The gay manifesto

Materials in the LGBTQ+ vertical file collection originate from a large collection of subject files collected by Special Collections staff with the purpose of providing answers to reference questions. The collection of these materials began in the late 1960s or initial 1970s and continued into the 2020s. It includes event flyers, programs, correspondence, brochures, pamphlets, and other documentation of local, regional, and national LGBTQ+ organizations, and in some cases anti-LGBTQ+ organizations or rhetoric. The collection also contains clippings documenting topics such as homophobia, the gay liberation movement, LGBTQ+ people in the military, and queer marriage.

An example of some of the organizations and subjects covered in the collection include:

• ACT UP
• Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Society Center
• American Library Association. Task Force on Gay Liberation
• Crossroads (Royal Oak, Mich.)
• Detroit Area Gay-Lesbian Council
• Dignity, Inc.
• Dykes Against Racism Everywhere
• Equality Michigan
• Exodus International
• Gay Games
• Gay Pride Week in Michigan
• Integrity Episcopal Gay Society
• Lansing Equal Rights Task F

  As if to transport this first phase of the queer revolution to a resounding close, Carl Wittman’s essay was published on December 26, 1969, the same week as the second All-Gay Symposium. After its first appearance in print in the Berkeley Tribe, Carl’s essay was reprinted in numerous underground newspapers, anthologies, magazines and standalone pamphlets. The Tribe published Carl’s essay with a title, “Refugees from Amerika: a gay perspective.” The word America was spelled with a K as was common in the radical 60s. In future reprintings, the essay would be called simply “The Gay Manifesto.” It has been described as “the Bible of gay liberation” by some historians. I have highlighted what I consider is the crux of Wittman’s idea: “To be a free territory, we must govern ourselves, set up our own institutions, defend ourselves, and apply our own energies to improve our lives. The emergence of gay liberation communes, and our own paper is a good start.”

  Attempting to unpack that statement is what this whole presentation has been about. In that one sentence we notice echoes of the Digger Free Municipality project, the Kaliflower intercommunal project, and the queer aesthetic and radi

  The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was founded by students Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter. The first meeting was held on 13 October 1970 at the London School of Economics. Click below to consult the GLF Manifesto, which was published in 1971 and place out the key demands and principles of the GLF. It challenged homosexual people to enter out and be visible, while also exploring the means by which they were oppressed by society. For the GLF, gay liberation was not about law reform, it was about a revolutionary change in society. Also included below is the revised edition from 1979.

  The diverse politics of people who joined the GLF however, meant that consensus on a single topic was often hard to come by. By the end of 1973 GLF had disbanded, but the organisation and its manifesto, cast a long shadow. Many gay rights organisations that emerged during the course of the 1980s and 1990s would contain their core principles rooted in the work of the GLF.

  The manifesto digitised here is the first in what will become an online library of key LGBTQ+ texts from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, held in the Special Collections and Archives here at the Institute.

  GLF Manifesto, 1971

  GLF Manifesto, 1979
  
  

  A Gay Manifesto: Carl Wittman, 1970

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   File — Box: 1

  Summary:

  From the Series:

  Series 1 contains flyers, programs, newsletters, and administrative files from and about gay issues and organizations in the Boston area. There are several files concerning the Homophile Union of Boston and the Student Homophile League (SHL). There are also two folders with materials from MIT courses on homosexuality precipitated by SHL.
  
  Although most of the material is about queer men, this series also contains a few files about feminism / lesbianism and the Daughters of Bilitis, which was founded in San Francisco in 1955 and whose Boston chapter was formed in 1969.
  
  Also in this series are flyers, correspondence, and schedules regarding the Boston Pride Parade collected from several years between 1970 and 1978. The History Project folder contains a timeline of male lover activities in New England from the 1950s through 1979.

  Dates

  Creator

  Language of Materials

  From the Collection:

  Materials are in English.

  Conditions Governing Access:

  The collection is unrestricted.

  Extent

  From the Collection: 12.50 cubic feet (17 containers)

  Ci