Document Gallery

SEPT. 1, 1970: “We’re Fighting Back!” gives an eyewitness account of an NYC demonstration with landmark streets and locations, interactions with police, chants shouted, and more. NYU Weinstein hall demonstrations. Pamphlet’s mission.

SEPT 1970: “Gay is Good.” This issue of the Gay Flames pamphlet includes an article titled “Gay is Good” by GLF member Martha Shelley, which is reprinted from Rat. It is numbered #1, but is considered an alternate to issue #1.

SEPT. 1970: “An Open Letter to Jerry Rubin Which May Fix His Bad Mouth.” This issue of the Gay Flames pamphlet includes a piece by Step May of Chicago Gay Liberation, addressing Jerry Rubin for his anti-gay, hetero-chauvinist book, “DO IT!”

SEPT. 1970: “Battles Go On.” This issue covers demonstrations to hold a gay dance at NYU’s Weinstein Hall. Also: a GLF Bail Fund, a letter from an incarcerated gay man, and penal laws on sodomy. Includes a calendar of gay NYC gatherings.

FALL 1970: “Gay Consciousness.” This alternate #4 issue includes, “Born to Love: A Freaking Fag Revolutionary Speaks Out,” by Stevens McClave of San Francisco, and, “My Gay Soul,” by Gary Alinder of San Francisco.

FALL 1970: “Gay Liberation Meets the Shrinks” covers activist actions at the National Convention of the American Psychiatric Association, which were influential in the APA’s 1973 decision to stop classifying homosexuality as a mental disorder. Includes San Francisco coverage by Gary Alinder, Chicago coverage by Step May, and a leaflet.

FALL 1970: “Third World Gay Revolution” addresses the need to overcome prejudices and build solidarity between movements of advocacy. Includes: A Letter from Huey P. Newton, Black Panther Party; and “The Oppressed Shall Not Become the Oppressor,” in English and Spanish.

NOVEMBER 14, 1970: “Chris: Gay Prisoner in Bellevue” includes an interview with Christy Henderson-Jenkins, written by Arthur Bell and Sylvia Rivera. Christy describes her experience of imprisonment and mistreatment in the psychiatric wing of Bellevue Hospital.

FALL 1970: This issue includes two articles on masculinity: “Hey Man” by Steven Dansky on male supremacy in the larger culture and within the Gay Liberation movement; and “Games Male Chauvinists Play” by Perry Brass on the topic of cruising.

FALL 1970: This issue includes Carl Wittman’s “A Gay Manifesto,” with sections on: Orientation, Women, Roles, Oppression, Sex, Our Ghetto, Coalition. Plus a foldout photo poster for the GLF.

FALL 1970: “My Soul Vanished from Sight - A California Saga of Gay Liberation,” a 16-page, first-person piece by gay liberation activist and journalist Konstantin Berlandt, describing: childhood, adolescence, UC Berkeley, the closet and the gay bar, sexuality, love, heartbreak, protests, confrontations, and monumental thoughts.

FALL 1970: “Revolutionary Love” issue includes two articles offering critical lenses on societal structures, and suggesting collective alternatives: “An Introduction to Gay Liberation,” by Guy Nassberg; and “On Sex Roles,” by A.N. Diaman.

FALL 1970: This issue includes three poems. “The Flaming Faggots,” by a NYC gay male collective who were the first open homosexuals to participate in the Venceremos Brigade in Cuba in 1970. “Phoenix of New Youth,” by Bob Bland. “Bring the Beautiful Boys Home,” by Konstantin Berlandt.

FALL 1970: “Working Paper for the Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention by Chicago Gay Liberation” includes a clearly outlined statement on “Grievances Common to All Homosexuals,” including: Economic, Political, Social Institutions, Law and the State, Housing, Education, Medical Care, Culture, Class Status, Sexual Capitalism, Social Attitudes, Psychological Attitudes.

Gay Flames was a weekly pamphlet series written by a group of gay men in GLF. A packet compiling 15 articles was available for sale. Here is the packet cover and the poster included with that packet. This download does not include the 15 articles themselves.