Box Turtle Bulletin

Today In History, 1971: GAA Activists Conduct Gay Marriage Protest In New York

The Gay Liberation Front formed in July, 1969, almost immediately after Stonewall, formed by a younger generation of LGBT people impatient with the cautious and quiet ways things had always been done by the established gay rights groups in New York. Right out of the gate, GLF undertook several highly visible marches and protests (Jul 27, Sep 12, Nov 12, Mar 8). If the general public hadn’t heard about Stonewall yet, GLF’s protest made sure that they would nevertheless come to learn more about those young activists’ grievances. GLF was very effective in making voices heard and raising awareness. They were also good at delivering a swift kick in the butt of the gay community. But they got bogged down in figuring out what to do beyond that. A lot of that had to do with the GLF’s rejection of “patriarchal” leadership structures. Everything was done by group consensus, and that only came after exhaustive and often interminably picayune political discussions.

About six months after the GLF formed, a group of activists broke away to form the Gay Activists Alliance as a more professionally-run organization, with set goals, planning, leadership, and a specific focus on gay rights — the GLF was often distracted by a broader political platform encompassing the Vietnam War, Third World issues, and support for the Black Panther Party.. The GAA was less militant than the GLF, although it wasn’t above organizing marches, protests and sit-ins (Oct 8, Oct 27). Their focus was on addressing issues related to discrimination and anti-gay attitudes in the media. Gay marriage was never really on their radar, but in 1971, the GAA found themselves tackling the that very issue. They weren’t the first post-Stonewall activists to do this; Jack Baker and Mitch McConnell had unsuccessfully tried to get a marriage license in Minneapolis the year before (May 18). But unlike Baker and McConnell, the GAA’s interest in gay marriage didn’t rest in anyone wanting to get married. Instead, it came about as a result of a very specific provocation by a city official.

That provocation was a threat by New York City Clerk Herman Katz to sue Father Robert Clement for allegedly performing “illegal” gay marriages. Fr. Clement was pastor of the Church of the Beloved Disciple, a predominately gay church, where he performed “Holy Union” ceremonies at the request of gay couples. After the New York Post published Katz’s remarks, the GAA immediately decided, as one activist put it, “to raise his consciousness a little bit.”

Until a few years ago, it was hard to find much information about what happened during that day’s protest at the City Clerk’s office. But thanks to a three-part film posted by GAA member Randolfe Wicker (Feb 3) on YouTube in 2010, we have a lasting document of what a classic “zap” looked like back in the day.

The first part of the video covers pre-zap activities. It opens with Wicker interviewing Fr. Clement, going over the difference between marriage and “holy unions.” “We don’t use the term ‘marriage’,” explained Clement, “because that implies a legal concept and a marriage certificate and Bureau of Vital Statistics, and we are interested in a church concept which is spiritual, people pledging their love together in the eyes of God and asking for the blessing of God. …This was misinterpreted.” Back at the GAA Firehouse headquarters, GAA member Marc Rubin was preparing to go over their strategy for that day, while acknowledging that he was “scared shitless.” To get everyone literally on the same page, he read aloud from one of the leaflets they would be distributing:

Gay people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Gay people have the right to their own bodies. Gay people have the right to love. No nation, state or city has the right to deny gay people these inalienable rights. And no petty municipal clerk has the right to tell gay people how to live.

City Clerk Herman Katz has the arrogance to do this, saying, “If it looks like a marriage, it is a marriage. And I don’t care what they’re calling it, they’re violating the law.” We demand:

1. Mr. Katz keeps his bureaucratic nose out of gay relationships.
2. A full public apology from Mr. Katz to the entire gay community.
3. That Mr. Katz remove all suits pending or threatened against Fr. Robert Clement and the Church of the Beloved Disciple.
4. Gay Power to Gay Lovers.

Rubin stressed that the issue wasn’t gay marriage, although he recognized that that was all that people would likely be talking about. “Try and keep it to the point about gay rights and discrimination against gays,” he counseled. He also urged the gathering to hold firm in their convictions and not to concede ground to contrary views. “I think that we should never ‘understand’ their point of view. Any point of view which is opposed to gay rights is a wrong point of view — categorically, by fiat and word of God.” As for marriage, “This is not an issue at this particular time that we want to be arrested for. … So we’re going to avoid arrests. Which means that if the cops come and they say ‘We’re giving you five minutes to clear out’ and we can’t talk them into letting us stay longer, we’ll leave with some gay power chants and we’ll take our cake back here.”

These are the videos you want to watch if you ever want to see how the GAA conducted their protests. It’s pretty calm as GAA activists file into the Clerk’s office. Then Arthur Evans leads the group in a “Gay Power” chant while others setup of coffee and cake. When challenged by various officials, the protesters remain calm while declaring their demands. Voices rise with another chant of “Gay Power” and “Bigot! Bigot! Bigot!” as one official, who refuses to identify himself, calls the police.

Much of the rest of the zap consisted of answering phone calls from unsuspecting callers, laughing, joking, singing protest songs, and even a little bit of dancing while officials try to figure out what to do. After the initial tensions subsided, it actually looks like it was a pretty fun party. The cake was beautiful. When police arrived, activists broke out into another couple of chants of “Gay Power” before moving out, just as they had planned. “Would you like some cake?” one activist asked the smiling officers just before they packed up and left.