GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE October 19, 2007

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Randy Wicker

Continued from page

hundred people showed up instead of the usual 30. The landlord evicted the Mattachine Society, saying he "couldn't have an organization like that upstairs" with a bar at street level. (The vice squad had visited him.)

It was illegal to serve a drink to a homosexual or to allow them to gather on a bar's premises in those days. Several years later, Mattachine activists challenged those regulations by demanding to be served at Julius Bar in Greenwich Village-and the courts overturned them.

A group of psychiatrists declared they could "cure any homosexual” with “just eight hours of therapy" on WBAI-FM, subscriber-supported radio in New York City. I went to the station.

"Those shrinks were simply frauds," I argued, "seeking vulnerable patients to exploit. We 'homosexuals' were the real authority on homosexuality. We lived it 24 hours a day!"

The producers listened and, more over, invited us to have a say.

The resulting program, "Live and Let Live," got a full page of coverage in Newsweek and a story and favorable review by the New York Times, among others. WBAI's broadcasting license was challenged. But the FCC ruled "homosexuality was a fit subject for public discussion." Suddenly, radio and TV stations were inundating Mattachine with invites. Mattachine's sole spokesperson was Randy Wicker.

My first three trips to Chicago were to appear on Kup's Show. There wasn't a single homosexual in Chicago willing to take the public stage. Chicago homosexuals suffered terribly. When a bar was raided, both the name and place of employment of those arrested were published.

I was busy, speaking wherever I was invited-whether at student groups or humanist associations. I worked with the Robert Doty, a New York Times reporter preparing that paper's first major story about “one of the city's best-kept secrets"-the "existence of a large homosexual community in NYC."

I took Doty to several of Manhattan's more reserved East Side bars. He assured me that he and his wife "had many gay friends," yet marveled at "never having seen 'it' at this level before."

I begged him to mention of the then"minority" viewpoint that "homosexuality, in and of itself, was not a mental illness." I gave him Evelyn Hooker's study proving that assertion. Ultimately, he quoted only “all-gays-are-sick" psychiatrists.

By the mid-1960s, I concluded efforts to turn the struggle for homosexual civil rights into a mass movement were futile. In 1965, the "gay movement," founded 15 years earlier by Harry Hay, included only a few hundred. Its existence really depended on a couple dozen activists.

"It was a stark contrast from the path that had led to this point. While attending the University of Texas, in the late 1950s, I'd

joined Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. I'd sat-in to integrate lunch

counters.

Then, gay activism launched my professional writing career. I'd stepped out of the closet to speak "truth to power." Many homosexuals, including most gay activists, believed they would be physically attacked or worse-upon publicly identifying themselves. I discovered Americans were curious; willing to listen to arguments presented intelligently.

But it wasn't enough, it seemed. And as the times turned, by 1964, I had joined the anti-war, sex freedom and legalize-pot movements.

Publishing issue buttons was my hobby.. "Equality for Homosexuals" was my first big success. By 1967, my hobby grew into a lucrative business. I opened a buttonposter-psychedelic shop on St. Marks Place in New York City.

Once again, I was in Newsweek and other publications getting press. I'd become a sloganeer, the "button king" of the hippie era. "Dump Johnson" buttons, targeting President Lyndon B. Johnson's potential bid for reelection, sold by the thousands. The New York Times first started using the term "Dump Johnson" movement, with quotes as shown. Ultimately, they simply talked about the Dump Johnson Movement without any quotes. I'd named a movement.

I'd left ghetto politics behind. Or so I thought. Then, the Stonewall riots happened, with strong numbers of gay and transgender New Yorkers standing up to the city's police. I realized I had prematurely given up on the community. Reinvigorated, I kept attending the annual Fourth of July demonstration in Philadelphia at Independence Hall, demanding my rights as an American (in 100-degree heat and in a proper business suit). In 1970, I watched that protest become New York City's first Gay Pride parade.

"How do you feel about America?" became a subject of discussion at a SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment) group I attend. There were honorably-discharged veterans offended by "don't ask, don't tell." Others, with long-term relationships, were offended by the absence of legalized gay marriage.

"I've lived the American dream," I declared. "In my lifetime, homosexuals have gone from being criminals to being a legitimate minority group. We may not have 'full equality' yet, but we're slowly getting there.

"I've watched young gay activists go to city hall to lobby politicians on gay issues only to end up being hired by them and having careers as openly gay civil servants.

"I see continuing progress ironing out the shortcomings of our society. Our right to marriage and military careers are simply a matter of time. I love this country. Today, our community's involvement and progress proves freedom is still alive and well in the USA."

Randy Wicker is a videographer, writer, activist and advisor to the Immortality Institute in San Francisco. He lives in Hoboken, N.J. View his blog at www.randywicker reporting.blogspot.com.

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