LGBTQ movements
Gay Liberation movement (1969–1974)
### Gay Liberation movement (1969–1974\)

The [new social movements](/wiki/New_social_movements "New social movements") of the sixties, such as the [Black Power](/wiki/Black_Power "Black Power") and [anti\-Vietnam war](/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Vietnam_War "Opposition to the Vietnam War") movements in the US, the May 1968 insurrection in France, and [Women's Liberation](/wiki/Feminist_movement "Feminist movement") throughout the Western world, inspired many LGBT activists to become more radical, and the [Gay Liberation](/wiki/Gay_Liberation "Gay Liberation") movement emerged towards the end of the decade. This new radicalism is often attributed to the [Stonewall riots](/wiki/Stonewall_riots "Stonewall riots") of 1969, when a group of gay men, lesbians, drag queens and transgender women at a bar in New York City resisted a police raid.

Immediately after Stonewall, such groups as the [Gay Liberation Front](/wiki/Gay_Liberation_Front "Gay Liberation Front") (GLF) and the [Gay Activists' Alliance](/wiki/Gay_Activists%27_Alliance "Gay Activists' Alliance") (GAA) were formed. Their use of the word *gay* represented a new unapologetic defiance—as an antonym for *straight* ("respectable sexual behavior"), it encompassed a range of non\-normative sexuality and sought ultimately to free the bisexual potential in everyone, rendering obsolete the categories of homosexual and heterosexual.[Altman, D.](/wiki/Dennis_Altman "Dennis Altman") (1971\). *Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation*. New York: Outerbridge \& Dienstfrey.Adam, B. D. (1987\). *The rise of a gay and lesbian movement*. Boston: Twayne Publishers. According to Gay Lib writer [Toby Marotta](/wiki/Toby_Marotta "Toby Marotta"), "their Gay political outlooks were not homophile but liberationist". "Out, loud and proud," they engaged in colorful [street theater](/wiki/Street_theatre "Street theatre"). The GLF's "A Gay Manifesto" set out the aims for the fledgling gay liberation movement, and influential intellectual [Paul Goodman](/wiki/Paul_Goodman "Paul Goodman") published "[The Politics of Being Queer](/wiki/The_Politics_of_Being_Queer "The Politics of Being Queer")" (1969\). Chapters of the GLF were established across the U.S. and in other parts of the Western world. The [Front homosexuel d'action révolutionnaire](/wiki/Front_homosexuel_d%27action_r%C3%A9volutionnaire "Front homosexuel d'action révolutionnaire") was formed in 1971 by lesbians who split from the [Mouvement Homophile de France](/wiki/Mouvement_Homophile_de_France "Mouvement Homophile de France").

[thumb\|Gay liberation demonstration in Washington, D.C., in the early 1970sThe](/wiki/File:Nu_gay_lib_demo_03.jpg "Nu gay lib demo 03.jpg") [Gay liberation](/wiki/Gay_liberation "Gay liberation") movement overall, like the gay community generally and historically, has had varying degrees of gender nonconformity and assimilationist platforms among its members. Early marches by the Mattachine society and Daughters of Bilitis stressed looking "respectable" and mainstream, and after the Stonewall Uprising the Mattachine Society posted a sign in the window of the club calling for peace. Gender nonconformity has always been a primary way of signaling homosexuality and bisexuality, and by the late 1960s and mainstream fashion was increasingly incorporating what by the 1970s would be considered "unisex" fashions. In 1970, the [drag queen](/wiki/Drag_queen "Drag queen") caucus of the GLF, including [Marsha P. Johnson](/wiki/Marsha_P._Johnson "Marsha P. Johnson") and [Sylvia Rivera](/wiki/Sylvia_Rivera "Sylvia Rivera"), formed the group [Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries](/wiki/Street_Transvestite_Action_Revolutionaries "Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries") (STAR), which focused on providing support for gay prisoners, housing for homeless gay youth and street people, especially other young "street queens".Shepard, Benjamin Heim and Ronald Hayduk (2002\) *From ACT UP to the WTO: Urban Protest and Community Building in the Era of Globalization*. Verso. pp.156–160  In 1969, [Lee Brewster](/wiki/Lee_Brewster "Lee Brewster") and Bunny Eisenhower formed the [Queens Liberation Front](/wiki/Queens_Liberation_Front "Queens Liberation Front") (QLF), partially in protest to the treatment of the drag queens at the first [Christopher Street Liberation Day March](/wiki/Christopher_Street_Liberation_Day "Christopher Street Liberation Day").

One of the values of the movement was [gay pride](/wiki/Gay_pride "Gay pride"). Within weeks of the Stonewall Riots, [Craig Rodwell](/wiki/Craig_Rodwell "Craig Rodwell"), proprietor of the [Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop](/wiki/Oscar_Wilde_Bookshop "Oscar Wilde Bookshop") in lower Manhattan, persuaded the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) to replace the Fourth of July Annual Reminder at Independence Hall in Philadelphia with a first commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. Liberation groups, including the Gay Liberation Front, Queens, the Gay Activists Alliance, [Radicalesbians](/wiki/Radicalesbians "Radicalesbians"), and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR) all took part in the first Gay Pride Week. Los Angeles held a big parade on the first Gay Pride Day. Smaller demonstrations were held in San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.

[thumb\|upright 0\.75\|The 1971 [Gay Liberation Front](/wiki/Gay_Liberation_Front "Gay Liberation Front") cover version of *Ink* magazine, printed in London](/wiki/File:Ink_glf_cover.jpg "Ink glf cover.jpg")

In the United Kingdom the GLF had its first meeting in the basement of the [London School of Economics](/wiki/London_School_of_Economics "London School of Economics") on October 13, 1970\. [Bob Mellors](/wiki/Bob_Mellors "Bob Mellors") and Aubrey Walter had seen the effect of the GLF in the United States and created a parallel movement based on revolutionary politics and alternative lifestyle.

By 1971, the UK GLF was recognized as a political movement in the national press, holding weekly meetings of 200 to 300 people. The GLF Manifesto was published, and a series of high\-profile direct actions, were carried out.

The disruption of the opening of the 1971 [Festival of Light](/wiki/Nationwide_Festival_of_Light "Nationwide Festival of Light") was the best organized of [GLF action](/wiki/UK_Gay_Liberation_Front_1971_Festival_of_Light_action "UK Gay Liberation Front 1971 Festival of Light action"). The Festival of Light, whose leading figures included [Mary Whitehouse](/wiki/Mary_Whitehouse "Mary Whitehouse"), met at [Methodist Central Hall](/wiki/Westminster_Central_Hall "Westminster Central Hall"). Groups of GLF members in [drag](/wiki/Drag_%28clothing%29 "Drag (clothing)") invaded and spontaneously kissed each other; others released [mice](/wiki/Mouse "Mouse"), sounded horns, and unveiled banners, and a contingent dressed as workmen obtained access to the basement and shut off the lights.

In 1971, the gay liberation movement in Germany and Switzerland started with [Rosa von Praunheims](/wiki/Rosa_von_Praunheim "Rosa von Praunheim") movie [It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives](/wiki/It_Is_Not_the_Homosexual_Who_Is_Perverse%2C_But_the_Society_in_Which_He_Lives "It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives").

Easter 1972 saw the Gay Lib annual conference held in the Guild of Undergraduates Union (students union) building at the [University of Birmingham](/wiki/University_of_Birmingham "University of Birmingham").

In May 1974 the [American Psychiatric Association](/wiki/American_Psychiatric_Association "American Psychiatric Association"), after years of [pressure from activists](/wiki/LGBT_protests_against_the_American_Psychiatric_Association "LGBT protests against the American Psychiatric Association"), changed the wording concerning homosexuality in the [Sixth printing](/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders%23Seventh_printing_of_the_DSM-II_%281974%29 "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders#Seventh printing of the DSM-II (1974)") of the [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders](/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders") from a "mental disorder" to that of a "sexual orientation disturbance". While still not a flattering description, it took gay people out of the category of being automatically considered mentally ill simply for their sexual orientation.

By 1974, internal disagreements had led to the movement's splintering. Organizations that spun off from the movement included the [London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard](/wiki/London_Lesbian_and_Gay_Switchboard "London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard"), *[Gay News](/wiki/Gay_News "Gay News")*, and [Icebreakers](/wiki/Gay%27s_the_Word_%28bookshop%29 "Gay's the Word (bookshop)"). The GLF Information Service continued for a few further years providing gay related resources. GLF branches had been set up in some provincial British towns (e.g., Bradford, Bristol, Leeds, and Leicester) and some survived for a few years longer. The Leicester group founded by Jeff Martin was noted for its involvement in the setting up of the local "Gayline", which is still active today and has received funding from the [National Lottery](/wiki/National_Lottery_%28United_Kingdom%29 "National Lottery (United Kingdom)"). They also carried out a high\-profile campaign against the local paper, the *[Leicester Mercury](/wiki/Leicester_Mercury "Leicester Mercury")*, which refused to advertise Gayline's services at the time.*Gay News* (1978\) No. 135; *Peace News* (January 13, 1978\)

In 1972, Sweden became the first country in the world to allow people who were transsexual by legislation to surgically change their sex and provide free [hormone replacement therapy](/wiki/Hormone_replacement_therapy_%28male-to-female%29 "Hormone replacement therapy (male-to-female)"). Sweden also permitted the age of consent for same\-sex partners to be at age 15, making it equal to heterosexual couples.

In Japan, LGBT groups were established in the 1970s.「オトコノコのためのボーイフレンド」（1986）[LGBT social movements in Japan](/wiki/LGBT%E3%81%AE%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E9%81%8B%E5%8B%95%23%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AB%E3%81%8A%E3%81%91%E3%82%8BLGBT%E3%81%AE%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E9%81%8B%E5%8B%95 "LGBTの社会運動#日本におけるLGBTの社会運動") In 1971, [Ken Togo](/wiki/%E6%9D%B1%E9%83%B7%E5%81%A5 "東郷健") ran for the Upper House election.


When was the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard established?