen-, fourteen-, and fifteen-year-old kids need more than anything else in the world." In 1986 Hay was confronted by police when he attempted to march in the Los Angeles pride parade, from which NAMBLA had been banned, with a sign reading "NAMBLA walks with me." Hay refused to participate in the official 1994 parade in New York City commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots because of its exclusionary policies. Instead he joined an alternate parade called "The Spirit of Stonewall". As late as 2000 Hay continued to speak out against assimilation, saying, "The assimilationist movement is running us into the ground."

Hay was the subject of Eric Slade's documentary film Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay (2002). He also appeared in other documentaries, such as (1978), in which he appeared with his partner Burnside. In 1967, Hay and Burnside had appeared as a couple on Joe Pyne's syndicated television show.

Hay, along with Gernreich, is one of the main characters of the play The Temperamentals by Jon Marans with Thomas Jay Ryan playing Hay and Michael Urie as Gernreich; after workshop performances in 2009 the play opened off Broadway in 2010.

On June 1, 2011, the Silver Lake, Los Angeles Neighborhood Council voted unanimously to rename the Cove Avenue Stairway in Silver Lake in honor of Hay.

See also

RFD - Journal of The Radical Faerie Movement

Avant-Garde: Experimental Films of the 1920's and 1930's (DVD collection featuring Hay's 1937 film Even as You and I)

Footnotes

Notes

References

D'Emilio, John (1983). Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226142655.

Ehrenstein, David (1998). Open Secret (Gay Hollywood 1928–1998). New York, William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0688153178.

Hay, Harry, with Will Roscoe (ed.) (1996). Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of its Founder. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0807070807.

Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998). Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia. New York, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0805036296.

Johansson, Warren, and William A. Percy (1994). Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence. Psychology Press. ISBN 1560244194.

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 0805038965.

Miller, Neil (1995). Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present. New York, Vintage Books. ISBN 0099576910.

The National Museum & Archive of Lesbian and Gay History (1996). The Gay Almanac. New York, Berkeley Books. ISBN 0425153002.

Shively, Charley. "Harry Hay". Collected in Bronski, Michael (consulting editor) (1997). Outstanding Lives: Profiles of Lesbians and Gay Men. New York, Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1578590086.

Stryker, Susan and Jim Van Buskirk (1996). Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco, Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811811875.

Timmons, Stuart (1990). The Trouble With Harry Hay. Boston, Alyson Publications. ISBN 1555831753.

External links

Obituary

Harry Hay Photo gallery

Harry Hay Wolf Creek Photos 1996

Hope Along the Wind: The Story of Harry Hay

A Gay Conservative article critical of Hay

Category:1912 births Category:2002 deaths Category:People from Worthing Category:Members of the Communist Party USA Category:American activists Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Radical Faeries Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States

Name	Barbara Gittings
Birth date	July 31, 1932
Birth place	Vienna, Austria
Death date	February 18, 2007
Death place	Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, USA
Caption	Barbara Gittings picketing Independence Hall July 4, 1966. Photo taken by Kay Lahusen.
Movement	Gay rights movement
Organization	Daughters of Bilitis, American Library Association
Awards	GLAAD Barbara Gittings Award; Lifetime Honorary Membership, American Library Association

Barbara Gittings (July 31, 1932 – February 18, 2007) was a prominent American activist for gay equality. She organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) from 1958 to 1963, edited the national DOB magazine The Ladder from 1963 to 1966, and worked closely with Frank Kameny in the 1960s on the first picket lines that brought attention to the ban on employment of gay people by the largest employer in the US at that time: the United States government. Her early experiences with trying to learn more about lesbianism fueled her lifetime work with libraries. In the 1970s, Gittings was most involved in the American Library Association, forming the first gay caucus in a professional organization, in order to promote positive literature about homosexuality in libraries. She was a part of the movement to get the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness in 1972. Her self-described life mission was to tear away the "shroud of invisibility" related to homosexuality that associated it with crime and mental illness.

She was awarded a lifetime membership in the American Library Association, and the ALA named an annual award for the best gay or lesbian novel the The Barbara Gittings Award. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) also named an activist award for her. At her memorial service, Matt Foreman, the directory of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said, "What do we owe Barbara? Everything."

Early life

Education

Gittings was born to Elizabeth Brooks and John Sterett Gittings in Vienna, Austria, where her father was serving as a U.S. diplomat. Barbara and her siblings attended Catholic school in Montreal, and was so immersed in Catholicism that at one point in her childhood she considered becoming a nun. Her family returned to the United States at the outbreak of World War II and settled in Wilmington, Delaware. Although aware of her attraction to other girls, Gittings said she first heard the word "homosexual" when she was rejected for membership in the National Honor Society in high school. Despite being an excellent student, a teacher who had reservations about her character took her aside and told her that the rejection was based on what the teacher believed were "homosexual inclinations".

While majoring in drama at Northwestern University, Gittings developed a close but non-sexual friendship with another female student, prompting rumors that they were lesbians, which led Gittings to examine her own sexual orientation. In her attempts to understand it, she had her suspicions confirmed by a psychiatrist who offered to cure her. Not having enough money to make regular visits, she was unable to get the money from her father, who reasoned there were no problems a psychiatrist could solve that a priest could not. Barbara's close friend suggested they see less of each other so as not to further encourage the rumors about them.

Having no one to talk to about the issues that were consuming her, she decided to read as much as she could on the topic. She found very little, and much of what she found described homosexuals as "deviants", "perverts", and "abnormal" in medical books and texts on abnormal psychology, or odd generalizations that stated homosexuals were unable to whistle, or that their favorite color was green. She also found all the information focused on homosexual men. She recalled in a 2001 interview, "I thought, this is not about me. There is nothing here about love or happiness. There has to be something better". Her research took up so much of her time at Northwestern that she ended up failing out of the school.

After college

At 17 years old she returned from Northwestern "in disgrace" after failing out of school and unable to tell her family why. But she was compelled to continue her search for information. She found some in the novels available at the time: Nightwood, The Well of Loneliness, The Unlit Lamp, and Extraordinary Women. Soon thereafter, her father discovered The Well of Loneliness in a pile of other things in her bedroom. He was so appalled at what he found that he instructed her to burn the book, but did so in a letter because he was unable to speak to her about it. Still eager to learn more about homosexuality, Gittings took a night course in abnormal psychology where she met the first woman with whom she had a brief affair. In a 1975 interview, she recalled, "I wore drag because I thought that was a way to show I was gay. It's changed now, but in the early 50s there were basically two types of women in the gay bars: the so-called butch ones in short hair and plan masculine attire and the so-called femme ones in dresses and high heels and makeup. I knew high heels and makeup weren't my personal style, so I thought...I must be the other kind!" However, Gittings found very little in common with the women she met in the bars, and after witnessing a gay male acquaintance get beaten up after leaving a bar, began to focus her energies on collecting books.

Activism in the 1950s and 1960s

Daughters of Bilitis

In 1956, Gittings went to California on the advice of Donald Webster Cory, to visit the office of the new ONE, Inc., an early homophile organization that dedicated itself to providing support to homosexuals in the US. While in California, she met Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who had co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in San Francisco. "She was a cute, curly-haired young woman wearing a shift and sandals. I remember she had this satchel, a backpack — I'd never seen anything like it. Or her," Lyon remembered. At her first meeting of the Daughters of Bilitis in someone's living room, Gittings brought up the obscurity of the name, which she thought was impractical, difficult to pronounce and spell, and referenced a fictional bisexual character, not even homosexual. "Even then I was pretty assertive...What were they doing with a name like that? It wasn't very nice of me, but they seemed to take it with reasonably good spirits." In 1958, Martin and Lyon asked Gittings to start a chapter in New York City, which she did when less than a dozen women responded to her notice in the Mattachine Society newsletter asking for "all women in the New York area who are interested in forming a chapter of the DOB" on September 20, 1958. Gittings served as the chapter's first president for three years commuting to New York from Philadelphia twice a month. The Daughters of Bilitis served as a social alternative to bars for lesbians, but took great care to deny that they were "arranging for 'immoral contacts'." While president of the DOB in New York, attending members numbered between ten and forty per meeting. They met twice a month and often invited doctors, psychiatrists, ministers and attorneys to address their meetings, even if the message was clearly disparaging to lesbians. Gittings recalled, "At first we were so grateful just to have people — anybody — pay attention to us that we listened to and accepted everything they said, no matter how bad it was...anything that helped to break the silence, no matter how silly or foolish it may look to us today, was important." Gittings admitted that early meetings and writings in the Daughters of Bilitis urged their members not to upset mainstream heterosexual society; that integration and acceptance would be won if heterosexuals could see that gays and lesbians were not dramatically different from themselves.

Gittings worked in clerical positions during this time, spending ten years as a mimeograph operator for an architectural firm. The New York chapter of the DOB distributed a newsletter to about 150 people, and Gittings worked on it while being required to stay overtime at her job. In 1959, after using company envelopes to mail the newsletter out and covering the firm's name with a sticker, someone wrote to the firm to notify them that a newsletter addressing lesbianism was being distributed. Gittings was sure that she would be fired, but her boss, a woman, stated cryptically that she was familiar with the topic, having served in the armed forces. Gittings was not fired but cautioned to be more careful instead.

The Ladder

From 1963 to 1966, she edited the organization's magazine, The Ladder following Lyon and Martin both as editors. Although the Daughters of Bilitis did take a political stand in the 1959 San Francisco mayoral race, Martin and Lyon preferred The Ladder to remain apolitical. Gittings was impressed with how her influence as editor would be able to impact the magazine and the opinions of its readers. "I discovered the power of the press, the power to put in what you want in order to influence readers," she said.

At the 1963 convention of the newly formed East Coast Homophile Organizations, the audience heard a speaker named Dr. Albert Ellis tell them that "the exclusive homosexual" was a psychopath. Articles and essays in The Ladder sometimes carried these viewpoints since it was difficult to get psychiatrists and doctors to address homosexuality in any form. Gittings said, "People like Ellis talked about homosexuality being a sickness. And they talked about a cure ... We'd sit there and listen and politely applaud and then go for the social hour afterward." However, after Dr. Ellis spoke, so did gay activist Frank Kameny, making an impression upon Gittings with his point that it is useless to try to find cures and causes for homosexuality since there is no valid evidence that it is an illness. Said Gittings, "My thinking didn’t change until Frank Kameny came along and he said plainly and firmly and unequivocally that homosexuality is no kind of sickness or disease or disorder or malfunction, it is fully on par with heterosexuality ... Suddenly I found that I was looking at things that had happened in the past in a very different light and I was taking a position that was increasingly diverging from DOB’s positions." printing such articles titled "I Hate Women" remarking on women who are politically apathetic, and "To Act or to Teach?" that was a back-and-forth debate on whether it was more effective to educate the public or take political action.

Protests

at the Annual Reminder in 1969. _{Photo by Nancy Tucker, released by the Lesbian Herstory Archives}]]In 1965, Gittings marched in the first gay picket lines at the White House, the US State Department, and at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to protest the federal government's policy on discrimination of homosexuals, holding a sign that read "Sexual preference is irrelevant to federal employment." The men who agreed to picket had to wear suits and ties, and the women who participated were to wear dresses, heels, and pantyhose so as to look employable by the federal government. Reactions from passersby were varied. A tourist witnessing the demonstration remarked, "I still don't believe it. Somebody's kidding." A stunned high school student pointed out, "They all look so normal." Gittings recalled, "I remember a man said to his kids, 'Hold your noses — it's dirty here.' And there was a woman dragging a string of kids who said, very angrily, 'You should all be married and have children like me.'" The evening prior to the group's picketing the State Department, Secretary of State Dean Rusk announced the pickets at a press conference. Gittings connected the high-profile visibility with a "breakthrough into mainstream publicity." From 1965 to 1969 Gittings participated in picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, until the Stonewall Riots in June 1969. After the riots, the annual Gay Pride Parade commemorating the riots took its place.

Differences in Gittings' political stance and the leadership of the DOB began to show, and came to a culmination in 1966 when she was ousted as the editor of The Ladder for, as one source claims, creating the issue that reported on the DOB convention late,

In November 1967, Gittings and Kameny worked together as co-counsel in hearings held by the Department of Defense to discredit an expert witness named Dr. Charles Socarides, who testified that homosexuals could be converted to heterosexuality, and to call in question the policy held by the Department of Defense that homosexual employees could be fired for being named as homosexuals. "Publicity was the objective," Gittings recalled many years later. Kameny and Gittings dressed conservatively, but wore buttons that said "Gay is Good" and "Pray for Sodomy." "We held press conferences for the benefit of sharp-eyed reporters. When we first went into a hearing room, we made certain to shake hands with all...participants so (they) could not avoid reading our buttons. Although neither were attorneys, at the end of their cross-examination, the Department of Defense removed Socarides from their lists of expert witnesses.

Gittings made hundreds of appearances as a speaker in the late 1960s. She carried on her mission to convince heterosexuals and homosexuals alike that homosexuality is not an illness, stating in a letter in 1967:

"I keep trying to convince people in the movement that the charge of sickness is perhaps our greatest problem... we can't really progress in other directions until the unsubstantiated assumption of sickness...is demolished! It's almost always there, however slyly or covertly or even unconsciously, however 'sympathetic' the person: the attitude that homosexuality is somehow undesirable, some sort of twist or malfunction or failure or maladaptation or other kind of psychic sickness. And in our society sick people, by any definition of sick, just DO not get equal treatment. Equal treatment — no more, no less — is what we want! And compassion — which many homosexuals gladly swallow because they think it represents an improvement in attitudes toward them — is not equal treatment." When no one took advantage of it, she and Patience and Sarah author Alma Routsong (better known by her pen name, Isabel Miller) kissed in front of rolling television cameras. In describing its success, despite most of the reaction being negative, Gittings said, "We needed to get an audience. So we decided, let's show gay love live. We were offering free — mind you, free — same-sex kisses and hugs. Let me tell you, the aisles were mobbed, but no one came into the booth to get a free hug. So we hugged and kissed each other. It was shown twice on the evening news, once again in the morning. It put us on the map."

American Psychiatric Association

, and John E. Fryer in disguise as Dr. H. Anonymous at a panel discussing psychiatry and homosexuality. Photo by Kay Tobin Lahusen]] In 1972, Gittings and Kameny organized a discussion with the American Psychiatric Association entitled "Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals: A Dialogue," where a panel of psychiatrists were to discuss homosexuality. When Gittings' partner Lahusen noticed all the psychiatrists were heterosexual, she protested. Gittings remembered, "My partner, Kay, said, `This isn't right—here you have two psychiatrists pitted against two gays, and what you really need is someone who is both.' The panel moderator, Dr. Kent Robinson, agreed to add a gay psychiatrist if we could find one. In 1972 who would come forward?... Kay and I wrote letters and made phone calls around the country." A gay psychiatrist in Philadelphia finally agreed to appear on the panel in heavy disguise, and with a voice distorting microphone, calling himself "Dr. H. Anonymous". He was John E. Fryer, and he discussed how he was forced to be closeted while practicing psychiatry. Gittings read aloud letters from psychiatrists she had solicited who declined to appear for fear of professional ostracism. She described the event as "transformative". In 1973, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a mental disorder, and Gittings celebrated by being photographed with the Philadelphia newspaper headlines, "Twenty Million Homosexuals Gain Instant Cure."

Gittings spent 16 years working with libraries and campaigning to get positive gay and lesbian-themed materials into libraries and to eliminate censorship and job discrimination. She wrote Gays in Library Land: The Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association: The First Sixteen Years., a brief history of the group.

Gittings helped start what was then called the National Gay Task Force, later to be named the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) in 1973. Gittings served on the board of the NGLTF throughout the 1980s. She inspired nurses to form the Gay Nurses Alliance in 1973. She held exhibits at APA conventions in 1972, 1976, and 1978, her last one being "Gay Love: Good Medicine" that portrayed gays as happy and healthy.

Legacy

Gittings appeared in the documentary films Gay Pioneers, Before Stonewall, After Stonewall, Out of the Past, and Pride Divide. In 1991 she remembered her decisions to be as open as she was throughout her life when she said, "Every time I had to make a decision to put myself forward or to stay back, to use my real name or not, to go on television or decline, to get out on some of the earliest picket lines or remain behind. I usually took the public position because there weren't many of us yet that could afford the risk." In 2001, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation honored her by bestowing her the first Barbara Gittings Award, highlighting dedication to activism. The same year, the Free Library of Philadelphia announced its Barbara Gittings Collection of books dedicated to gay and lesbian issues. There are over 2,000 items in the collection that is the second largest gay and lesbian collection of books in the US outside the San Francisco Public Library's. In 2003, the American Library Association rewarded her with its highest tribute, lifetime honorary membership. She also earned the first John E. Fryer Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 2006 with Frank Kameny. In 2007, readers of The Advocate included Gittings on a list of their 40 favorite gay and lesbian heroes.

Personal life

Gittings was an avid music lover, most interested in Baroque and Renaissance music. She sang in choral groups for most of her life, spending over 50 years in the Philadelphia Chamber Chorus. She was also a hiking and canoeing enthusiast.

Gittings met her partner, Kay Tobin Lahusen (b.1930) in 1961 at a picnic in Rhode Island, and described how they began: "We hit it off, we started courting. I flew to Boston [to see her] and got off the plane with a big bunch of flowers in my hand. I couldn't resist. I did not care what the world thought. I dropped the flowers, grabbed her and kissed her. That was not being done in 1961." In 2007, Lahusen donated all of their original papers and photographs to the New York City Public Library. NYPL President Paul LeClerc said, "The collection donated by Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen is a remarkable first-hand chronicle detailing the battles of gays and lesbians to overcome the prejudice and restrictions that were prevalent prior to the activism and protest movements that started in the 1960s."

In 1997, Gittings and Lahusen pushed the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to grant couple's membership to them, for a reduced price on health insurance.

In 1999, Gittings summed up her inspiration for her activism: "As a teenager, I had to struggle alone to learn about myself and what it meant to be gay. Now for 48 years I've had the satisfaction of working with other gay people all across the country to get the bigots off our backs, to oil the closet door hinges, to change prejudiced hearts and minds, and to show that gay love is good for us and for the rest of the world too. It's hard work — but it's vital, and it's gratifying, and it's often fun!"

Bibliography

Bullough, Vern, ed. (2002) Before Stonewall: Activists for gay and lesbian rights in historical context. Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1-56023-192-0

Gallo, Marcia. (2006)Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement. Carrol & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0786716340

Katz, Jonathan. (1976) Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. Crowell. ISBN 0-06-091211-1

Marcus, Eric. (2002) Making Gay History: The half-century fight for lesbian and gay equal rights. Perennial Press. ISBN 0-06-093391-7

Tobin, Kay and Wicker, Randy. (1975) The Gay Crusaders. Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-07374-7

References

External links

Kay Lahusen and Barbara Gittings Digital Collection, via New York Public Library

Barbara Gittings And Kay Tobin Lahusen Miscellany, 1965-1982, via Cornell University

Category:1932 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American Library Association Category:American magazine editors Category:Cancer deaths in Pennsylvania Category:Deaths from breast cancer Category:History of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Lesbian history in the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:Pennsylvania political activists Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:People from Vienna