A Struggle for Acceptance of Gays

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A Struggle for Acceptance of Gays

"When the dust settles and the pages of history are written, it will not be the

angry defenders of intolerance who have made the difference, that reward will

go to those who dared to step outside the safety of their privacy in order to

expose and rout the prevailing prejudice."

- John Shelby Spong

Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, NJ

November 21, 1996

During World War II and especially the twenty years after brought great

political and social changes to the U.S.. Undoubtedly, one of the major changes

was the new awareness of homosexuality. If this new awareness was to the

advantage or if it was really wanted by the gay and lesbian population is a

question that arises; if they really had a choice in the matter is another. I

think gays' relentless struggle for acceptance into mainstream society came from

the American constitution itself. After all, the gay liberation movement started

in America, the land of the free, where all men are created equal and with an

inalienable right to pursue their own happiness. No one should be able to take

these rights away from anyone. Also, in the 1950s, the civil rights movement

became active and words like desegregation and equal rights for all became

synonymous with the American way of life. Stand up and fight against those who

have done you wrong! This is what gave homosexuals such a conviction to start

fighting for their own cause. This paper will follow the progress of gay and

lesbians in the twentieth century before, during and after World War II. What

was their position in the armed forces during the war and what was government

and military policy during and after the war on gays in the army and in

government positions? How did gay and lesbians respond to the new policies after

the war and why were organizations like the Mattachine Society and the Daughters

of Bilitis founded? On December 7, 1941 at 7:55 a.m. local time, Japan attacked

Pearl Harbor. The Unites States declared war on Japan and was suddenly a

participant in the largest war in the history of mankind. A massive military

force of 12 million men was assembled. American soldiers were sent to Europe and

Japan to participate and win the Big One. The military bureaucracy grew

accordingly and thousands of new jobs were created. With the military's enormous

demand for personnel...

... middle of paper ...

...os Angeles newspaper in March

1953 linking "sexual deviates" with "security risks" who were banding together

to wield "tremendous political power". The Mattachine Society was restructured,

with a more transparent organization, and its leadership replaced. It also

changed its aims to the assimilation of homosexuals into general society, which

reflected its rejection of the notion of a homosexual minority. However the

Society declined, and at its convention in May 1954 only forty-two members

attended. The Mattachine Society produced the monthly periodical ONE Magazine ,

starting in January 1953 and eventually achieving a circulation of 5000 copies.

The regular publication of the magazine ceased in 1968, but its publisher, ONE

Inc., still exists. In January, 1955 the San Francisco branch of the Mattachine

Society began a more scholarly journal, Mattachine Review , which lasted for ten

years. The periodicals reached previously isolated individuals and helped

Mattachine to become better known nationally. Chapters functioned in a number of

USA cities through the 1960s. However, they failed to adapt to the radical

militantism after the Stonewall Rebellion and faded away.

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