The gay manifesto
It went beyond mere equal rights; seeing society as fundamentally unjust and seeking to change it, to end the oppression of queers — and straights. What is Gay? Gay is a term that is not gender specific so men or women can be termed "gay." When identifying people as gay though, it's important to consider three things.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender movement recognizes that our quest for social justice funda-mentally links us to the struggles against racism and sexism, class bias, economic injustice and religious in-tolerance. Carl Wittman's “A Gay Manifesto” represents an important step forward for our movement. We have fled here from every part of the nation, and like refugees elsewhere, we came not because it is so great here, but because it was so bad there.
It critiques homophobia, sexism, marriage, the nuclear family, monogamy, the cults of youth and beauty, patriarchy, the gay ghetto and rigid male and female gender roles. Gay Liberation is struggling for a self-understanding which would probe deeply enough into the causes of our oppression to give us a clear vision of the forms and directions our struggle must take.
[1] While scant usage . Knowing how to talk about identities of gender and sexuality is key to understanding LGBTQ+ experiences. In the past year there has been an awakening of gay liberation ideas and energ. Shortly before the Stonewall Rebellion he wrote ‘Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto,’ which was printed on 22nd December, in San Francisco and all around the U.S.A.
In , Wittman wrote Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto published by The Red Butterfly cell of the Gay Liberation Front January [2] It is considered one of the most influential gay liberation writings of the s. It was revolutionary and mind-blowing; challenging the straight male supremacism of centuries. It offers a radical critique of sexism and what we now call homophobia; as well as a pioneering, far-sighted agenda for both social and personal transformation.
Amerika in all its ugliness has surfaced with the war and our national leaders. They included anarchists, hippies, left-wingers, feminists, liberals and counter-culturalists. Although it included demands for an end to heterosexist discrimination, equal rights was not the main focus of the GLF Manifesto. Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto by Carl Wittman () San Francisco is a refugee camp for homosexuals.
In order to build this alliance, the brothers in gay liberation will have to be prepared to sacrifice that degree of male chauvinism and male privilege that they still all possess. . Carl Wittman's “A Gay Manifesto” represents an important step forward for our movement. The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto, published in London in , was a revolution in consciousness and it remains so today. Often you have to read between the lines to comprehend the full implications of what is being said.
Despite these shortcomings, the central theses stand the test of time. The final text was a compromise between these different factions — and it shows. Shortly before the Stonewall Rebellion he wrote ‘Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto,’ which was printed on 22nd December, in San Francisco and all around the U.S.A. Gay Liberation is struggling for a self-understanding which would probe deeply enough into the causes of our oppression to give us a clear vision of the forms and directions our struggle must take.
But the GLF Manifesto went much further. If you want to appreciate the greatest gay party but you do not know exactly where you can go, you must look in a gay Evansville (Vanderburgh County, Indiana) to know all the events that . Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. in The article became a guide to gay activism and gay life, and was used in particular by the Gay Liberation Front.” (Carl Wittman.
Some ideas are expressed too crudely and simplistically. Equality was a far too limiting agenda. As well as opposing the way things are, it outlines an alternative vision of how society and personal relationships could be, including living communally, gender subversive radical drag and non-possessive multi-partner open relationships.
It was an eye-opener; expanding my civil rights perspective into a more radical critique of heterosexism, male privilege and the tyranny of traditional male and female gender roles. Inspired by the ideas of the black civil rights movement in the US, I had already conceptualised LGBT people as an oppressed minority, similar to black people, and that we had a comparable claim for equal treatment. Well, not quite.
The GLF Manifesto articulates a radical agenda for a non-violent revolution in cultural values and social institutions. It woke me to the fact that queer liberation involved both social and personal change; that we could, within the bounds of the existing society, begin to create a new alternative culture that would liberate everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality or gender identity.
In the past year there has been an awakening of gay liberation ideas and energ. Popular Gay-Friendly Bars and Hotspots in Evensville, IN: Someplace Else Night Club - a vibrant and welcoming venue that has long been a staple in the local lgbtq+Q+ community. Learn the distinctions between "queer" and "gay.". In places, the style and language is dated and inelegant. Amerika in all its ugliness has surfaced with the war and our national leaders.
In , Wittman wrote Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto published by The Red Butterfly cell of the Gay Liberation Front January [2] It is considered one of the most influential gay liberation writings of the s. How it began we don't know; maybe we were inspired by-black people and their freedom movement; we learned how to stop pretending from the hip revolution.
The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. in The article became a guide to gay activism and gay life, and was used in particular by the Gay Liberation Front.” (Carl Wittman. How it began we don't know; maybe we were inspired by-black people and their freedom movement; we learned how to stop pretending from the hip revolution.
Amazingly, it was not written by high-powered intellectuals but by a collective of grassroots activists, driven by idealism and passion for the betterment of queer humanity. Some of it reeks of writing-by-committee. I can vividly remember my excitement on reading the finished text.