Q - L I V i N G
For Gay History Month:
Celebrating a rich and
triumphant past
lesbian
gay
bisexual
trans
history
jnonth
f
Part 2 in a series of 2
by Jason Villemez
Motivated by the lack of gay and lesbian
history in textbooks, in 1994 Missouri high
school teacher Rodney
Wilson and other lead
ers and educators start
ed a campaign to raise
awareness in the gener
al public about the his
tory of the LGBT com
munity. Since then,
many prominent
groups and state and
city governments have
endorsed October as Gay and Lesbian History
Month to celebrate and honor those who
fought for all the rights and privileges we
enjoy today.
In this issue we’ll introduce you to some of
the historic individuals who paved the way.
Martina Navratilova
The world’s sports landscape has seen few
openly gay or lesbian athletes. Martina
Navratilova is among this minority. Her road
to coming out began in 1981 when she dis
closed her then-ongoing
relationship with author
Rita Mae Brown to a
reporter. For the next 10
years, though, tennis
would play the greater
role in Martina’s life,
with her sexuality tak
ing a backseat.
A tennis phenom in her native
Czechoslovakia, Martina defected to the US.
in 1975. She proudly took the risk of listing
herself as bisexual on her application for
asylum. After her defection, she flourished
into one of the most successful tennis stars
in history.
Her championship victories include nine
Wimbledon titles, four US. Open titles, three
Australian Open titles, two French Open sin
gles titles and 41 Grand Slam doubles titles.
She holds the world record of 167 singles titles
for her career.
Although her success made her a celebri
ty, the 49-year-old remained somewhat
secretive about her private life to the press
— portraying herself as bisexual throughout
the 1980s and in her 1985 autobiography,
“Martina.”
In 1991, her breakup with partner Judy
Nelson attracted a great deal of media atten
tion, virtually forcing Navratilova completely
out of the closet. This turn of events worked in
the LGBT community’s favor; she fully
embraced her sexuality and began to publicly
support LGBT causes.
One such cause is the Rainbow Card, which
she helped create with Visa in 1993 to raise
money for LGBT non-profit groups. The card
has raised over $2 million since its inception.
Navratilova retired from major competi
tion in 1995 then made a successful comeback
from 2003 to 2006, which culminated in win-
0
ning the 2006 U.S. Open Championship in
muced doubles.
Harry Hay
Born in 1912, Harry Hay was the precursor
to the radical activists
who proliferated within
the LGBT rights move
ment in the 1960s.
He founded the
Mattachine Society in
1950 to educate and
inform the then-under
ground gay population,
encouraging community consciousness and
support.
The group’s first meeting was held in
November with five people participating,
including Hay and his then-lover, fashion
designer Rudi Gemreich.
When one of Hay’s original members was
arrested on grounds of soliciting a police offi
cer for sex. Hay and the society came to his
defense, establishing the Citizens’ Committee
to Outlaw Entrapment. The case was eventual
ly dropped after all but one juror voted for
acquittal.
News of the case swelled Mattachine mem
bership (and furthered anti-gay resistance to
the group). In 1953, the McCarthy era, new
members demanded a change in ideology
away from Hay’s left-wing politics. He left his
creation and drifted around in the latter
1950s, often excluded from organizations
because of his outlandish opinions.
Ten years after his break from Mattachine,
Hay was introduced to his future life partner,
John Burnside. The two joined the civil rights
struggle. Hay — now leading the Gay
Liberation Front in Southern California —
and Burnside were staples on the picket lines.
In mid-1970, the two left California for New
Mexico, where Hay studied Native American
culture.
Hay later formed the Radical Faeries, a
group that injected spirituality into the gay
rights struggle and encouraged gay men to
find their inner self He continued with the
Faeries until developing lung cancer in 1999.
His adoring partner brought him to San
Francisco, where he died in 2002. Today Hay is
recognized as one of the architects of the
modern LGBT rights movement.
Larry Kramer
A talented screenwriter, playwright and
staunch AIDS activist,
Larry Kramer has made
contributions to the
fight against AIDS that
transcend mere words
" ^ on paper. Born in 1935,
he was already an estab
lished writer when the
first infections appeared
in America.
His screenplay adaptation of D.H.
Lawrence’s “Women in Love” received an
Academy Award nomination in 1970, and his
1978 novel “Faggots” became a best-seller,
see celebrating on 45
BLUMENTHAL presents
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 2006-2007
OCTOBER 21.2006 • Q-NOTES 41