Seeds of lesbian and gay liberation : Carl Wittman's Gay
Manifesto rooted in feminist theory.
The personal is political!
Manifesto rooted in feminist theory.
The personal is political!
jim fouratt
The history of how the modern lesbian and gay movement came to be has suffered
from the lack of accurate, authentic storytelling. The distortions and inaccuracies in
both David Carter's STONEWALL RIOTS and the dreadful PBS documentary STONEWALL UPRISING based on Carter’s book are but the latest in an organized
attempted to de-radicalize the formation of the movement first started by the Gay Liberation Front founded in the spirit of the Original Mattachine Society on night three of the Stonewall Rebellion.
from the lack of accurate, authentic storytelling. The distortions and inaccuracies in
both David Carter's STONEWALL RIOTS and the dreadful PBS documentary STONEWALL UPRISING based on Carter’s book are but the latest in an organized
attempted to de-radicalize the formation of the movement first started by the Gay Liberation Front founded in the spirit of the Original Mattachine Society on night three of the Stonewall Rebellion.
So in the interests of beginning to reclaim the authentic story here is a document that
was published in 1965 by two women members of SDS that directly inspired
closeted SDS member Carl Whitman to come out and write the GAY MANIFESTO .
was published in 1965 by two women members of SDS that directly inspired
closeted SDS member Carl Whitman to come out and write the GAY MANIFESTO .
Despite the many erroneous references that are made claiming he wrote it after
Stonewall, Carl wrote and published this prior to the events of June 28, 1969 in
Greenwich Village NY.
Stonewall, Carl wrote and published this prior to the events of June 28, 1969 in
Greenwich Village NY.
When I read this piece in 1968 it challenged me to the core of my politics. Although I
was out in the left-political community as a founder of the YIPPIES and a founding
member of the Underground Press Syndicate,
I like many other lesbian and gay people politically active in the anti-war, racial justice
and feminist movements did not put my oppression as a gay man on the same level as
the oppression of other groups of people.whose struggle I was supporting.
was out in the left-political community as a founder of the YIPPIES and a founding
member of the Underground Press Syndicate,
I like many other lesbian and gay people politically active in the anti-war, racial justice
and feminist movements did not put my oppression as a gay man on the same level as
the oppression of other groups of people.whose struggle I was supporting.
As I stood in front of the Stonewall Inn at 10:45 PM on 6/28/69
and watched a small crowd of gay and non-gay people get ignited by the bold actions
of a passing woman who had been placed in a police car by one of the two original
police officers at the Stonewall inn at that time of night by her slipping out of the car and
in the best female masculinity imaginable railed back at what was happening to her.
and watched a small crowd of gay and non-gay people get ignited by the bold actions
of a passing woman who had been placed in a police car by one of the two original
police officers at the Stonewall inn at that time of night by her slipping out of the car and
in the best female masculinity imaginable railed back at what was happening to her.
It was an inspired moment and Carl Whitman's GAY REVOLUTION seized my consciousness in that moment . So please read what I believed inspired
Carl to look inside himself. and not just outside to see and feel what oppression was like!
Carl to look inside himself. and not just outside to see and feel what oppression was like!
Yes I am one of those people who truly believes that the inspiration of the women's liberation movement in the '60's directly role-modeled and gestated the modern radical, multi-issue politics that formed the true meaning of the Stonewall by instigating a lesbian and gay movement .
Your feedback of course is always welcome Unless a people are aware of their own
history they are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past .
history they are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past .
jim fouratt
jim .fouratt@gmail.com
A\
Sex and Caste A Kind of Memo
by Casey Hayden and Mary King
This document has been reprinted by permission in countless anthologies on
gender or the 1960s, but was first published by Liberation magazine of the War
Resisters League, in April 1966.
gender or the 1960s, but was first published by Liberation magazine of the War
Resisters League, in April 1966.
November 18, 1965
We've talked a lot, to each other and to some of you, about our own and other
women's problems in trying to live in our personal lives and in our work as
independent and creative people. In these conversations we've found what
seems to be recurrent ideas or themes. Maybe we can look at these things many
of us perceive, often as a result of insights learned from the movement:
women's problems in trying to live in our personal lives and in our work as
independent and creative people. In these conversations we've found what
seems to be recurrent ideas or themes. Maybe we can look at these things many
of us perceive, often as a result of insights learned from the movement:
Sex and Caste: There seems to be many parallels that can be drawn between treatment of Negro and treatment of women in out society as a whole. But in particular, women we've talked to who work in the movement seem to be caught up in a common-law caste system that operates, sometimes subtly, forcing them to work around or outside hierarchical structures of power which may exclude them. Women seem to be places in the same position of assumed subordination in personal situations too. It is a caste system, which, at its worst, uses and exploits women. This is complicated by several facts, among them:
1) The caste system is not institutionalized by law (women have the right to vote,
to sue for divorce, etc.);
to sue for divorce, etc.);
2) Women can't withdraw from the situation (a la nationalism) or overthrow it;
3) There are biological differences (even though those biological differences are
usually discussed or accepted without taking present and future technology into
account so we probably can't be sure what these differences mean).
Many people who are very hip to the implications of the racial caste system,
and if the question is raised they respond with: "That's the way it supposed to be.
There are biological differences." Or with other statements which recall a white
segregationist confronted with integration.
usually discussed or accepted without taking present and future technology into
account so we probably can't be sure what these differences mean).
Many people who are very hip to the implications of the racial caste system,
and if the question is raised they respond with: "That's the way it supposed to be.
There are biological differences." Or with other statements which recall a white
segregationist confronted with integration.
Women and problems of work; The caste-system perspective dictates the roles
assigned to women in the movement and certainly even more to women outside
the movement. Within the movement, questions arise in situations ranging from
relationships of women organizers to men in the community, to who cleans the
freedom house, to who holds leadership positions, to who does secretarial work,
and who acts as spokesman for groups. Other problems arise between women
with varying degrees of awareness of themselves as being as capable as men
but held back from full participation, or between women who see themselves as
needing more control of their work than other women demand. And there are
problems with relationships between white women and black women.
assigned to women in the movement and certainly even more to women outside
the movement. Within the movement, questions arise in situations ranging from
relationships of women organizers to men in the community, to who cleans the
freedom house, to who holds leadership positions, to who does secretarial work,
and who acts as spokesman for groups. Other problems arise between women
with varying degrees of awareness of themselves as being as capable as men
but held back from full participation, or between women who see themselves as
needing more control of their work than other women demand. And there are
problems with relationships between white women and black women.
Women and personal relationships with men: Having learn from the movement to think radically about the personal worth and abilities of people whose role in society had gone unchallenged before, a lot of women in the movement have begun trying to apply those lessons of their own relations with men.
Each of us probably has her own story of the various results, and of the internal
struggle occasioned by trying to break out of very deeply learned fears, needs,
and self-perceptions, and of what happens when we try to replace them with
concepts of people and freedom learned from the movement and organizing.
institutions: Nearly everyone has real question about those institutions which shapestruggle occasioned by trying to break out of very deeply learned fears, needs,
and self-perceptions, and of what happens when we try to replace them with
concepts of people and freedom learned from the movement and organizing.
perspectives on men and women: marriage, child-rearing patterns, women's
(and men's) magazines (etc.) People are beginning to think about and even to
experiment with new forms in these areas.
Men's Reactions to the questions raised here: A very few men seem to feel, when
they hear conversations involving these problems, that they have a right to be
present and participate in them, since they are so deeply involved.
At the same time, very few men can respond non-defensively, since the whole idea
is either beyond their comprehension or threatens and exposes them. The usual
response is laughter. The inability to see the whole issue as serious, as the
strait-jacketing of both sexes, and as societally determined often shapes our own
response so that we learn to think in their terms about ourselves and to feel silly
rather than truth our own inner feelings. The problems we're listing here, and what
others have said about them, are therefore largely drawn from conversations
among women only - and that difficulty in establishing dialogue with men is a
recurring theme among people we've talked to.
they hear conversations involving these problems, that they have a right to be
present and participate in them, since they are so deeply involved.
At the same time, very few men can respond non-defensively, since the whole idea
is either beyond their comprehension or threatens and exposes them. The usual
response is laughter. The inability to see the whole issue as serious, as the
strait-jacketing of both sexes, and as societally determined often shapes our own
response so that we learn to think in their terms about ourselves and to feel silly
rather than truth our own inner feelings. The problems we're listing here, and what
others have said about them, are therefore largely drawn from conversations
among women only - and that difficulty in establishing dialogue with men is a
recurring theme among people we've talked to.
Lack of communication for discussion: Nobody is writing or organizing or talking
publicly about women, in any way that reflects the problems that various women in
the movement came across and which we've tried to touch above. Consider this
quote from an article in the centennial issue of The Nation:
publicly about women, in any way that reflects the problems that various women in
the movement came across and which we've tried to touch above. Consider this
quote from an article in the centennial issue of The Nation:
- . . . . However equally we consider men and women, the work plans for husbands and wives cannot be given equal weight. A woman should not aim for a "second-level career" because she is a woman; from girlhood on she should recognize that, if she is also going to be a wife and mother, she will not be able to give as much to her work as she would if single. That is,she should not feel that she cannot aspire to directing the laboratory simply because she is a woman, but rather because she is a wife and mother; as such, her work as a lab technician (or
- the equivalent in another field) should bring both satisfaction and the knowledge that, through it, she is fulfilling an additional role, making an additional contribution . . . .
And that's about as deep as the analysis goes publicly, which is not nearly as
deep as we've heard many of you go in chance conversations.
deep as we've heard many of you go in chance conversations.
The reason we want to try to open up dialogue is mostly subjective. Working
in the movement often intensifies personal problems, especially if we start
trying to apply things we're learning there to our personal lives. Perhaps we
can start to talk with each other so we can deal with ourselves and others
with integrity and can therefore keep working.
in the movement often intensifies personal problems, especially if we start
trying to apply things we're learning there to our personal lives. Perhaps we
can start to talk with each other so we can deal with ourselves and others
with integrity and can therefore keep working.
Objectively, the chances seem nil that we could start a movement based on
anything as distant to general American thought as a sex-caste system.
Therefore, most of us will probably want to work full time on the problems
such as was, poverty, race. The very fact that the country can't face, much less deal with, the questions we're raising means that the movement is one place to look for some relief. Real efforts at dialogue within the movement and with whatever liberal groups, community women, or students listen are justified. That is, all the problems of women functioning in society as equal human beings are among the most basic that people face. We've talked in the movement about trying to build a society which would see basic human problems (which are now seen as private troubles), as public problems and would try to shape the institutions to meet human needs rather than shaping people to meet the needs of those with power. To raise questions like those above illustrates very directly that society hasn’t dealt with some of it's deepest problems and opens discussion of why that is so. (In one sense, it is a radicalizing question that can take people beyond legalistic
anything as distant to general American thought as a sex-caste system.
Therefore, most of us will probably want to work full time on the problems
such as was, poverty, race. The very fact that the country can't face, much less deal with, the questions we're raising means that the movement is one place to look for some relief. Real efforts at dialogue within the movement and with whatever liberal groups, community women, or students listen are justified. That is, all the problems of women functioning in society as equal human beings are among the most basic that people face. We've talked in the movement about trying to build a society which would see basic human problems (which are now seen as private troubles), as public problems and would try to shape the institutions to meet human needs rather than shaping people to meet the needs of those with power. To raise questions like those above illustrates very directly that society hasn’t dealt with some of it's deepest problems and opens discussion of why that is so. (In one sense, it is a radicalizing question that can take people beyond legalistic
solutions into areas of personal and institutional change.)
The second objective reason we'd like to see discussion begin is that we've
learned a great deal in the movement an perhaps this is one area where a
determined attempt to apply ideas we've learned there can produce some
new alternatives.
learned a great deal in the movement an perhaps this is one area where a
determined attempt to apply ideas we've learned there can produce some
new alternatives.
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