UK Gay Liberation Front 1971 Festival of Light action
Encyclopedia
On the 9th September 1971 the UK Gay Liberation Front
(GLF) undertook an action to disrupt the launch of the Church-based morality campaign, Nationwide Festival of Light
at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster. A number of well known British figures were involved in the disrupted rally, and the action involved the use of "radical drag" drawing on Stonewall and subsequent GLF actions in the USA. Peter Tatchell
, gay human rights campaigner, was involved in the action which was one of a series which influenced the development of gay activism in the UK, received media attention at the time, and is still discussed by some of those involved.
in the UK was formed in 1970 in response to the formation of the GLF in the USA, which was established after the Stonewall riot
in 1969. Prior to the formation of GLF in the UK, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
(CHE) had been the primary focus for the campaign for gay rights; CHE focused on lobbying government for specific legal reforms, while GLF campaigned for systemic changes in society that would lead to wider acceptance of lesbian and gay people and lifestyles. GLF existed for four years in the UK, and this action was one of the best known and controversial actions they undertook, one which featured in the national news at the time. Public figures involved at the time still describe their experience today. This was period when lesbian and gay people were shifting from an approach that was apologetic to one of pride. In 1971 the UK GLF published its Manifesto and held a series of high-profile direct actions, including the one at the Festival of Light.
The Festival of Light included several notable people of that time, such as Cliff Richard
, Mary Whitehouse
, Malcolm Muggeridge
and Lord Longford. It was an organisation which lobbied the UK Government and held public rallies to show support for their lobbying. Muggeridge and Whitehouse identified certain liberalisations in law, and public acceptance of certain phenomena, as moral evil; examples are extra-marital sex, pornography in films, sex on TV, abortion-rights, and openly gay lifestyles.
Drawing on the gay tradition of camp, GLF developed a new style of political campaigning, "protest as performance", where the claim for human rights was projected through creativity, using imagination, daring and wit, rather than marches and rallies. These actions were called "zaps", intended to reduce the rallies to a farcical shambles. The Festival of Light was the most notable of these. One of those who embraced this style of activism was Bette Bourne, the message of gay liberation being couched in comedy, song, tap routines and make-up. "We were finding a new way of doing drag that wasn’t offensive to women, that wasn’t about false tits and distasteful jokes. We saw ourselves as a new type of man. We could wear frocks and make-up and be silly and funny, but we had a serious message, too." This began a tradition of drag continued through the work of performers like David Hoyle down, a style of drag, separate from the aggressive form of “female impersonation”. Another figure who was involved in the disruption was Martin Corbett, who walked into the basement of Westminster Central Hall, ordered the staff to leave with an assumed authority, and plunged the Festival into darkness by disconnecting the electrical and broadcasting cables.
Peter Tatchell
described the Festival of Light as being against the "moral darkness" of "pornography, homosexuality and abortion." The GLF counter-protest was code-named "Operation Rupert' after the subversive 'Rupert Bear' cartoon in OZ
. He attended the Festival action as part of the GLF Youth Group. "When Malcolm Muggeridge, speaking out about homosexuals, declared: 'I don’t like them.' The feeling was mutual," the group he was part of staged a "kiss-in" in the upper balcony of the hall. "Mice were released into the audience; lesbian couples stood up and passionately embraced. A dozen GLF nuns in immaculate blue and white habits charged the platform shouting gay liberation slogans, and a GLF bishop began preaching an impromptu sermon which urged people to 'keep on sinning.'"
went on to form OutRage!
, which still performs strategic actions in which individuals, organisations and countries identified as homophobic
are openly confronted in provocative ways, such as at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
Other actions and acts of civil disobedience confronting discrimination and homophobia at the time included a picket at Pan Books in protest at the publication of a book by Dr. David Reuben, which claimed that gay men were obsessed with the anal insertion of vegetables, freedom rides and sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve 'poofs' and 'dykes', the occupation of Coutts Bank because of their holding the Maudsley Hospital
account (where aversion therapy was still being practiced in the early 1970s) and the confrontation of Professor Hans Eysenck
during a lecture in which he advocated electric-shock and aversion therapy to cure homosexuality. Tatchell talks of this time, "As well as being politics with fun, this activism helped banish our internalised shame, repairing much of the damage that homophobia had done to us. Through GLF, we became happier, more confident queers, unafraid to challenge even the most powerful homophobes."
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
(GLF) undertook an action to disrupt the launch of the Church-based morality campaign, Nationwide Festival of Light
Nationwide Festival of Light
The Nationwide Festival of Light was a grassroots movement formed by British Christians concerned about the development of the permissive society in the UK at the end of the 1960s....
at the Methodist Central Hall Westminster. A number of well known British figures were involved in the disrupted rally, and the action involved the use of "radical drag" drawing on Stonewall and subsequent GLF actions in the USA. Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
, gay human rights campaigner, was involved in the action which was one of a series which influenced the development of gay activism in the UK, received media attention at the time, and is still discussed by some of those involved.
Background
The Gay liberation frontGLF
-Places:* Glenfinnan railway station, Scotland* Golfito Airport , Golfito, Costa Rica-Organizations:* GLF Feed Mill, Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange* Gay Liberation Front...
in the UK was formed in 1970 in response to the formation of the GLF in the USA, which was established after the Stonewall riot
Stonewall riot
Stonewall Riot may refer to:* The Stonewall riots, a series of historic riots by gay and transgendered people in New York City in 1969* Stonewall & Riot: The Ultimate Orgasm, a 2006 gay X Rated animated film by Joe Phillips....
in 1969. Prior to the formation of GLF in the UK, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
Campaign for Homosexual Equality
The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
(CHE) had been the primary focus for the campaign for gay rights; CHE focused on lobbying government for specific legal reforms, while GLF campaigned for systemic changes in society that would lead to wider acceptance of lesbian and gay people and lifestyles. GLF existed for four years in the UK, and this action was one of the best known and controversial actions they undertook, one which featured in the national news at the time. Public figures involved at the time still describe their experience today. This was period when lesbian and gay people were shifting from an approach that was apologetic to one of pride. In 1971 the UK GLF published its Manifesto and held a series of high-profile direct actions, including the one at the Festival of Light.
The Festival of Light included several notable people of that time, such as Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
, Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
and Lord Longford. It was an organisation which lobbied the UK Government and held public rallies to show support for their lobbying. Muggeridge and Whitehouse identified certain liberalisations in law, and public acceptance of certain phenomena, as moral evil; examples are extra-marital sex, pornography in films, sex on TV, abortion-rights, and openly gay lifestyles.
Activism as theatre
Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
described the Festival of Light as being against the "moral darkness" of "pornography, homosexuality and abortion." The GLF counter-protest was code-named "Operation Rupert' after the subversive 'Rupert Bear' cartoon in OZ
Oz (magazine)
Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London...
. He attended the Festival action as part of the GLF Youth Group. "When Malcolm Muggeridge, speaking out about homosexuals, declared: 'I don’t like them.' The feeling was mutual," the group he was part of staged a "kiss-in" in the upper balcony of the hall. "Mice were released into the audience; lesbian couples stood up and passionately embraced. A dozen GLF nuns in immaculate blue and white habits charged the platform shouting gay liberation slogans, and a GLF bishop began preaching an impromptu sermon which urged people to 'keep on sinning.'"
Radical Drag
The theme known as "radical drag" was a central element to the Festival of Light and subsequent GLF actions. In response to ideas about the 'wrong-sex', gay people distanced themselves from stereotypes of effeminate gay men and butch lesbians, in a way in which gay people were supposed to appear like anybody else. Within the Gay Liberation Movement there was also a deeper questioning of the validity of gender roles. The philosophy underlying radical drag rejected the concepts of masculinity and femininity, which correlated to ideas of dominance and submission. The idea of men who are really women, or of 'real men' dissolves in this deconstruction. In dissociating from the stigma of effeminacy in order to gain acceptance in heterosexual society, gay men tacitly supported the rigidity of gender roles, a definition of men from which they were excluded because of their sexuality. Gay men were complicit in the oppression of the effeminate gay men who adopted that stereotype, often denouncing the camp queens and diesel dykes who had 'come out' and born the brunt of homopbobia before those who were more discreet themselves felt comfortable enough to come out. In 1974, to counteract this, the GLF stated that it had developed "a strong section of opinion which claims that the only way for gay people to come out that will make any real impact on the gender role definitions which underlie gay oppression is by adopting a life-style and appearance that explicitly reject the masculine/feminine distinction and all that it implies."Subsequent campaigns and other actions
The work of GLF in this and other actions and demonstrations helped inspire more people towards open activism. Following the style of campaign and public demonstration, CHE changed its own style of campaigning, and interest in GLF waned. After the demise of GLF, Peter TatchellPeter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
went on to form OutRage!
OutRage!
OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
, which still performs strategic actions in which individuals, organisations and countries identified as homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
are openly confronted in provocative ways, such as at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
Other actions and acts of civil disobedience confronting discrimination and homophobia at the time included a picket at Pan Books in protest at the publication of a book by Dr. David Reuben, which claimed that gay men were obsessed with the anal insertion of vegetables, freedom rides and sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve 'poofs' and 'dykes', the occupation of Coutts Bank because of their holding the Maudsley Hospital
Maudsley Hospital
The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in South London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the country...
account (where aversion therapy was still being practiced in the early 1970s) and the confrontation of Professor Hans Eysenck
Hans Eysenck
Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-British psychologist who spent most of his career in Britain, best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, though he worked in a wide range of areas...
during a lecture in which he advocated electric-shock and aversion therapy to cure homosexuality. Tatchell talks of this time, "As well as being politics with fun, this activism helped banish our internalised shame, repairing much of the damage that homophobia had done to us. Through GLF, we became happier, more confident queers, unafraid to challenge even the most powerful homophobes."
See also
- Gay LiberationGay LiberationGay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
- Socialism and LGBT rightsSocialism and LGBT rightsThe connection between left-leaning ideologies and LGBT rights has a long and mixed history. Some socialists and members of other left wing political ideologies have supported LGBT rights, while many Marxist/Socialist regimes including the USSR, People's Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba, and...
- Gay Activists Alliance
- USA GLF: N. A. DiamanN. A. DiamanN. A. Diaman is a gay American novelist and artist. He received a BA in 1958 from the University of Southern California with a major in humanities....
, Brenda HowardBrenda HowardBrenda Howard was an American bisexual rights activist and sex-positive feminist. Howard was an important figure in the modern LGBT rights movement.- Biography :...
, Sylvia RiveraSylvia RiveraSylvia Rae Rivera was an American transgender activist. Rivera was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found STAR , a group dedicated to helping homeless young street trans women, with her friend Marsha P... - OutRage!OutRage!OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
- London GLF: Bob MellorsBob Mellors-External links:* *...
, Peter TatchellPeter TatchellPeter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements... - Hall-Carpenter archivesHall-Carpenter ArchivesThe Hall–Carpenter Archives are named after the authors Marguerite Radclyffe Hall and Edward Carpenter...
- List of LGBT rights organizations
- Gay Liberation FrontGay Liberation FrontGay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
- Campaign for Homosexual EqualityCampaign for Homosexual EqualityThe Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
- Nationwide Festival of LightNationwide Festival of LightThe Nationwide Festival of Light was a grassroots movement formed by British Christians concerned about the development of the permissive society in the UK at the end of the 1960s....