June

By Connor Lassey. Source:
http://bosguy.com/2012/06/01/happy-pride-2/

Just a few minutes shy of July, I wanted to make a brief summation of June and it's theme. This month has flown by while reading Nobody Passes and Making Gay History, both books have offered different perspectives on Queer discussion. First, the trajectory traced in Making Gay History, offers a view of the LGBT movement in the US from its' commencement, when many lived their lives hidden. In total it covers the 20th century. The book mainly concentrates on the gay and lesbian aspect, transgender and bisexual doesn't enter much into the framework.

My aim for this month was precisely that, present recourses through which one can better glean the Homophile movement, given that it is Pride month. The clearer one understands the diversity inherent within the world we all reside, the higher the possibility for improvement. Given the in-depth point of view in Making Gay History I highly recommend the book, the pace is quick and there is an electric quality within the pace of the story, as the narrative progresses, that truly captures and transports the reader.

With Nobody Passes I wanted to stray further from normative gender expressions. For example, the second one by Nico Dacumos "All Mixed Up With No Place To Go: Inhabiting Mixed Consciousness On The Margins", centers on gender and mixed consciousness. Forget community and niche, the narrator endeavors to reveal to the reader the blurry lines of gender, fitting in and identity. Transgender, butch, bisexual, lesbian, Chicana, immigrant, all these categorizations and more are placed under the microscope and questioned. And what about a queer, black rapper? Ralowe T. Ampu AKA G-Minus speaks of his experience within the Homohop movement, his evolution as an artist. His experiences offer a colorful view of a community that is not widely disseminated; for example, I didn't know about Homohop. This book is replete with mixed angles that challenge normative society, lifting a veil that uncovers a race, the human race, that is proliferated with diversity.

Hence, it is evident that these two books offer good material and food for thought, not only for the Queer community but also for everyone that exists in and around the LGBT collective.

June Pride

After a brief hiatus, in which I took a needed vacation in the City of New York, I am back home and it is June. I debated long and a bit hard on what my focus would be for this month and the conclusion was to take advantage of Pride. June is Pride month and in most parts of the world gatherings are held in celebration of LGBT pride. 

From a 70's Gay Liberation Front poster. Used on the jacket cover of: Duberman,  "Stonewall, 1993.
Source: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/exhibitions/sw25/case1.html

And why June? Well, primordially because of an event that took place June 27, 1969 in New York City. The police raided a gay bar in Greenwich Village. After decades and decades of alienation, pain, stigmatization and abuse, the anger of the gay community reached the tipping point. This tipping point is known as the Stonewall Riots. In which the gay community decided to fight back against the system and demand equality and justice. A great article recounting the event in fuller detail is found here. With the knowledge of the events of June 27, 1969 and what proceeded from there, a better picture is formed on the purpose and the aim of the LGBT marches and gatherings. Now, this isn't to say that gay civil rights organizations haven't been around before this event, for there were organizations that preceded the Stonewall riots, such as the Scientific Humanitarian Committee founded in Germany towards the end of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, this committee was thwarted by the Nazis. The LGBT community is one that, as evinced from history and recounting, has suffered greatly under the pall of prejudice and alienation. Therefore, this month I will join in adding a small grain to the recognition, the dissemination, and the civil rights movement for equality in regards to the LGBT community. 

The New York Times, June 29, 1969. Source:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/exhibitions/sw25/case1.html

New York Post, June 28, 1969.  Source:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/exhibitions/sw25/case1.html

*More clippings found here. 

While in New York City I purchased a used book entitled Making Gay History by Eric Marcus. So far, with all the excitement of the trip I've only read part one. The book is a personal oral account of people within the LGBT community. It contains an extensive list of interviewees. Part one precedes the incident of Stonewall and in it the reader meets six interviewees and their experiences in the community. The first one is Dr. Evelyn Hooker, a psychologist who taught at UCLA. She was one of the first to begin a study on gay men, aimed at clarifying whether being "gay" was a disease and shedding light on the community. From the following entries are narratives by people from the community, describing their experiences during a time when LGBT issues where obscure and hidden. 

The first magazine for "gay gals" started in June 1947 in Los Angeles, California by one woman called Vice Versa. 

Chuck Rowland, an excellent organizer who went on to form civil rights groups that included gays, blacks, jews, and women. 

From these two narratives, advanced more intimate accounts of what being gay and coming to terms with that realization meant to three young ladies during the early part of the century. 

The composition of the book makes it approachable and intimate allowing the reader to delve into the recount of the interviewees, making the topic much more accessible. And that is my aim, to delve this month into the LGBT community and expose the parts of history that, for many, have remained concealed.