Carl Wittman (February 23, 1943– January 22, 1986) was a member of the national council of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and later an activist for LGBT rights. He co-authored "An Interracial Movement of the Poor?" (1963) [1] with Tom Hayden and wrote "A Gay Manifesto" [2] (1970). He died of an AIDS-related cause.
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In 1960, Wittman entered Swarthmore College where he became a student activist. Wittman spent summers doing civil rights work in the South, and joined the national council of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). In 1966, after becoming disillusioned with homophobia in the New Left, Wittman left SDS. Wittman married Mimi Feingold the same year.
In 1967, Wittman moved to San Francisco with Feingold where they lived with other activists in an anti-draft commune. Wittman turned in his draft card to the Oakland Induction Center in October 1967 during Stop the Draft Week.
Wittman, while actively gay since the age of 14, remained closeted until coming out in the late 60s in an article, "Waves of Resistance," published in the November, 1968 issue of the antiwar magazine, Liberation. [3] [4]
In 1969, Wittman wrote Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto published by The Red Butterfly cell of the Gay Liberation Front January, 1970. [2]
In 1971, Wittman moved to Wolf Creek, OR with his then-lover, Stevens McClave. Two years later, he began a long-term relationship with a fellow war resister, Allan Troxler, a conscientious objector.