Men Talk Articles - June/July 2009
Pre-Gay L. A., new book by C. Todd White,
A History of the Movement for Homosexual Rights
– © 2009 by Billy Glover
There is a new book giving the history of the early civil rights movement of homosexual Americans, concerned with ONE, the first major organization and publication: Pre-Gay L.A., by C. Todd White, published by the University of Illinois Press. (See also: tangentgroup.org)
Serious people interested in knowing the history of this civil rights movement have heard of only one organization in that effort, Mattachine. And if they are liberal, “pc” people they may know that there was a female group, to balance the “credit,” the DOB, Daughters of Bilitis. What few people seem to know, and that includes many “gay” historians, is that there were three early organizations and that the most important and influential one was in fact ONE.
A question to ask academics and those who speak on the issue of homosexual history should explain is why ONE is the organization and publication that has been ignored. Todd White has some of the answers, and perhaps he is the first author to have access to the material to write this history. The major reason, which is only partially covered in this good book, is the personalities of the people that founded ONE Magazine and ONE, Inc and kept it going, since parts of the work of the organization still exist.
This book covers the internal disagreements and the final division, and as a major player in the separation, my concern is that similar to questions raised in the black Americans civil rights movement. Hillary Clinton recently said that the work of black civil rights leaders like Dr. King was necessary and instrumental in preparing America for a change of attitude on the race issue, BUT it took President Johnson and congress to finalize that effort. It seems to me that with all the work the Cahuenga faction of ONE did, it probably would still have failed had it not been for the legal work.
And what really worries me is that many readers after hearing of the disagreements in the priorities among the main leaders of ONE’s work will just ask/say as many “gays” said about Brokeback Mountain, why didn’t they just move? However, instead of moving, Don Slater and Dorr Legg (aka Bill Lambert) carried on, later with Kepner, the work of all who started ONE. I doubt many will understand that Don Slater knew more about the law than most lawyers/legal scholars. He had good tutors, attorneys such as Herb Selwyn, Eric Julber, Frank Wood, etc.The book could be used as a textbook. It should surely be a necessary reference for law students.
There is no celebrity gossip in the book, even though some could be relevant. White refers to a few tv shows, etc, but could and should have listed several names to not only “use” them but to complain about their failure as professionals to this day. There could, for instance, be mention of the bravery at the time of Nat King Cole’s wife, Maria Cole, who had Don Slater as guest host for a week on the tv show she co-hosted on KHJ in the 1960s. She sure knew about discrimination and how her husband’s tv show had been cancelled because racists had boycotted the show and sponsors. No one thought a tv show could have a black person as the star.
I complain about the total failure of the media to cover HIC and the subject at the time. For example, Time Magazine photographers were present and taking pictures of the 1966 L.A. Motorcade, protesting the military’s discrimination against homosexuals, but they never printed them. So the media’s discovery of the movement at Stonewall in New York thus distorts a factual history of the start of history. Then and now gays in L.A. have done our part. The fact that we were ignored is a sad comment on the seriousness of the homosexual community about its rights.
I hope that intelligent people understand that this book is necessary to have balance in understanding the true history of this movement, as it tells how it started and why it had problems. Without it people will get false ideas of why it has been successful.
To ignore ONE/HIC is to ignore the major part of the early movement. Ask why are we still here, no matter how small in number and quiet in voice? People should read this book to know their history and what others have done to make their world better.
Billy Glover is a well-known Gay Rights activist and founding member of ONE/HIC.