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TONIGHT: History of the movement Media representations Group Meetings + Updates Midterm review. Gay and Lesbian Movement. Origins of the Movement. Emerged with the 1960s protest cycle Origins go back further, esp. thanks to opportunities during World War II: in the armed forces
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TONIGHT: History of the movement Media representations Group Meetings + Updates Midterm review Gay andLesbian Movement
Origins of the Movement • Emerged with the 1960s protest cycle • Origins go back further, esp. thanks to opportunities during World War II: • in the armed forces • war industries • growing gay and lesbian urban scenes
Mattachine Society- created in L.A. in 1951- first gay activist organization
Stonewall Inn Gay bar in Greenwich Village, NYC - raided by police in 1969 - led to 6 day protest against police oppression - led to first (initially commemorative) Gay Pride Parades in 1970
Stonewall Riot 1969 widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement (esp in U.S)
Two Key Movement Frames • Civil rights (liberal) • Gay Liberation (radical) • The latter often worked with the former
Gay Liberation Front (GLF)- early 1970s consciousness raising groups- confrontational tactics-chapters across North America
Gay Liberation • A radical perspective: going beyond just legal (formal) equality to challenge deeply rooted systems of oppression • Homosexuality as 'a natural and normal alternative sexuality that must be librated from oppresssion imposed by the church, state, and medical institutions, rigid gender-role socialization, and the supremacy of the nuclear family' (cited in Staggenborg p. 119)
Civil Rights Struggle: Key organizations • US: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) • in Canada: Egale (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere)
Harvey Milk • The first openly gay politician in California (1970s) • Elected representative from San Francisco's Castro district (gay 'hood) • Shot dead together with left-wing mayor by an anti-gay city official (who served 5.5 years)
Harvey Milk (1930-1978) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jet-Ubwk5l8
ACT UP: the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power • Organized in NYC in 1987 • Spread across North America, Europe, Australia • Tactics: demonstrations, die-ins • Frame: reclaimed Nazi pink triangle, with slogan: “silence=death”
ACT UP “Silence about the oppression and annihilation of gay people, then and now, must be broken as a matter of our survival...” - AIDS activist
25 years of AIDS postershttp://www.posterpage.ch/exhib/ex262aid/ex262aid.htm
Gays and Lesbiansand the Media • Fred Fejes and Kevin Petrich's article (1993) examines film, TV, and other representations • Up until 1960s: homosexuality censored, ignored followed by negative stereotypes • Changes in 1970s thanks to media activism • Gay and lesbian alt media emerged in the 70s (newsletters) • 1980s: homophobia in the media (AIDS fear) • Early 1990s: gays and lesbians recognized as a market
Ellen and Oprah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp-xZwGkJNQ
Online • The Hidden History Of Same-Sex Marriage In Asia
Same Sex Marriage Recognition • Netherlands the first to allow it, 2001 • Canada: 2005 (Ontario first, 2003) • U.S. Defense of Marriage Act passed 1996, challenged by lesbian widow charged $300 thousand dollars in estate tax
DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act)- passed 1996- struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, 2013