Gay liberation front manifesto
A searing critique of vertical supremacism with an agenda for social transformation
London, UK − 13 February
By Peter Tatchell
The Gay Liberation Front Manifesto, published in London in , was a revolution in consciousness and it remains so today. It offers a fundamental critique of sexism and what we now notify homophobia; as well as a pioneering, far-sighted agenda for both social and personal transformation.
Amazingly, it was not written by high-powered intellectuals but by a collective of grassroots activists, driven by idealism and passion for the betterment of queer humanity. They included anarchists, hippies, left-wingers, feminists, liberals and counter-culturalists.
The final text was a compromise between these alternative factions – and it shows. Some of it reeks of writing-by-committee. In places, the style and language is dated and inelegant. Some ideas are expressed too crudely and simplistically. Often you own to read between the lines to comprehend the full implications of what is being said.
Despite these shortcomings, the central theses stand the test o
The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was founded by students Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter. The first encounter was held on 13 October at the London School of Economics. Click below to consult the GLF Manifesto, which was published in and put out the key demands and principles of the GLF. It challenged homosexual people to come out and be visible, while also exploring the means by which they were oppressed by society. For the GLF, gay liberation was not about commandment reform, it was about a revolutionary change in society. Also included below is the revised edition from
The diverse politics of people who connected the GLF however, meant that consensus on a single topic was often hard to come by. By the end of GLF had disbanded, but the organisation and its manifesto, cast a lengthy shadow. Many gay rights organisations that emerged during the course of the s and s would have their core principles rooted in the operate of the GLF.
The manifesto digitised here is the first in what will become an online library of key LGBTQ+ texts from the s, s and s, held in the Special Collections and Archives here at the I
A Gay Manifesto ()
by Carl Wittman
San Francisco is a refugee camp for homosexuals. We possess fled here from every part of the nation, and like refugees elsewhere, we came not because it is so great here, but because it was so awful there. By the tens of thousands, we fled miniature towns where to be ourselves would endanger our jobs and any optimism of a decent life; we contain fled from blackmailing cops, from families who disowned or ‘tolerated’ us; we have been drummed out of the armed services, thrown out of schools, fired from jobs, beaten by punks and policemen.
And we have formed a ghetto, out of self-protection. It is a ghetto rather than a free territory because it is sill theirs. Straight cops patrol us, unbent legislators govern us, straight employers hold us in line, straight money exploits us. We own pretended everything is OK, because we haven’t been fit to see how to change it - we’ve been afraid.
In the past year there has been an awakening of same-sex attracted liberation ideas and energy. How it began we don’t know; maybe we were inspired by black people and their freedom
Trigger Warning: homophobia, transphobia, violence, mental health issues
The advent of LGBTQIA+ history month entails a mixed bag of emotions for many; though an essential and uplifting opportunity to celebrate the achievements and contributions of queer people throughout history, it also prompts a sober reflection on the casualties of the struggle for liberation, and the perpetual struggles and prejudices encountered across the spectrum of LGBTQIA+ identities.
in particular is a year to reflect on the relativity of progress, marking half a century since the publication of the Gay Liberation Front manifesto. Founded by students Bob Mellors and Aubrey Waltor in , the GLF sought a “new sexual democracy about homophobia, racism and class privilege”, in the words of prominent activist, and later politician, Peter Tatchell. The movement was fundamentally the first organised network of LGBT activists that united under the impulse of gay liberation, despite the diversity of members’ identities, political sympathies, and socioeconomic circumstances.
The manifesto packs a punch. Citi