Full Description
Read the words they risked everything for!
This landmark volume collects more than a hundred years of the most important public rhetoric on gay and lesbian subjects. In the days when homosexuality was mentioned only in whispers, a few brave souls stood up to speak for the rights of sexual minorities. In Speaking for Our Lives: Historic Speeches and Rhetoric for Gay and Lesbian Rights (1892-2000), their stirring words have finally been gathered together, along with the political manifestoes, broadsheets, and performance pieces of the gay and lesbian liberation movement.
Speaking for Our Lives comprises speeches and manifestoes prompted by events ranging from demonstrations to funerals. Scholars and researchers will appreciate the brief commentary introducing each piece, which discusses the author, the occasion, and the political and social contexts in which it first appeared.
You'll find the words of a broad variety of individuals and groups, including:
the Victorian humanist and crusader Robert Ingersoll
key groups such as the Mattachine Society, Homosexual Law Reform Society, Gay Activists Alliance, and International Gay Association
activists and educators Robin Morgan, Joseph Bean, and Dr. Franklin Kameny,
artists and journalists of the movement, such as John Eric Larsen, Joan Nestle, Barbara Grier, and Jim Kepner
elected officials, including Bella Abzug, Ed Koch, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Gerry Studds, Tammy Baldwin, and Bill Clinton
Many of these documents have long been out of print. Speaking for Our Lives makes these noteworthy texts readily available to the broader public they deserve. This book preserves an essential part of twentieth-century history.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
SECTION I: PRE-1950
March 30, 1892. Address at the Funeral of Walt Whitman
October 8, 1904. What Interest Does the Women's Movement Have in Solving the Homosexual Problem?
1928. Appeal . . . on Behalf of an Oppressed Human Variety
SECTION II: THE 1950s
September 1952. Address to the International Committee for Sexual Equality
January/February 1955. An Open Letter to Senator Dirksen
May 15, 1955. Resolution
August 1956. The Homosexual Faces a Challenge
October 1956. President's Message
January 26, 1957. How Homosexuals Can Combat Anti-Homosexualism
November 1958. Progress Report
SECTION III: THE 1960s
August 25, 1962. A Decade of Progress in the Homophile Movement
March 1963. Towards a Sexually Sane Society
1964. Open Letter to the Florida Legislature's Johns Committee
July 22, 1964. Civil Liberties: A Progress Report
August 7, 1964. Resolution of the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union on Federal Employment of Homosexuals
November 16, 1964. On Getting and Using Power
December 1964. SIR's Statement of Policy
July 1965. What's in It for Me?
July 1965. Introductory Address
February 19-20, 1966. Homophile Organizations Adopt Statement
August 20, 1966. A Challenge to San Francisco
November 1966. What Concrete Steps Can Be Taken to Further the Homophile Movement?
April 21-23, 1967. Homophile Movement Policy Statement
May 1967. Why I Joined the Homophile Movement
August 1967. Washington Statement
SECTION IV: THE 1970s
February 14-15, 1970. Western Homophile Conference Keynote Address
January 27, 1971. An Open Letter to Gay Activists Alliance
1971. Preamble to the Constitution and Bylaws of the Gay Activists Alliance, Inc.
1971. The GAA Alternative
June 25, 1971. Frieda Smith Tells It Like It Is
August 28, 1971. We Demand
February 1972. The Lesbian and God-the-Father
February 13, 1972. Waffle
August 1972. Democrats, Nation, Hear Gay Delegates
August 1972. Address to the Democratic National Convention
August 1972. Speech to the American Bar Association
August 1972. Speech to the Resolutions Committee of the American Bar Association
1973. The Potential of Our Vision
January 8, 1973. Viewpoint
March 16, 1973. Walt Whitman: Poet of Comrades and Love
April 14, 1973. Lesbianism and Feminism: Synonyms or Contradictions?
May 9, 1973. Stop It, You're Making Me Sick
January 18, 1974. Remarks for Integrity/Houston
May 4, 1974. Joint Statement
Summer 1974. Sexual Liberation Through Revolution, not Reform!
September 13, 1974. For My Granddaughters . . .
March 25, 1975. Seeks Equal Protection
August 10, 1975. British Theologician Speaks to Gays
September 19, 1975. The Possibilities Are Staggering
January 10, 1976. The Gay Pagan's Manifesto
March 30, 1976. Privacy and Sexuality
July 11, 1976. Speech at the NYSCGO Demonstration
August 17, 1976. Statement on Sex and Violence on Television
August 17, 1976. Gay People on Television
August 29, 1976. How Do You Define Lesbianism?
March 1977. Neither Profit Nor Salvation
June 8, 1977. Prayer Breakfast
June 9, 1977. Tribute to Troy D. Perry
August 1977. A Lesbian Mother on the Abortion Issue
August 24, 1977. Resolution on Anita Bryant
January 1978. An Open Letter to Anita Bryant
April 30, 1978. Gay Rights Can Be Achieved
May 12, 1978. A Union Leader Speaks for Gay Rights
June 17, 1978. Speech at Boston Lesbian and Gay Pride Rally
June 25, 1978. Speech at Gay and Lesbian Pride Rally, New York City
July 1978. Lesbian Schoolworkers Stand Against Briggs
September 19, 1978. A House Divided
1979. Letter to the Pope
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