Today in Gay History: The First Gay Protest

[William769]

Many people say the first gay rights protest in the United States was the April 17, 1965 demonstration against the government's firing of gay and lesbian civil servants, including iconic activist Frank Kameny. Though that showing outside the White House was the most groundbreaking or memorable picket of its time, it was actually preceded by a protest that happened seven months earlier, on September 19, 1964.

That was the day Randy Wicker, Jefferson Poland, and eight other members of the Sexual Freedom League, six of them straight, gathered outside the army's induction center at 39 Whitehall Street in New York City to protest the armed forces's anti-gay discrimination and complicity in witch hunts. Their voices were for the most part ignored that day, but we all know that in the end they won: the army's official discrimination against gay and lesbian members ended in 2011.

http://www.out.com/entertainment/today-gay-history/2013/09/19/today-gay-history-first-gay-protest

[petronius]

1. This was very interesting, thank you for posting it... (nt)