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Members of Mattachine Society

Harry Hay, John Cage, and the Birth of Gay Rights in Los Angeles

Five men sat together on a hillside in the late afternoon, imagining a world in which they did not have to hide.
by Alex Ross via The New Yorker on June 25, 2021
Still from “The Rejected,” a 1961 documentary about homosexuals. Hal Call (at right), president of the Mattachine Society and Don Lucas, Mattachine’s executive secretary. Credit: San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive
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The Homosexual in Our Society

This 1958 interview is the earliest known radio recording to overtly discuss homosexuality.
by Blanche M. Baker, KPFA, Elsa Knight Thompson, Harold Leland Call, Leah Gailey via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on November 24, 1958
"Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right" book cover.

The History of Gay Conservatism

LGBTQ voters overwhelmingly went for Harris, but the idea that gay voters are always going to be solidly blue is a myth.
by Roger Lancaster via Damage on December 11, 2024
Side-by-side of LGBTQ+ pride flag above fetish shop, and local LGBTQ+ activist Roland Palencia

Searching For Silver Lake: The Radical Neighborhood That Changed Gay America

For decades, these Los Angeles streets have played host to key events in LGBTQ+ history. But gentrification has transformed the area.
by Lois Beckett via The Guardian on July 2, 2023
Marchers carry a banner that reads "Lesbian & Gay Rights - Human Rights"

The History of 'Coming Out,' from Secret Gay Code to Popular Political Protest

In the 1950s, 'coming out' meant quietly acknowledging one's sexual orientation. Today, the term is used by a broad array of social movements.
by Abigail C. Saguy via The Conversation on February 10, 2020

Before Stonewall, There Was a Bookstore

Networks of activists transformed Stonewall from an isolated event into a turning point in the struggle for gay power.
by Jim Downs via The Atlantic on June 27, 2019
Illustration of Peurifoy and others attempting to find homosexuals within the federal government.

The Homophobic Hysteria of the Lavender Scare

Despite a thriving queer community in Washington, the 1950s State Department fired gay and lesbian workers en masse.
by Kazimir Lee, Dorian Alexander via The Nib on May 31, 2019

Military Industrial Sexuality

How a passionate thirty-one-year-old systems analyst and a militant World War II veteran pushed the military to bend toward justice.
by Ryan Reft via Boom California on December 20, 2018

From “Sip-in” to the Hairpin Drop Heard Round the World, Protests Can Work

A small act of protest that resulted in significant change.
by Nancy Unger via Nursing Clio on March 23, 2017
Communist Party USA members march for unemployed relief during the Great Depression in San Francisco.

Bring American Communists Out of the Shadows — and Closets

In the 20th century, American Communists were seen as an enemy within. In reality, they were ordinary people with complex lives that deserve to be chronicled.
by David Bacon via Jacobin on August 15, 2024
A sex worker on Cass Avenue, Detroit, 1965.

Red Lights, Blue Lines

Three recent books examine the discrimination and hypocrisy at the heart of policing “vice.”
by Sarah Schulman via New York Review of Books on March 3, 2023
Black and white photo of J. Edgar Hoover sitting at his desk.

J. Edgar Hoover, Public Enemy No. 1

The F.B.I. director promised to save American democracy from those who would subvert it—while his secret programs subverted it from within.
by Margaret Talbot via The New Yorker on November 14, 2022
Black and white photo of a Chicago street at nighttime, 1920s

Why Did Gay Rights Take So Long?

A quiet movement that began in the 1920s didn’t disappear—it just went underground.
by Michael Waters via The Atlantic on November 9, 2022
Rob McKuen infront of a background composed of spines of his books.

Fifty Years Ago, He Was America’s Most Famous Writer. Why Haven’t You Ever Heard of Him?

He sold 60 million books and 100 million records. Then he disappeared.
by Dan Kois via Slate on October 10, 2022
The U.S. Capitol building at night.

A Capital History

Washington has long been a disproportionately gay city—a mecca for clever, ambitious young men who want to escape their hometowns’ prying eyes.
by Bruce Bawer via Commentary on April 12, 2022
Covers of issues of One magazine, featuring line drawings and article titles including "I am glad I am homosexual," and "I Just Had to Write".

ONE: The First Gay Magazine in the United States

ONE is a vital archive, but its focus on citizenship and “rational acceptance” ultimately blocked it from being the safe home for all that it claimed to be.
by Mairead Case via JSTOR Daily on July 15, 2020
Gay Pride march from "Gay and Proud" video

The History of Pride

How activists fought to create LGBTQ+ pride.
by Meg Metcalf via Library of Congress on June 1, 2020

The Gay Activists Who Fought the American Psychiatric Establishment

Mo Rocca on the struggle to depathologize homosexuality.
by Mo Rocca via Literary Hub on November 6, 2019
Marchers holding banner at Pride parade

The Stonewall Riots Didn’t Start the Gay Rights Movement

Giving Stonewall too much credit misses the movement’s growing strength in the 1960s, sociologists note.
by Greggor Mattson via JSTOR Daily on June 12, 2019
The Stonewall Inn with rainbow flags and window decorations.

Stonewall and Its Impact on the Gay Liberation Movement

A primary source set and teaching guide created by educators.
by Lucy Santos Green via Digital Public Library of America on January 1, 2017
Leonard Matlovich’s grave at Congressional Cemetery

The Only LGBT Cemetery Section in the World Was Inspired by J. Edgar Hoover

A section of D.C.’s Congressional Cemetery has become a gathering place for honoring LGBT activists.
by Ella Morton via Atlas Obscura on March 30, 2016

NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

The first initiative to document historic and cultural sites associated with the LGBT community in the five boroughs.
by Andrew S. Dolkart, Ken Lustbader, Jay Shockley via NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project on January 1, 2016

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