Council on Religion and the Homosexual

Last updated

The Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH) was a San Francisco, California, United States-based organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of joining homosexual activists and religious leaders.

Contents

Formation

The CRH was formed in 1964 by Glide Memorial Methodist Church, as well as Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) founders Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. It included representatives of Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, and United Church of Christ denominations. [1]

In the early 1960s, as social change accelerated across the U.S., progressive clergymen increasingly took to the streets to minister to marginalized persons. The Rev. Ted McIlvenna, who worked for the Glide Urban Center, a private Methodist foundation in downtown San Francisco, witnessed the oppression and violence homosexuals faced, and to improve the situation sought a dialogue between clergy and homosexuals.

With the support of the Methodist church, McIlvenna convened the Mill Valley Conference from May 31 to June 2, 1964, at which sixteen Methodist, Protestant Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and Lutheran clergymen met with thirteen leaders of the homosexual community, including DOB members Cleo Bonner, Pat Walker, Billye Talmadge, Phyllis Lyon, and Del Martin. [2]

Following the initial meeting, the participants began plans for a new organization that would educate religious communities about gay and lesbian issues as well as enlist religious leaders to advocate for homosexual concerns. In July 1964, the participants, along with several other clergymen and homosexual activists, met and formed the Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH), which was incorporated in December of that year. The CRH was the first group in the U.S. to use the word "homosexual" in its name. [3]

Activities

1965 fundraiser

On the eve of January 1, 1965, several homophile organizations in San Francisco, California - including the CRH, the Daughters of Bilitis, the Society for Individual Rights, and the Mattachine Society - held a fund-raising ball for their mutual benefit at California Hall on Polk Street. [4] San Francisco police had agreed not to interfere; however, on the evening of the ball, the police showed up in force and surrounded the hall and focused numerous kleig lights on the entrance to the hall. As each of the 600 plus persons entering the ball approached the entrance, the police took their photographs. [4] Police vans were parked in plain view near the entrance to the ball. [4] Evander Smith, a gay lawyer for the groups organizing the ball including the CRH, and gay lawyer Herb Donaldson tried to stop the police from conducting the fourth "inspection" of the evening; both were arrested, along with two heterosexual lawyers - Elliott Leighton and Nancy May - who were supporting the rights of the participants to gather at the ball. [4] But twenty-five of the most prominent lawyers in San Francisco joined the defense team for the four lawyers, and the judge directed the jury to find the four not guilty before the defense had even had a chance to begin their argumentation when the case came to court. [4] This event has been called "San Francisco's Stonewall" by some historians; [4] the participation of such prominent litigators in the defense of Smith, Donaldson and the other two lawyers marked a turning point in gay rights on the West Coast of the United States. [5]

Candidate's Night

In 1965, CRH held an event where local politicians could be questioned about issues concerning gay and lesbian people, including police intimidation. The event marks the first known instance of "the gay vote" being sought, which led lesbian activist Barbara Gittings to say "It was remarkable. That was something that [gay] people in San Francisco were way ahead of the rest of the country in doing." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall riots</span> 1969 spontaneous uprising for gay liberation

The Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall, were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Although the demonstrations were not the first time American homosexuals fought back against government-sponsored persecution of sexual minorities, the Stonewall riots marked a new beginning for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattachine Society</span> American gay male advocacy group

The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, preceded by several covert and open organizations, such as Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Hay formed the group with a collection of male friends in Los Angeles to protect and improve the rights of gay men. Branches formed in other cities, and by 1961 the Society had splintered into regional groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon</span> American feminists and gay-rights activists

Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin and Phyllis Ann Lyon were an American lesbian couple based in San Francisco who were known as feminist and gay-rights activists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daughters of Bilitis</span> First American lesbian civil rights group

The Daughters of Bilitis, also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was initially conceived as a secret social club, an alternative to lesbian bars, which were subject to raids and police harassment.

<i>The Ladder</i> (magazine) First nationally distributed lesbian publication in the US (1956–1972)

The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. Published from 1956 to 1972, The Ladder was the primary monthly publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the US. It was supported by ONE, Inc. and the Mattachine Society, with whom the DOB retained friendly relations. The name of the magazine was derived from the artwork on its first cover, simple line drawings showing figures moving towards a ladder that disappeared into the clouds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Gittings</span> Librarian, LGBT rights activist (1932–2007)

Barbara Gittings was a prominent American activist for LGBT equality. She organized the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) from 1958 to 1963, edited the national DOB magazine The Ladder from 1963 to 1966, and worked closely with Frank Kameny in the 1960s on the first picket lines that brought attention to the ban on employment of gay people by the largest employer in the US at that time: the United States government. Her early experiences with trying to learn more about lesbianism fueled her lifetime work with libraries. In the 1970s, Gittings was most involved in the American Library Association, especially its gay caucus, the first such in a professional organization, in order to promote positive literature about homosexuality in libraries. She was a part of the movement to get the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality as a mental illness in 1972. Her self-described life mission was to tear away the "shroud of invisibility" related to homosexuality, which had theretofore been associated with crime and mental illness.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1960s.

The Tavern Guild was an association of gay bar owners and liquor wholesalers that formed in 1962 in San Francisco, California, and lasted until 1995.

The North American Conference of Homophile Organizations was an umbrella organization for a number of homophile organizations. Founded in 1966, the goal of NACHO was to expand coordination among homophile organizations throughout the Americas. Homophile activists were motivated in part by an increase in mainstream media attention to gay issues. Some feared that without a centralized organization, the movement would be hijacked, in the words of founding member Foster Gunnison Jr., by "fringe elements, beatniks, and other professional non-conformists".

Herbert Donaldson was an openly gay San Francisco lawyer and judge who gained national attention for his efforts to legally block San Francisco police from harassing attendees of a fund-raising ball for the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, an early homophile organization, on January 1, 1965.

Evander Smith was an openly gay San Francisco lawyer who gained national attention for his efforts to legally block San Francisco police from harassing attendees of a fund-raising ball held by the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, an early homophile organization, on January 1, 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture in San Francisco</span>

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in San Francisco is one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the United States, and is one of the most important in the history of American LGBT rights and activism alongside New York City. The city itself has been described as "the original 'gay-friendly city'". LGBT culture is also active within companies that are based in Silicon Valley, which is located within the southern San Francisco Bay Area.

Helen Jane "Sandy" Sandoz, also known by her pseudonym Helen Sanders, was an American lesbian rights activist and writer. She was involved in the Daughters of Bilitis and its official publication, The Ladder, from 1956 to 1970.

Stella Rush, also known by her pen name Sten Russell, was an American journalist and LGBT rights activist. She was a regular reporter for the gay rights magazine ONE (1954–1961) and the lesbian rights magazine The Ladder (1957–1968).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Willer</span> American feminist and activist

Shirley Willer was an American feminist and activist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Willer joined the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) in the 1950s and became the president of the organization a few years after. Because of her energy and dedication, she helped to revolutionize the homophile movement in the 1960s and helped pave the way for future civil rights advancements for the gay community.

The Tay-Bush Inn raid was a police raid on an all-night, one-room café in San Francisco, California around 3 a.m. on September 14, 1961. There 103 LGBT patrons were arrested. It is considered a pivotal event in the history of LGBT rights in San Francisco. It was the largest raid on a gay bar in this city, and received the most press coverage. The arrested were described in the press as mostly white and middle class men.

The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is a memorial wall in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". Located inside the Stonewall Inn, the wall is part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to the country's LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty inductees were unveiled June 27, 2019, as a part of events marking the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Five honorees are added annually.

Billye Talmadge, also known as Billie Tallmij, was a lesbian American activist and educator at the forefront of the burgeoning gay liberation movement in the 1950-60s as well as a founding member of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first organization established to fight explicitly for lesbian civil and political rights in the United States. Her main focus was empowering lesbian youth through education and counseling at a time when many homosexual and lesbian voices had been silenced by the current social and political climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Hall (San Francisco, California)</span> Historic building in San Francisco

California Hall, originally named Das Deutsche Haus, is a historic commercial building and event venue built in 1912, located in the Polk Gulch/Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, California.

Pat Walker was a lesbian activist, poet, and businesswoman, best known for her involvement in the Daughters of Bilitis. She served as the president of the San Francisco chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis and helped create the Council on Religion and the Homosexual.

References

  1. 1 2 Licata, Salvatore J.; Robert P. Peterson (1982). Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality. Routledge. p. 175. ISBN   0-917724-27-5.
  2. ↑ Gallo, Marcia M. (September 8, 2007). Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement (PDF). Seal Press. ISBN   978-1580052528.
  3. ↑ Squatriglia, Chuck; Heredia, Christopher; Writers, Chronicle Staff (2003-09-25). "Donald Stewart Lucas -- gay rights pioneer / He helped build foundation for later activists". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miller, Neil (1995). Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the present. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 348. ISBN   978-0679749882.
  5. ↑ Cain, Patricia A. (Oct 1993). "Litigating for Lesbian and Gay Rights: A Legal History". Virginia Law Review. 79 (7 Symposium on Sexual Orientation and the Law): 1551–1641. doi:10.2307/1073382. JSTOR   1073382.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.