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A Very Natural Thing ScreeningOverview/synopsis This article contains the following:
Ed. note: The main article in the 1977 is an earlier, briefer overview of the topic. Also, I have deliberately refrained from using the phrase "LGBT" as I attempt to reconstruct how things looked in the 1970s. To do so would simply create a false image of the community's understanding of the issues involved. Ed. note: Because of the extreme relevance of these 1977 events to the events of 2017, I have decided to publish this report, which is actually 2/3 completed, lacking an analysis of the 1977 Moonstorm publication and related documents, and lacking an overview conclusion. I hope to complete these soon. Benefit ScreeningOn May 18, 1977 a benefit screening of the film A Very Natural Thing (1974) was held at the Maplewood Theatre at 7180 Manchester. This event marked a star on the line graph of significant St. Louis LGBT history events of the decade of the 1970s, perhaps even the turning point. Hundreds of gays and lesbians and their friends showed up, and many were transformed by the event. The idea for this event came from Rick Garcia, then just out of his teens, and a small group of like-minded gay men who formed the Task Force for Human Rights earlier that year. In one of the two showings that was held that day was Dan White, a young man active in the St. Louis gay community of the time. The purpose of that benefit event in the Spring of 1977 was to raise money for the beleaguered and fragmented community of gay activists in Dade County, Florida, who had successfully lobbied the Dade County Commission to approve an ordinance banning discrimination for reason of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services in January, 1977. Subsequent to that, the Save our Children organization, led by entertainer Anita Bryant, had launched a hate- and deception-filled campaign to rescind that ordinance. By late March of 1977 news of this attack on gay civil rights had gone nationwide and had reached to the Saint Louis gay and lesbian community, which quickly organized and came together during the year 1977 to help defend the emerging protected category status of their community. Panel Discussion of the EventOn October 6, 2016 the St. Louis LGBT History Project and the Missouri Historical Museum remembered these difficult times. They jointly produced a partial showing and panel discussion of the film, A Very Natural Thing. On the panel were Rick Garcia, long-time Missouri and Illinois gay activist and Dan White, St. Louis LGBT historian, radio personality and blogger. The ensuing commentary by the panelists and participants created a verbal and experiential collage of that 1977 event on the canvas of shared memories. The purpose of this article is to help sort out the details of the now emerging story of these brave and dedicated struggles of the past in the context of the turning point year, 1977. What we learned from the screening on Oct. 6, 2016The film A Very Natural Thing is one of the landmark events in gay cinema. A thorough analysis of gay films prior to 1977 by Thomas Waugh, Films by Gays for Gays puts this film in perspective. Homosexuality was the topic of several previous films, and contrary to the usual Hollywood formula of having films end happily, these were uniformly tragic. Shirley MacLaine hanged herself in The Children's Hour, Jon Voight ended up with his arm around his dead friend in Midnight Cowboy, and Sal Mineo got shot in Rebel without a Cause. Even the subculturally accurate film version of Mart Crowley's play, Boys in the Band, displayed a lifestyle saturated with cynical, cruel campy humor and characters plagued by self-doubt and personality defects. By contrast, A Very Natural Thing gave what they wanted to gay male viewers starved for screen images of same-sex romantic (and sexual) attraction free from a heterosexist moralistic resolution. The actors are all handsome, young and fit, and the characters have resolved any moral doubt they have about fulfilling gay relationships. The film's hero, David, has left the monastery and become a teacher in the city. The film traces the progress of David's first love relationship with Mark, a business man. They meet, have dinner (almost) and sex, and then begin a relationship marked with periods of separation and togetherness, ultimately breaking up when Mark decides he does not want a committed relationship. What is revolutionary about the film's viewpoint is that even though this relationship, like many romantic relationships, is challenging, but rewarding, promising, but impermanent, we never once get the feeling (or the moral lecture) that it doesn't last because of their both being males. Further, the film then ends on a hopeful note by showing David beginning a promising relationship with another man.
Rick Garcia has had a long and dedicated career as a gay activist, starting in his teen years. Any attempt to sum him up is doomed to failure; the man has multiple complex dimensions in his life. He has a playful but slightly wicked and irreverent wit, and the conversation doesn't go on long until Rick's campy humor emerges. Frequently, it sheds light on hypocrisy or "comes out" in an edgy way. This is a man who enjoys life, and a life filled with adventure and challenge, at that. He's a lifetime democrat, completely famlilar with the ins and outs of the Illinois political scene. He's been an activist for LGBT rights within the Catholic Church for decades. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that his political activity in Illinois as a gay activist was a powerful liberalizing force in the state and region. He was inducted into The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1999, the article documenting his accomplishments to that date. He has been a representative of the Latino community within the LGBT community. In 2011 there was a dust-up between him and others involved in Equality Illinois—which organization he helped to found and led—and he was fired, causing a big ruckus. But, not being one to look back or hash out sour grapes, he moved on and continued as an important Chicago political figure working for marriage equality. Both Rick and Dan talked about the particular contribution to the St. Louis lesbian and gay community of this benefit showing of A Very Natural Thing in 1977. Rick Garcia was quite young when he became engaged in political action, he mentioned more than once that he was 18 or was just barely out of his teens. He was accompanied to the panel by his mother, Rita Garcia Warren, who has been a staunch ally of the LGBT community for many decades, helping to found PFLAG St. Louis in 1977-78. Rick recalled how his mom had come to bail him out of jail after he was arrested for appearing in drag in public and also how she stood up for him against other, disapproving friends and relatives. Rick had been living "in a big, old house on Forest Park" with three other guys, as he remembered it, Tim Moore, Bobby Copeland, and Sean Dushinski. One Sunday they read about Anita Bryant in the newspaper and decided "let's do something about it!" They held a "Beer Blast" at their house that went well. Then they gradually formed the idea of having a film screening at a local theatre to raise money. They contacted Christopher Larkin about his film and found out that A Very Natural Thing could be rented for $300. Next they contacted the owner of the then closed Maplewood Theatre about using it for a film screening, and were quoted another $300 for its use. Next they made up flyers for the event, and posted them in the local bars, Martin's was mentioned. The weather was warm, and the day of the benefit, hundreds of people showed up for the film. Ushers passed out California oranges to the patrons. After expenses were taken out, about $800, they sent about $1000 to Dade County. They were energized by the fact that they could fill this theatre. In the process they created the group, Task Force for Human Rights, the core of which was the four guys living in the Forest Park house. They continued to expand their influence and networked with the existing activist forces in St. Louis. When Anita Bryant later came to Kansas City, they packed five people into a Volkswagen and drove there to demonstrate. Once when Father Hanlon, a Catholic priest in St. Louis publicly praised Anita Bryant, Rick shouted, with pointing finger, "You have done an injustice to gay people." Ch. 2 TV captured this confrontation. Dan White has contributed his talk at the event to the St. Louis LGBT History Project. While Dan was involved in the gay community of the time—both as one of its fully participating citizens and also in service to the community—his involvement was not as public as Rick's. Still, his comments gave a unique view from inside the community of the time, which is very far removed from today's reality, challenging as that may be. He starts by telling us: "I had graduated from college and was trying to get a toe hold in my career but more importantly I was finding the company of others like me." For Dan, the viewing of A Very Natural Thing on that momentus May, 1977 day, was an epiphany, a turning point in his life, a forever-transforming-moment.
The film made him aware that he was a member of a tribe: " the second most important realization to hit young LGBT's is when we find we are not alone!" Dan also became active politically after "being revved up when Troy Perry came to St. Louis" (prior to the June 1977 visit). Putting these memories into the broader community recordFortunately, extensive and very complete documentation of the events recalled by Garcia, White and others on that Oct. 6, 2016 date have been preserved. This means that an even more accurate reconstruction can be undertaken which not only shows the film screening to be of historic proportions but also places it more or less accurately in the context of gay and lesbian activism in the St. Louis of that time, 1977. One of the incredibly rich resources that this article and others continue to draw on is the S0545 St. Louis Lesbian And Gay Archives (1987- ) Collection, 1972-1992
This article uses three of the primary resources preserved in S0545, the publication Prime Time, the 1977-78 Minutes of the Christian Social Action Committee, and the publication Moonstorm. These three sources allow us to triangulate the recently remembered and honored event in the web of preserved historical record. What the Prime Time records show1975—1976 The monthly publication, Prime Time, was a project of MLSC. The January, 1977 issue of Prime Time contains an eight page summary of the history of Midcontinent Life Services Center. Anyone seeking to reconstruct the history of MLSC should consult this document for names, places, facts, figures and major accomplishments. However, from the standpoint of understanding the significance of the screening of A Very Natural Thing on May 18, 1977, Prime Time contains a quite complete and accurate record of 1) its own growth and focus for the years 1975-1978, and 2) the St. Louis LGBT community's growing awareness and response to the Anita Bryant hate campaign during the year 1977. From its inception, the Midcontinent Life Services Center was created, guided and brought into realization by Galen Moon. It was originally named Metropolitan Life Services Center, but it was forced to change its name because of a legal suit from Metropolitan Life, which claimed it had proprietary rights over the word "Metropolitan." However, the use of the word "Metropolitan" was motivated by the fact that Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) St. Louis had encouraged and provided space and support to Galen Moon for starting this community service organization. MCC St. Louis was started and organized in late 1973 by Rev. Carol Cureton and it rapidy had become both a spiritual center and a center of activism for the St. Louis gay and lesbian community by 1975. The leaders of both MCC and MLSC were clear that MLSC was to be a secular organization rather than a political arm of the church. Prior to his forming MLSC, Galen Moon had been appointed Commissioner to Missouri Interfaith Commission on Aging, and had become aware that this organization had no idea of the unique problems faced by gay and lesbian elders. Galen was in his 70s and quite aware of these problems. "So, he figured gay people should do something for their own.
The Gay Hotline thus became a major project for MLSC, for the larger gay community in St. Louis, and later, when MLSC folded, the Gay Academic Union in St. Louis. Hotline operations commenced on Wednesday, October 15, 1975 with a brief ad in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and on the following Sunday, the phone had been answered 232 times. During the year 1976 "the crisis-intervention/information Hotline telephone service was answered more than 36,500 times, always ready to give help to all ages of people from teens to senior citizens." Jim Kloeppel helped to develop a professional training program for hotline volunteers, and strict guidlines were drawn up. Eventually, it required 35 volunteers to cover a week's schedule. Clearly, a crying need of the St. Louis gay community, indeed, of the broader St. Louis community, had been met. Soon after the Hotline was established, MLSC began to broaden their objectives. Late in December of 1975, the first St. Louis gay community center opened on the second floor of the building on the southeast corner of Euclid and McPherson. It remained in operation throughout 1976: "the Center was kept open from 9 AM to 11 PM every day to provide an open non-oppressive atmosphere, a retreat with library/reading room, lounge and classrooms." A speaker's bureau was formed under the direction of Dr. Marvin Kabakoff. MLSC also compiled a referral list of professional practioners in various fields who look upon and deal with gays as equal human beings. January 1977 Little did the leaders at MLSC—and for that matter, leaders in various organization, MCC, Dignity, Lesbian Alliance—suspect that 1977 would be the year of the greatest struggle since Stonewall. At the beginning of the year we find these concerns at MLSC: maintaining and expanding the Gay Hotline, moving from the 2nd floor offices at Euclid and McPherson to a new three story brick standalone townhouse at 4940 McPherson, pursuing an expanded version of Prime Time with a new and larger staff, and scheduling and advertising a range of community events, such as rap groups, counseling sessions, and speaking on request to educate the larger community on issues of the lesbian and gay community in St. Louis. It is only gradually over the course of the year 1977 that the gay community in St. Louis comes to grips with and deals with the massive tidal wave of hate and oppression that surged out of the Save Our Children campaign led by Anita Bryant. Also, one thing to remember here in interpreting the extreme events of 1977 is that there were well-defined national and local agendas for gay and lesbian activists at the beginning of the year. Pride had spread through the culture following the '60s and especially the Stonewall Riots in June of 1969. First pride celebrations spread to major coastal cities and then continued to grow. Gay organizations exploded on college campuses in the early 70s. In the first half of the decade, work continued to be done in religious, legal and medical arenas to free the church, law and medical practice from ignorance and bias. From time to time, stories of unfair treatment of U.S. military personnel made it into the media. Along with this work, local and regional publications and more focused organizations emerged to share information on and pursue these advances. And of course there was expanding lesbian participation in the women's movement, creating an almost independent line of historical hallmarks. Even given these changes, though, much of out gay life continued in the bars, parks, and private homes. There were a number of lesbian and gay organizations across the State of Missouri itself at the beginning of 1977, and there was a fairly clear state-wide agenda. Local community activists in these days looked to their nearby civic neighbors, for ideas, dialog and assistance. The January, 1977 issue of Prime Time showed contact information for 13 of these organizations: for Missouri there were 5 in St. Louis, 2 in Kansas City, 2 in Columbia, 1 in Joplin, and in the neighboring state of Illinois there were 1 in Urbana and 1 in Carbondale. Moreover, one of these Missouri gay organizations was the Columbia based Missouri Gay Caucus, which submitted two status reports to Prime Time, one in March and another in July. In their March report MGC emphasized that their main objective was the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, which they saw as a prelude to seeking to reverse the sodomy statutes on the Missouri books. MLSC was active in MGC at the time. Also the Columbia-based organization Gay Lib had been waging a 6 years court battle with the University of Missouri at Columbia for recognition as a legitimate student group. Larry Eggleston, a leader in that fight, also wrote the July report of MGC for Prime Time, which will be discussed later in this article. February 1977 The February 1977 issue of Prime Time lists their staff as Marvin Kabakoff, Richard McAfee, Michael McCord, Jonathan Snyder, Lisa Wagaman, Will Wegener, and Joel Woodward. Kabakoff and McAfee had major editorial responsibilities with the publication. Kabakoff had a recent Ph.D. in history from Washington University, and McAfee had been unfairly released from a ministerial position in St. Louis for reason of his sexual orientation. It is in this issue of Prime Time that we see the first dim awareness of the existence of Anita Bryant and resistance to the Dade County Ordinance. At the back of that issue an "example of people doing their part" is written up: the Dade County Commission passed an ordinance protecting gay rights, and while Anita Bryant and others were opposed, this is considered a victory among 38 other such passed municipal ordinances. This reflects the fact that national leaders, such as The National Gay Task Force—formed by leaders in 1973 and led through most of the 1970s by first Bruce Voeller and then Jean O'Leary—had as their major focus encouraging political awareness and change at the national, state and local levels. Tallies of local gay rights achievements were kept and campaigns to extend these achievements to other communities and states were launched. March, April 1977 As March and then April pass by, the new community center begins to experience some typical challenges: Galen works too hard, and gets burned out, Saturday night events do not fill, building managers change, much work needs to be done to get the building in shape. But still, big plans are launched for the Sunday, April 24 potluck and business meeting, the first to be held in the new address at 4940 McPherson. Meanwhile, amidst the usual community activities that are focused on positive advances, news of the impending catastrophy from the southeast begins to trickle in. The Catholic Diocese of Miami announces that it does not intend to abide by the Civil Rights Ordinance passed by the Dade County Commission; no openly gay teachers will be employed in the diocesan schools. The Save Our Children coalition now included the Catholic Church, Bapists and other fundamentalist denominations who determined to get the issue placed on the ballot for a referendum. In the March, 1977 Prime Time appeared a brief appeal for letters to Florida Dept. of Citrus Commission denouncing the smear campaign against homosexual rights. From the perspective of the articles in the April, 1977 Prime Time, advances in securing gay rights are still being made. Four states, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have gay rights legislation either introduced or in the process of drafting. The case against the University of Missouri by the student group, Gay Lib, represented by the ACLU will be heard by the Eighth Circuit US Court of Appeals (and will ultimately prevail in Febuary of 1978). Members of the National Gay Task Force have scored a first in meeting with President Jimmy Carter's liason to the public, Midge Costanza in the White House. Still, the following
May, June 1977 By May of 1977 Anita Bryant's disdainful rebuke of and campaign to set back attempts to secure equal protection for gays and lesbians had been well-publicized across the nation and including the St. Louis lesbian and gay community. MCC St. Louis, MLSC, Washington University's Gay People's Alliance, Dignity, and leaders in the St. Louis lesbian community, all these were expressing concern and support for the Dade County struggle for rights, and initial attempts had begun at joining hands in a common struggle. At MLSC itself, again change was at work. A man identified only as Paul I. became editor of Prime Time, and along with Marvin Kabakoff and others, brought a renewed energy to the publication. In particular, Paul I. had met Rick Garcia and had become enchanted with his energy and commitment to the struggle, as we find out in his four page article Rick Garcia and the Task Force for Human Rights. This article and others from Prime Time, provide us with specific dates and places which give more definite outlines to the memory collage created on Oct. 6, 2016. Furthermore, it gives a far more detailed and accurate picture of Rick Garcia's early years of activism for social causes and years of service in the cause of human rights than can be given here.
The Task Force had a much larger agenda, however, than merely beating back the Save Our Children campaign. In the Prime Time article Task Force vs. The Globe Democrat we read of their major effort to combat some of the misinformation in the local print media, in this case combating the myth that homosexuals are pedophiles by pointing to statistics that show this is in the main a heterosexual abuse. Another aspect to Task Force objectives explained to Paul I. in the extended interview was a hoped for "revolution within the St. Louis gay population—not a political revolution, but an internal, spiritual revolution, a higher consciousness among gay people themselves of their own identity, and a greater sense of unity and community." The timing was probably pure coincidence, but on June 8, 1977, just a day after the infamous June 7 Dade County recinding of the gay rights ordinance, The U. S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit released its decision on the case 558 F. 2d 848 - Gay Lib v. University of Missouri, one of the most important gay rights decisions of the 1970s. It was a reversal of a lower court's decision to uphold the University of Missouri Columbia's refusal to recognize the student group, Gay Lib, as a student organization. Instead, the Eighth Court of Appeals asserted that this denial of recognition had been a violation of the defendant's First Amendment Rights. The University immediately filed for a rehearing, which was denied on August 8, 1977. The University took the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States of America, which refused to take the case in February 21, 1978. That action, in fact, led to a victory walk to the campus let by Cea Hearth (then Glenda Dilley) and to the first gay pride weekend in Columbia, Missouri in late October, 1978. Another article in the June, 1977 issue of Prime Time reveals an important parallel, collaborative effort to the Task Force on Human Rights: Metropolitan Community Church St. Louis has been deeply involved, along with the national church, in pushing back against the Anita Bryant campaign. The article is MCC ST. Louis Hosts Mid-Central District Conference: Prelude to Troy Perry's Visit June 9th (PT 06.77). The theme of the conference was "Christian social action," and ministers and conference delegates from ten states were present to discuss the issue and hear keynote speaker, Adam De Baugh, "gay lobbyist on Capitol Hill and Director of the U.F.M.C.C. Washington Field Office."
In the main article on 1977, I have documented the extensive research of Rodney Wilson in describing "St. Louis' second gay pride rally" which occurred two days after the rescinding of the Dade County ordinance banning discrimination for reason of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services on June 7, 1977. Hundreds were present. Carol Cureton (pastor, MCC St. Louis), Larry Eggleston (Missouri Gay Caucus), Rick Garcia (Task Force for Human Rights), Jim Alexander (Dignity), Marvin Kabakoff (Midcontinent Life Services Center), Galen Moon (Midcontinent Life Services Center), and Troy Perry (founder of MCC) spoke at that rally. Prime Time carried a description of that event the following month. In effect, St. Louis became the focus of effort to undo the damage of this unfair campaign immediately after the disastrous defeat of the Dade County ordinance to ban discrimination for reason of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services. If the newspaper, the Globe Democrat exhibited conservative bias towards the gay rights movement, the St. Louis Post Dispatch took a more measured, middle of the road approach. Already in January of 1977 a Post article had been published which confronted four stereotypes of gay people. In the Sunday edition of the Post Dispatch, June 19, 1977, appeared a very gay-positive, lengthy article that starts out thus:
The author of the piece, Paul Wagman, has done extensive research, with quotes by Jim Thomas, Fred Kerr, representing MLSC, Carol Cureton, representing MCC, Nan Cinnater, feminist leader, Dr. Robert Kolodny of the Masters and Johnson Research Institute, and Alderman Mary Stolar. Rick Garcia is also quoted in at least six paragraphs, and there is a large photo of Thomas and Garcia, looking happy, young and fresh in their casual duds. The article reports that on Thursday, June 16, "half a dozen local gay organizations met to discuss how they can work together. The groups, which have co-operated with one another little in the past, plan to work together in such areas as education campaigns and lobbying efforts."
The article goes on to discuss estimates of the number of homosexuals in the St. Louis area, the bars in the Central West End, the issue of nondiscrimination against gays and lesbians, particularly in housing and employment, the conservative slant of the Board of Alderman, and the myth that gay teachers might influence their student's sexual orientation. July 1977 On the national scene the National Gay Task Force continued to tirelessly exert influence at the national level and leadership for local community leaders. By the middle of 1977, the National Gay Task Force was well into launching a million dollar campaign with the theme "We are your children" to combat the barrage of unfounded accusation directed against gay people that had been launched by the Save Our Children movement led by Anita Bryant early in 1977. Prime Time reported on this counter campaign in July. It included
As a part of this initiative on July 11, 1977 NGTF held a one day conference on gay civil rights in the office of Alan Cranston, Senator from California and Democratic Whip. Many organizations were represented there by well-known people including Ellie Smeal of NOW, ACLU, and the League of Women Voters.
Unfortunately for a more determined gay and lesbian community, the Dade County referendum result of turning back established non-discrimination policy served to embolden Anita Bryant and innumerable fundamentalist Christian churches, and she laid plans to take her campaign to drive gays back into the closet and strip them of any protections and priviliges across the nation. This was a Christian mini-crusade: take America back from those evil gays. As the year unfolded, Missouri became a primary target. On July 15, Anita appeared as entertainment at a Christian booksellers conference in Kansas City, and "over 6000 people picketed and held a candlelight vigil at the Municipal Auditorium, where she was performing, following a 15-block march for human rights through downtown K.C." Rick Garcia, reporting in the August, 1977 Prime Time, gives thanks and credit to Lea Hopkins and the Christopher Street Foundation for organizing this rally in only 1 1/2 days. Hopkins, a black lesbian feminist in Kansas City had been energized in 1976 by Troy Perry's talk at MCC KC and expanded her work for women's rights to focus on defeating Bryant's campaign. Possibly, this is the event that Rick Garcia was remembering when he said they packed 5 men in a Volkswagen and drove to KC when Bryant visited. In the July, 1977 edition of Prime Time, further information is given about the emerging coalition of St. Louis gay organization that met first on June 16. The list looks diverse, 3 religious groups; MCC, Integrity and Lutherans Concerned; 2 secular rights organizations, MLSC and Task Force for Human Rights; one motorcycle club, Blue Max; and others. Notably absent is a clear lesbian presence. A meeting was scheduled for further discussion on July 21. The purpose of the emerging organization is to create
The August Prime time reports that on July 21 the loose but apparently effective coalition of gay and lesbian organizations in St. Louis met again at MLSC and reaffirmed that their primary goal was not to form yet another organization, but to improve communication and cooperation between existing groups. Several existing organizations are mentioned in the report. Representatives spent time planning to send a group from St. Louis to Columbia, Missouri when Anita Bryant arrives there. They also agreed that Rick Garcia, Jim Thomas and Donna Wade would attend the National Gay Leadership Conference in Denver on July 29 and 30. Another meeting was scheduled for August 25. Moreover, as we find out from the July, 1977 report from Larry Eggleston, Executive Director of the Missouri Gay Caucus, gay leaders in Missouri have also mobilized in a similar direction. In his May, 1977 visit to St. Louis sponsored by UFMCC, Adam DeBaugh had sensitized St. Louis and Missouri leaders to the need to have letters of support to gay causes sent to elected representatives, who haven't been even aware that there was another side to the issue. Leaders across groups of varied gay interests and constituencies have seen the clear need to organize, become more efficient, and speak with a more unified voice. Incidentally Eggleston gives a lot of credit to the Task Force for Human Rights in demonstrating successfully how to get people to work together. Voter registration drives to increase the ranks of pro-gay registered voters are needed. Pubic appearances, being visible and in the media, and speaking up for the gay cause is important. But even gay people who can't for one reason or another afford dramatic visibility can do their supportive part. And gay businesses have to step up and contribute funds to campaigns, too. Equally fascinating to the extensive coverage of gay and lesbian news by Prime Time during the year 1977 is a feature which was run in the July, 1977 issue: Being Gay in St. Louis. There are overviews of what life in St. Louis is like, in particular to the gay community, and there is an extensive list of and contact information for the gay bars and baths, gay religious organizations, the gay community center, gay restaurants, meeting places in the parks, and information specifically for lesbians, including publications, organizations, and bars, both exclusively lesbian and mixed. There is an article on gay neighborhoods, and there are maps. It is a very positive and laid back spread, and one reads it with the feeling that indeed, despite the essentially conservative and "small town" atmosphere of St. Louis, there are quite a few possibilities for a good life as a gay or lesbian person here. The articles are very detailed and should be read for a more specific view of gay and lesbian life in St. Louis mid-1977. August 1977 In the August, 1977 issue of Prime Time, we get a report of what Rick Garcia and the Task force have on the agenda. They will be starting by compiling a list of gay friendly and gay not-so-friendly restaurants in St. Louis for publication in September. They will work on fund-raising for themselves and GRNL. And they will be planning for the announced visit of Anita Bryant to Columbia, Missouri. However, we see evidence of a coming together of a group of lesbians who had been working separately within the women's movement and a loose confederation of religious and secular organizations focused more directly on gay rights. In an editorial in the March, 1977 issue of Prime Time called Working Together, Marvin Kabakoff had noted that there were arguments for and against lesbians and gay men working separately, notably, that gay men have to deal with their implicit sexism to work with lesbians, and lesbians need to judge men on an individual basis and not only as a group. The times require collaboration, and actually both gay men and lesbians are dealing with different aspects of the same problem: white male chauvinism. Ruth Hubbard (sometimes spelled "Hubberd") seems to have been a conduit of sorts between the two communities. She had been active in the Lesbian Alliance in 1974, writing for their publication Moonstorm, and contributed occasionally to Prime Time during the first half of 1977. She has two important pieces in the August, 1977 issue of Prime Time. Only two short paragraphs long, the content of the first piece, titled Lesbian Rights Alliance, speaks volumes both on where LRA has focused its energy and also on LRA now also focusing on gay rights.
The second article by Hubbard is a window into the phenomenon discussed at the beginning of the article Other St. Louis Lesbian Groups in the 1970s: the development of lesbian-feminist culture in the 1970s. That article is essentially a report on the Second Michigan Women’s Music Festival held on August 25-28 of 1977. At this and similar festivals women, including perhaps a lesbian majority, were both expressing and developing this new culture of women in a rural setting, freed from the shackles of patriarchal oppression. They hiked, camped, talked, attended workshops, listened to women's music, made women's music, and made love. Here is a succinct summary directly from the article:
I am not suggesting that being a lesbian separatist in the 1970s was easy or always fun, only that women working toward building a culture in which women and particularly lesbian women were free of male domination and control found hope and joy in that struggle, and from time to time came together to celebrate that newfound joy. However, the Save our Children Campaign led by Anita Bryant woke up a lot of people to the need for vigilance and political action of a different kind. Women in the Lesbian Alliance recognized, I believe, that they were in fact being attacked and pushed back into the closet by forces that hated them not only for their womanhood but also for their alternative sexuality, and there were others with a different focus that they could work with as allies. September 1977 Details of the matter are sadly lacking, but it was in September 1977 that the organized activity of the lesbian community took a strong leadership role in the Anita Bryant anti-hate campaign. Marvin Kabakoff gave a vivid account of the organized protest of Bryant's appearance at a book signing in Joplin, Missouri on September 24.
Brochures were produced, and one in particular demonstrates not only excellent qualities, but also reveals much about the structure and networking of a node in the lesbian community in and around St. Louis. An examination of that brochure reveals a list of places that tickets for the demonstration can be purchased, the list containing a number of important lesbian resources.
The flyer also reveals that the bus for Joplin left from the Washington University parking lot. This connection between the women's community, the lesbian community and the University needs to be more well-documented. I have done some of this by exploring the connection between the women's study program developed by Joyce Trebilcot in the 1970s at Washington University and St. Louis LGBT Pride. Meanwhile, the organized coalition of MCC, MLSC, and TFHR continued to collaborate productively to protect gay and lesbian Americans against the Save Our Children onslaught. The September, 1977 Prime Time contained an announcement of a benefit for the Task Force, no doubt to finance the Saturday, September 24 demonstration in Joplin. The St. Louis drag community had been mobilized to fight for gay rights, as they had done before, and would continue to do. A production of A Chorus Line was to be put on on Sunday, September 18 at Metropolitan Community Church at 5108 Waterman, former home of the Theosophical Society in St. Louis. The singers/actors were drag performers from several of St. Louis' popular gay bars: Charlie's Lounge and the Newsroom, downtown, and The Red Bull and Schrader's across the river in downtown E. St. Louis. The person leading the charge was Dusty Michaels (Stephen Adams), the Miss Gay Missouri queen for the year 1977. Several past winners of the Miss Gay Missouri contest also performed. Drag benefits have been used throughout the recent history of the St. Louis LGBT community as a means of solidifying the community around a good cause. For many community members, also in these days when coming out of the closet could cause one to loose a job, a familly, or a residence—the extended bar community was in effect their primary social millieu. What went down in the bar was a central topic of conversation and concern. Bar news was community news, as these three announcements/ads in the September, 1977 Prime Time indicate. A new bar complex called Faces located in E. St. Louis opened on Labor Day Weekend this year. The popular Helen Schrader's, also across the river, was expanding. Everyone who wanted to stay out late ended up in E. St. Louis bars because of early closing in St. Louis. But also, the third announcement/ad is for the Women's Eye Bookstore. The lesbian community had their bars in St. Louis. However, especially the more "separatist" lesbians, who were trying to rid their social surroundings of patriarchal trappings, tended to congregate in coffee houses, bookstores, festivals, rural retreats and other meeting places, either private or more public, such as spaces provided by MCC and MLSC. October 1977 In June the precedent of protecting the freedom of expression of student groups on campuses by requiring their recognition by Universities was established, a bright spot in a grim year for gays and lesbians. The battle to decriminalise homosexuality and protect it from moral approbation did not fare so well. On October 3, the Supreme Court of the USA upheld a Washington State Supreme Court decision that the firing of a gay teacher who was outed by a student was justified because homosexuality was immoral. MLSC prepared a statement critical of the decision in response to a request from Channel 5, and later did an interview which was aired. It would be a generation before the courts would begin to recognize that homosexuality per se was not immoral. What the Minutes of the Christian Social Action Committee Show1975-1977 We are fortunate to have the 1977-1978 minutes of the St. Louis Christian Social Action Committee, an organ of the United Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. These minutes are not only a window into the extensive political action campaign of UFMCC, but also into the local gay and lesbian politics of the period. Adam Debaugh, a man whose historical significance has not been well-documented, had a significant influence on the unfolding political struggle in St. Louis in 1977. This excerpt from his bio on the Chi Rho Press website provides revealing information:
During the years between 1975 and 1977 Adam DeBaugh was putting in place and supervising a rather significant progay political action system in MCC churches throughout the USA. Apparently, and some of this is inference, that program got very concrete in St. Louis at the beginning of 1977 by the appointment of Ray Lake to Chair the Christian Social Action Committee for the MCC of Greater St. Louis. As part of that charge Lake was directed to communicate with Adam DeBaugh, and in February, 1977 the first meeting of this committee was held. Here is some background on Lake. Early in the 1970s he had a wife and three daughters, but a divorce ensued, and Ray proceeded to sort out his life in psychotherapy, coming out as a gay man living openly. He connected with both MCC and MLSC and rapidly became a leader in the St. Louis lesbian and gay community. Ray was a major force in the Gay Hotline, a member of the St. Louis leather community, eventually serving on the Board at MCC and taking a strong leadership role in MLSC. February, March 1977 During February and March the Committee was organized and began to work. Eventually, four people agreed to serve, and Dan White was one of them. The work of the committee fell in line with the politics of the time: attempting to influence bills in the Missouri Legislature, especially revisions to the Missouri Penal Code and a rape testimony issue. One of the priorities was making politicians aware of the gay voting block. They quickly discovered that they had missed some opportunties, but went to work on a new Senate campaign and contacting politicians. Dan took a major initiative in this. Earl Miller designed motivational and alert posters, the latter focusing on contacting the Florida Citrus Commission in oppostion to the Bryant campaign. Flyers were distributed to the MCC congregation, and membership in MLSC, and other service organizations. May 1977 By May it is clear that St. Louis Christian Social Action Committee had become a major cog in the local, regional and national gay and lesbian polical wheel. First of all the letter of thanks from the Missouri Gay Caucus to the CSAC-STL for its monetary contribution demonstrates three things: 1) MGC was representing gay and lesbian interests to Governor Teasdale and Sentators Danforth and Eagleton, 2) St Louis organizations were well represented at the state level, and 3) the leadership at MCG was competent and experienced. By the issuing of the May Minutes of the Committee, CSAC-STL was assisting Rick Garcia and the Human Rights Task Force in their campaign to support the Dade County Coalition. Perhaps even a bigger deal was the CSAC-STL's role taking on the public relations job for the impending MCC District Conference at the end of May, in which Adam DeBaugh would lend his experience and expertise to the St. Louis organized gay activist community (as well as church leaders from 10 other states), through the political arm of MCC to be sure. June 1977 The June 1977 Minutes are written in Ray Lake's own hand, and they are well worth reading. Here we have Ray's own account of the MCC District Conference on the last weekend in May and St. Louis' reaction to the rescinding of gay rights in Dade County, which occurred on June 7, on the following two days. It is worth quoting Ray's description of the "Second Annual St. Louis Gay Pride Rally":
I would add that it is very plausible that a truly unified St. Louis LGBTQ Pride is traceable to this defining event. The only lacking component compared to the 1980 Pride Rally is a preceeding public walk. However, it is very likely that the roots of Mayor James F. Conway's approval of the 1980 Walk for Charity, are found in the work of Ray Lake and the St. Louis Christian Social Action Committee.
Ray Lake apparently wrote the mayor a congratulatory letter on his election and also informed the mayor of the interests of the gay and lesbian community in St. Louis. One last accomplishment of CSAC-STL is noted in the June 77 Minutes. The Rape Testimony Bill was passed by the Senate and sent to the Governor for approval. [During this era, nearly every state passed some version of a rape shield bill, even though details of the 1977 Missouri bill are not available at this writing.] The CSAC-STL was involved in an extensive letter writing campaign while this bill was being considered, and Lake thinks of this as a victory for the Committee's hard work. July, August, 1977 In the July Minutes of CSAC-STL we see again that the Committee was working closely to support the Task Force for Human Rights, this time by reproducing flyers and tickets for their Gay Night Out on the Riverfront on July 10. They also initiated exploration of a Gay Democratic Club and making an educational video on the gay community. Both these projects languished through August, though, as those minutes indicate, and apparently the video project was still in script writing stage at the end of the year. September, October 1977 The September minutes are missing. The October Minutes shows that CSAC-STL had decided to support attempts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which after a promising start in 1973, encountered increasing resistance from opponents like Phyllis Schlafley. The statewide and local gay and lesbian coalition was working, and Larry Eggleston, speaking for the Missouri Gay Caucus met with representatives of the St. Louis coalition on Oct. 23 announcing three more visits of Anita Bryant to the Show Me State: Lincoln University, Jefferson City on Nov. 21, Springfield, on Nov. 22, and Kansas City on Dec. 4. Strategy was discussed. November, December 1977 Lake reports taking on the job of coordinating between MCG and local organizations. Eggleston attempted conversations with the Jefferson City Chief of Police and encountered homophobic resistance. The decision was made to move the Jefferson City demonstration to Columbia, a more liberal city. Barry Mehler, representing the Gay People's Alliance at Washington University met with Lake and representatives of other local organizations to begin planning for a benefit to be held on Jan. 18, 1978 at the university. The principle speaker is to be Hon. Elaine Noble. [Elaine Noble was the first openly gay or lesbian candidate elected to a state legislature: Massachusetts, two two year terms in the House of Representatives in 1975, and ran for the Senate in 1978, coming in 5th.] The December Minutes report that Noble accepted the invitation and agreed that the proceeds would go to support St. Louis lesbian and gay organizations. A wine and cheese reception is being planned for the late afternoon of the 17th. Records show the three groups planning are the Gay People's Alliance, MLSC and the Lesbian Rights Alliance. What the Publication Moonstorm ShowsTo be completed Overview/ConclusionTo be completed (but see this article for an earlier analysis with less detail). Sources not included on the websiteKeith, Roger, "A Fine Balance Achieved by Ray Lake," No Bad News, October, 1991, p. 4.
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