PHILADELPHIA—The legacy of Barbara Gittings, mother of the GLBT civil rights movement, was honored today in a wreath laying ceremony across from Independence Hall. About seventy supporters gathered in front of the Pennsylvania Historical Marker commemorating the first annual demonstrations for gay and lesbian civil rights held each July 4 from 1965 to 1969 in Philadelphia. Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum, spoke about Barbara’s lifelong contributions to the GLBT civil rights movement before the wreath was placed at the foot of the Historical Marker by two community leaders, Stacey Sobel and Virginia Gutierrez.

Remarks by Malcolm Lazin and photograph follows:

“We gather to celebrate the life of Barbara Gittings, the mother of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement.

In 1965, gays and lesbians were precluded from all federal government employment. Gays and lesbians could not be employed as scientists, postal workers, or as janitors. The American Psychiatric Association classified being gay as a mental illness. Almost all states made it criminal for consenting adults of the same sex to share intimacy. Most states made it a crime for two or more known homosexuals to congregate in a bar. The police routinely entrapped and blackmailed gays.

In the face of that torrent of homophobia, 40 gays and lesbians gathered on July 4th in 1965 in front of Independence Hall to petition for equality. Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, the father of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, and a handful of other activists organized annual demonstrations each July 4th from 1965 to 1969. These demonstrations called Annual Reminders paved the way for the Stonewall Riots.

Like Rosa Parks in 1955, Barbara Gittings in 1965 confronted the oppressor. Like Rosa Parks, Barbara did so publicly and with remarkable modesty, courage and grace. Barbara stepped forward in the face of a tsunami of homophobia and understood the societal consequences.

Let me read to you her words taken from the transcript of Gay Pioneers, the documentary film co-produced by Equality Forum and WHYY/PBS.

“This is the front of the famous Independence Hall in Philadelphia. And this is where we had gay picketing demonstrations every July 4, from 1965 to 1969. It was a wonderful feeling to be here and to be out facing the public for the first time. We were the first to do this in an organized fashion, to stand up for ourselves. We believed—well, let me put it this way. We were considered weird, and sick and perverted, and just plain wrong. Even most of the good, straight citizens of this country had been brainwashed into thinking that we were that way. And we felt, ‘No, we are not perverted, we are not sick, we are not weird, and we are not wrong. We are right, and the world is wrong.’”

Over the past 40 years, Barbara helped prove that she was right and the world was wrong. The conventional wisdom about gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons has undergone a seismic change. Homophobia is transitioning from accepted to unacceptable.

You can see Barbara carrying a picket sign in Gay Pioneers. Here is what she said about that picketing. “The idea was not for personal self-expression, and not for ego, and not for big theatrics, but a team effort to get across a very controversial message. And the way you do that is to draw no attention to yourselves, but simply be the bearers of the message. And to have people look at the message on your signs. When you say ‘Homosexuals demand equal treatment,’ that was revolutionary at the time.”

When Barbara, Frank Kameny, Lilli Vincenz, Jack Nichols and 36 others stepped forward, those 40 people were part of the largest demonstration on behalf of gay equality in the history of the world. As Gay Pioneer Lilli Vincenz said of the Annual Reminders, “We exploded the myth that real homosexuals could possibly look happy and proud and dignified and visible.”

In four years their numbers swelled by almost 400%. One hundred and fifty (150) people demonstrated in the 1969 Annual Reminder making it at that time the largest gay and lesbian demonstration in history.

Barbara put it succinctly. “We cracked the cocoon of invisibility. We had finally stepped forward and said to the public, ‘I’m not going to live in a closet anymore. It’s stuffy in there. And I am not going to continue to live my life under a rock to protect your feelings. I’m going to live the way I want to, openly and proudly as a gay person.’”

We are enriched by her fortitude. Our lives are freer because of her courage.

In Gay Pioneers, Barbara reflected on the movement. “Visibility has always been the keystone of our struggle for civil rights. We are pushing for equality through visibility. Today, we have visibility – oh, do we have visibility. It’s so wonderful.”

“Many of these people who are now coming forward out of the closet and demanding their civil rights and their equality are people who may never have thought of themselves as activists, and may not have been active participants in formal organizations in the movement. But suddenly, it hits home – They are after me. They don’t want me to have my rights. They don’t want me to have my equality. And they demand it. And they come forward.”

This is the legacy of Barbara Gittings. We owe her so much. She committed the entirety of her life to our emancipation, to our equality.

While Barbara has left our physical presence, our lives are enhanced by her commitment to liberty, the pursuit of happiness and equality. Through her life’s work, Barbara has earned her place in a pew with Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks.

We stand on her shoulders. We pledge to celebrate her memory by rededicating our lives to her dream. A dream when gay youth will no longer hear the word faggot in public schools. A dream of a time when hate crimes have disappeared. A dream that every person no matter their sexual orientation is treated with dignity, respect and equality. It is an American dream. It is an international human rights dream.

We rededicate ourselves to that dream.”

From the left: Virginia Gutierrez, Board Member, Equality Forum; Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director, Equality Forum; Stacey Sobel, Executive Director, Equality Advocates PA  (Photo courtesy Equality Forum) [Hi-res version]

About Equality Forum

Equality Forum is a national non-profit GLBT civil rights organization. Equality Forum coordinates GLBT History Month in October, produced Gay Pioneers with WHYY/PBS, and successfully petitioned the Pennsylvania Historical Commission to erect an historical marker at Independence Hall commemorating the seminal annual GLBT civil rights protests from 1965 to 1969 that launched the GLBT civil rights movement. For more information, visit www.EqualityForum.com, www.GayPioneers.com, and www.glbtHistoryMonth.com.