Shoulders to Stand On

December and January in LGBT History

by Evelyn Bailey

Many significant events happened during the months of December and January pre-1980.  These early struggles and successes laid the foundation for Gay Liberation.  If you do not recall these or know anything about them, I invite you to visit our website, shoulderstostandon.org.   

January 1, 1886 - English Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 takes effect.   "Indecencies" between adult males in private become a crime punishable by up to two years imprisonment. 

December 11, 1908  Quentin Crisp is born.

Tim Mains: New York State's First Openly Gay Elected Official

by Evelyn Bailey

It is November.  What comes to my mind?   November 3, Election Day and Thanksgiving.  These two occasions are linked very closely.  Our OUT Politicians give us a great deal to be thankful for.  The Shoulders that our Rochester GLBT community identifies as the first openly gay candidate to run for political office is Tim Mains.

When Tim Mains began his career in public education, he believed that the word “gay” and “teacher” didn’t belong in the same sentence, let alone the same classroom. He assumed that he would keep his private life and his professional life strictly separated. After all, such beliefs and practices were common in 1971, when Mains graduated from Ball State University and left his home in Indiana to teach high school social studies in a suburb of Rochester, New York. 

Remembering the '60s and '70s in Rochester

by Evelyn Bailey

In the 60s and 70s, Rochester became known as the leading jazz town in upstate New York. Famous jazz musicians would come to Clarissa Street and play all night long moving from club to club. The Pythodd Room (Stanley and Delores Thomas) was one example of a top Clarissa Street "joint" that hosted jam session including everyone from Little Stevie Wonder to Jimmy Smith and the Mangione brothers (Chuck and Gap). The Mangiones grew up in Rochester, and Chuck went on to become one of the biggest "cross-over" trumpeters in jazz history, with his records regularly being played on jazz, smooth jazz, and easy listening stations.

Events in Gay History - May

by Evelyn Bailey

May 1
1976 - Christopher Street magazine debuts.
1982 - Scientific American publishes an ad from the Lesbian and Gay Associated Engineers and Scientists. Science News refuses to run the ad.
1984 - Advocate Men magazine debuts.
1986 - Lesbian Ann Bancroft becomes the first woman to reach the North Pole by dogsled. The trip, which started from Ellesmere Island, took her two months.

Events in Gay History - April

by Evelyn Bailey

April 1
1970 - The Advocate estimates that there are approximately 6,817,000 gays and lesbians living in the United States.
1985 - The first classes are held at the Harvey Milk School for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth, a New York city-funded institution. Harvey Milk is the first gay high school in America.

Firsts in the Gay Rights Movement

by Evelyn Bailey

As we turn the calendar to a new year, I thought a list of new beginnings – firsts - in the American Gay Rights Movement would help us to bring in the New Year with renewed pride and hope.  Happy holidays and a Gay New Year to all!

1951: First National Gay Rights Organization is Founded
1961: Illinois Sodomy Law is Repealed – First State to do so
1969: The Stonewall Riots
1973: American Psychiatric Association Removes Homosexuality From list of Mental Disorders
1980: Democratic National Convention Supports Gay Rights
1984: City of Berkeley Adopts First Same-Sex Domestic Partnerships Ordinance
1993: Hawaii Supreme Court Rules in Support of Same-Sex Marriage
1998: President Bill Clinton Signs Executive Order 13087--banning the federal government from   discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation in employment.
1999: California Adopts a Statewide Domestic Partnerships Ordinance
2000: Vermont Adopts Nation's First Civil Unions Policy
2003: U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down All Remaining Sodomy Laws
2004: Massachusetts Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

Events in Gay History - November

by Evelyn Bailey

November seems to have been a month of new beginnings, and tremendous successes.  At the same time, across the country significant historical events with far reaching impact happened.

Nov. 28, 1944 - Lesbian author Rita Mae Brown is born.
Nov. 13, 1950 - The Mattachine Society is formed in Los Angeles by Harry Hay and his lover, Rudi Gernreich; Chuck Rowland; Dale Jennings; and Bob Hull when they hold the first of a series of weekly gatherings. 

Events in Gay History - October

by Evelyn Bailey

October 1st
1971 - Connecticut becomes the second state to abolish its laws prohibiting homosexual acts by consenting adults.
1973 - In Touch a glossy nudie magazine makes its debut in Los Angeles.
1981 - The U.S. House of Representatives fails to pass a bill that would decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults in the District of Columbia.
1982 - Glenn Burke, once a Los Angeles Dodger potential phenomenon, comes out in an interview in Inside Sports.
1987 - Playgirl editor (once again) publicly dismisses the "myth" that most of the magazine's readers are gay men.
1989 - In Denmark, the first state-sanctioned gay marriages take place.

October 2nd 
1985 - Rock Hudson dies of AIDS at age fifty-nine.

October 6th
1968 - Metropolitan Community Church holds its first service. It is the first "gay" church.

October 7th
1967 - The Advocate begins publication.
1976 - Elton John comes out as bisexual in Rolling Stone magazine.
1986 - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors outlaws the sales and use of "poppers" (amyl nitrate).
1987 - The U.S. Justice Department issues a report which concludes, "homosexuals are probably the most frequent victims [of hate crimes]."

October 8th
1971 - The first gay rights demonstration in Syndney, Australia takes place.

October 11th
1987 - Over 500,000 people attend the second national March on Washington.
1987 - The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is displayed in front of the U.S. Capitol
1988 - National Coming Out Day is founded.

October 12th
1996 - More than 1.2 million people view the Names Project AIDS Quilt in Washington, D.C.

October 14th
1977 - Anita Bryant is hit in the face with a pie by a gay activist while speaking at a press conference.
1979 - More than 100,000 people attend the first March on Washington.
1982 - Scott Thompson files a palimony suit against Liberace. (The case later settles.)
1990 - Leonard Bernstein dies of a heart attack at age seventy-two.

October 15th
1952 - Members of the Mattachine Society, including Dorr Legg, Dale Jenning and five others, meet and form One, Inc. to promote gay education and research.

October 16th
1973 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is formed.

October 17th
1992 - 400,000 people view the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt which (then) has over 20,000 panels covering 13 acres.

Bob Dardano: I'd Rather Be Gay in Rochester

I was raised in Rochester and attended the University of Rochester, birthplace of the GAGV. By time I was a student there (1973-1977), the university-focused Gay Liberation Front was splitting in two, with one group to remain on campus and one to move off campus to focus on the community-at-large.  This off campus organization would become the GAGV. 

At UR, I used to pick up copies of the Empty Closet in Todd Union, the student union, and shove them quickly into my bookbag. I'd go into the men's room, read the paper in secret and leave the paper there. I was so afraid someone would see me with a copy.