Bud1929
Harry Hay
"Well, the dream died."
1952. Harry Hay has been called the founder of the modern gay movement. His idea for the Mattachine Society--the first gay-rights organization--was inspired in part by his experiences with IWW farm laborers years before. "So I conceived of forming a semi-public foundation that would look at this as a civil-social issue whose time has come. We'd set up discussion groups to which anyone could come." When one of their members was entrapped by a policeman, they decided to go public in his defense. "That was our first victory. We were deluged. Our discussion groups tripled in size. It was so exciting, such a wonderful feeling to believe we were part of a family, a brotherhood." Pursued by the FBI, in 1955 Harry Hay was called before HUAC. By then, the political climate that was part and parcel of McCarthyism had had a disastrous effect on the emerging gay movement.
From the set: "Portraits: Social Activists of the Last Century."
Harry Hay
"Well, the dream died."
1952. Harry Hay has been called the founder of the modern gay movement. His idea for the Mattachine Society--the first gay-rights organization--was inspired in part by his experiences with IWW farm laborers years before. "So I conceived of forming a semi-public foundation that would look at this as a civil-social issue whose time has come. We'd set up discussion groups to which anyone could come." When one of their members was entrapped by a policeman, they decided to go public in his defense. "That was our first victory. We were deluged. Our discussion groups tripled in size. It was so exciting, such a wonderful feeling to believe we were part of a family, a brotherhood." Pursued by the FBI, in 1955 Harry Hay was called before HUAC. By then, the political climate that was part and parcel of McCarthyism had had a disastrous effect on the emerging gay movement.
From the set: "Portraits: Social Activists of the Last Century."