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The first London Gay Pride March July 1972
While writing the previous post I realised that it's been 38 years since my first Pride March, and over the years I've attended Prides in London, Manchester, Bristol, Boston Massachusetts, Amsterdam and of course Melbourne.
I joined Gay Liberation Front in London around 1970. The first London Gay Pride March was in July 1972. 700 of us marched down the main shopping street - Oxford Street - and ended up in Hyde Park,
Gay sex between men over the age of 21 had only been decriminalised a short time before, in 1967, so a lot of bars and clubs were owned and run by gangsters. Saunas and sex on premises venues were still illegal. So all gay businesses were barred from participating in Pride because they were "exploiting our oppression".
Anyway, most of the bars didn't want their locations or their proclivities publicized, and neither did their patrons.
I forget the year, but on one occasion the march went through the "gay ghetto" - Earls Court. The patrons of the Colherne, London's oldest surviving gay bar and leather bar - pelted us with bottles and cans.
Incidentally, I knew someone who claimed to have been the first to wear a leather jacket to the Colherne. A navy man, he'd been to the US just after WW2 and was captivated by the Marlon Brando on-the-waterfront jeans/t-shirt/leather jacket look.
He claimed the first time he walked into the Colherne wearing the look, people asked him what he thought he was wearing, and why didn't he go home and put on a nice sports jacket and slacks.
Most gay businesses did not take space in the then emergent gay publications, for the same reasons, and wouldn't allow them to be sold on or even outside their premises. I was one of the founders of Britain's first gay newspaper, Gay News, and was chucked out of many pubs for trying to sell copies to the customers!
Lesbians were not part of Pride at first - they generally preferred to put their energies into the women's movement and resented what they called the tokenism of the gay men. In the 1970s and 80 the lesbians held their own separate marches.
Leather and fetish communities were banned too, because they might blur the central message that gays were as normal as everyone else. Also S&M practices were considered "oppressive" and "internalized homophobia".
There was even talk of banning drag: some felt it demeaned women and pandered to straight stereotypes of gay men. But drag queens had been at the forefront of Stonewall, and were usually much more "out there" in the face of oppression than the rest of us. Drag stayed.
We were all very politically correct: Gay Liberation Front used to organize what were called "Encounter Groups", small groups of randomly selected gay men of various ages and types, who were basically expected to get together to "overcome their addiction to sexual stereotypes and body fascism" - or in other words, have an orgy.
There was also a group of men who styled themselves Radical Feminists. They argued that gay men should wear women's clothing as an act of solidarity with women's oppression, but should make no attempt to appear to be women or ape women in any way. Best excuse for bad drag I ever heard!
When we marched down Oxford Street that first time, there were almost as many police as marchers - they hemmed us in right and left, marching alongside, not in solidarity, but to intimidate, to keep us moving, and to stop us talking to any members of the public.
For our own protection, of course.
Doug at Pride with Corey Irlam
Commentating on the Pride March for Joy 94.9 this year gave me a good vantage point – from the back of a stationary ute – which you don’t get when you’re actually marching. And I have to say it was a rather strange Pride March this year. Strange, but also encouraging.
There were the sights you expect to see, but I was surprised and delighted by the very large number of young people taking part.
Melbourne High School boys, in their uniforms, marching with their principal, indicate how far we’ve come.
Schools have marched before, but to see the number one selective state school in Victoria marching, the one which gave us Simon Crean, Alan Stockdale, Graham Kennedy, Lindsay Fox, Bruce Ruxton and numerous others, took my breath away.
It was also the first time anyone could remember a Federal Liberal Senator joining the marchers, with Judith Troeth walking with the local Liberal contingent.
There was also a marked increase in the number of people from regional Victoria, including Bendigo, Ballarat, Shepparton, Daylesford, Macedon, and two lesbians from Geelong. Many of these were from youth groups, too.
Sport fielded rowers, runners, swimmers and volleyballers, joined for the first time by gay rugby and soccer teams. Again, lots of youngsters. I confidently predict a gay AFL team taking to the field sooner rather than later.
Cute award of the day had to go to the Tykes on Trikes. Young as they were, there was no doubting their enthusiasm, although their steering and braking ability needs work.
How many times have we heard people – gay and straight – moaning “What’s the point of Pride?” “Surely we don’t need Pride any more?” Sunday gave an answer.
Because what I witnessed on Sunday was the passing on of our cultural DNA. A new generation picking up the reins. For the first time I felt confident that the struggle for equality will go on, and that we will win it.
That was the encouraging part. The strangeness came from the relative silence of the spectators. Normally you can track the progress of certain favoured groups – like PFLAG, or the police – by the cheers rippling down the street, breaking through the base level of applause.
And there were some cheers now and then. But for the most part the crowd just stood and watched. Some marchers remarked how eerie it felt. No coincidence, I suspect, that this was also one of the fastest marches on record.
Maybe it was because Sunday was also Victorian bushfire remembrance day. Or maybe it was just the heat. But to me it felt as if the covert hostility of the mainstream was just a little nearer the surface, as they took note of how much closer to them we have moved.
Why is this woman apparently ignoring gays & lesbians lack of representation in companies and managements?
THIS WEEK . . .
Eyewitness report from the historic Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings in Washington, PFLAG frontwoman Shelley Argent demands trade unions get behind equal marriage, employment agency RossJuliaRoss announces ‘comprehensive’ survey of workplace diversity but ignores GBLTI people, and the first of a series of reports on attitudes to gays and lesbians from around Australia. Plus we get to meet the man behind the uniform with GLLO head honcho Scott Davis.
Harley Dennett
First we’ll be heading to Washington DC where Harley Dennett - whose husband is in the Australian military - has been attending the congressional hearings into the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the policy that prevents gays and lesbians from serving openly in the US military.
And where a court in California has been hearing arguments against Proposition 8, the referendum that overturned same-sex marriage in the state. This one may go all the way to the US Supreme Court and either cement or block gay marriage for a generation.
Scott Davis
As always between 10 and 11 I spend an hour with someone special. Today’s guest is someone Joy listeners know well from the Rainbow Report , The Conch and The Good Police. Scott Davis is the Manager of the Victorian Police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers, and though he’s not a gay man himself, his efforts on our behalf have transformed the relationship between the police and the gay community. He joins us at 10.
Shelley Argent
This week ACON, on behalf of the LGBTI Health Alliance, launched a government funded education campaign to make us all aware of what we got from the 85 law reforms they put through on our behalf. There was a big launch outside Sydney Opera House, a single from Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and lots of t-shirts.
We’ll be talking more about the campaign over the course of the month, but it was evident that, although people are very grateful for what has been done, we expect more, as Julie McCrossin said at the launch.
Later on 7s Sunrise Shelley Argent, national PFLAG spokesperson, made the same point. She’s also carrying on campaigning, and joins us to give us the lowdown.
Sarah Rogan
I received an interesting press release from Julia Ross's employment agency, telling me all about their ‘comprehensive diversity survey’ that, oddly, didn’t include us. I invited Julia Ross to explain why her 'comprehensive' survey didn’t include us, but she failed to respond by the deadline.
Instead we talk to Sarah Rogan, of the Trade Unions Pride campaign, that seeks to promote GLBTI diversity in the workplace.
Daniel Witthaus
If you could significantly change school student attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, would you do it? What if it only took you one hour a week for six weeks?
That’s a question posed by Daniel Witthaus and his answer is ‘That’s So Gay’ – a book he’s about to launch and take on tour around the country. In the first of a series of appearances, as he reports back to Freshly Doug on the state of the nations homophobia, Daniel joins us to explain what he’s doing, and why.
And the rest
Plus Cate the Green Renter returns, and Will Conyers brings us the latest local theatre news.
St Dorothy Day Midsumma Mass Friday 6.30
See you all at St Agnes Church, Booran Rd., Glen Huntly on Friday 5, 6.30 pm for the annual gay Midsumma Mass. Guest preacher is last weeks Digging Deeper guest Meredith Rogers - check out the Joy website for the podcast. And there's supper afterwards.
Pride March Victoria
Don't forget Pride March starts at 2pm this year on Sunday - I'll be there for Joy so stop by and say hi or listen in.
Nine2Noon Thursday on Joy 94.9, streaming live at Really Long Link
SMS 0427 JOY 949, that’s 0427 569 949, or twitter @freshlydoug. Email onair@joy.org.au or call 1300 JOY 949 – 1300 569 949.
Gay ban at Myer?
Don't forget, if you have any knowledge of Virgin/Sanity pulling gay titles off display or removing gay display racks in their own or Myer stores, let me know freshlydoug@joy.org.au - we know it happened at Myer Virgin Chadstone, but where else?
Yaaay! 85 and finally - equality!!
Here it comes, a great tsunami of lerve rolling out of Canberra (via LGBT Health & ACON
[ Click here to read more ]
Archie Law, drummer, Hoxton Creepers & CEO Action Aid
Join me Doug Pollard for three hours of news, views and interview with a queer slant, some classic tracks (and some classical tracks too this week) - Nine till Noon Joy 94.9 and streaming live Really Long Link
[ Click here to read more ]
PLEASE JOIN US ON FRESHLY DOUG THIS WEEK & SPREAD THE WORD
[Apologies for cross-posting but this is BIG!]Your text goes here
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PROPOSITION 8
Harley Dennett, former newsman from the Sydney Star Observer, now our correspondent in Washington DC, from where he reports on what could be the most important legal case for same-sex equality for a generation – the case against Proposition 8, the referendum which struck down gay marriage in California
[ Click here to read more ]
Arsham Parsi
New combination HIV pill, a live report from Washington DC, the leader of the group helping gay Iranians flee to safety, Digging Deeper with Heather Birch, a book of diverse love stories, and what’s new for Pride March Victoria.
[ Click here to read more ]
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