Gay Liberation Front (GLF) 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.
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The Activist GLF was interested in the sexual liberation for all people, as they believed that heterosexuality was a remnant of cultural inhibition and felt that change would not come about unless the current social institutions were dismantled and rebuilt without defined sexual roles. To do this the GLF was intent on transforming the idea of the biological family and clan and making it more akin to a loose affiliation of members without biological subtexts. Prominent members of the GLF also opposed and addressed other social inequalities between the years of 1969 to 1972 such as militarism, racism, and sexism but because of internal rivalries the GLF officially ended its operations in 1972.
The Stonewall riots are considered by many as the catalyst in the organization of the GLF and other gay and lesbian movements. These riots are also considered to be the origin of the gay rights pacifism movement. On 27 June 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York, a gay bar was raided by New York police, routine at the time. The Stonewall Inn, was a well known LGBT establishment located on Christopher street in two former horse stables which were renovated into one building in 1930 and was subject to countless raids since LGBT activities and fraternization were generally illegal. When the police arrived, the customers began pelting them with coins, and later, bottles and rocks. The crowd also freed staff members who were put into police vans, and the outnumbered officers retreated inside the bar. Soon, the Tactical Patrol Force (TPF), originally trained to deal with war protests, were called in to control the mob, which was now using a parking meter as a battering ram. As the patrol force advanced, the crowd did not disperse, but instead doubled back and reformed behind the riot police, throwing rocks and shouting “Gay Power!”, dancing and taunting their opposition. For the next several nights, the crowd would return in ever increasing numbers, handing out leaflets and rallying themselves. In early July, due in large part to the riots in June, discussions in the gay community lead to the formation of the Gay Liberation Front. Soon the word “Stonewall” came to represent fighting for equality in the gay community.
One of the GLF's first acts was to organize a march in response to Stonewall, and to demand an end to the persecution of homosexuals. The GLF had a broad political platform, denouncing racism and declaring support for various Third World struggles and the Black Panther Party — some of whom would return the gesture of solidarity. They took an anti-capitalist stance, and attacked the nuclear family and traditional gender roles.[1] Several GLF women such as Martha Shelley, Lois Hart and Michela Griffo went on to form the Lavender Menace.
In the United Kingdom the GLF had its first meeting in the basement of the London School of Economics on 13 October 1970. Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter had seen the effect of the GLF in the United States and created a parallel movement based on revolutionary politics and alternative lifestyle.[3]
By 1971 the UK GLF was recognized as a political movement in the national press, holding weekly meetings of 200 to 300 people.[4] The GLF Manifesto was published, and a series of high-profile direct actions, were carried out, such as the disruption of the launch of the Church-based morality campaign, Festival of Light.[5]
We do not intend to ask for anything. We intend to stand firm and assert our basic rights. If this involves violence, it will not be we who initiate this, but those who attempt to stand in our way to freedom.
— GLF Manifesto, 1971[3]
The disruption of the opening of the 1971 Festival of Light was the best organised GLF action. The Festival of Light was organised by Mary Whitehouse at Methodist Central Hall, and included Cliff Richard and Malcolm Muggeridge. Groups of GLF members in drag invaded and spontaneously kissed each other; others released mice, sounded horns and unveiled banners, and a contingent dressed as workmen obtained access to the basement and shut off the lights.[6]
Easter 1972 saw the Gay Lib annual conference held in the Guild of Undergraduates Union (students union) building at the University of Birmingham.
By 1974 internal disagreements and lead to the movement splintering. Organizations that span off from the movement included the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, Gay News and Icebreakers. The GLF Information Service continued for a few further years providing gay related resources.[7] GLF branches had been set up in some provincial British towns (e.g. Bristol, Leeds, Bradford) and some survived for a few years longer.
The papers of the GLF are among the Hall-Carpenter Archives at the London School of Economics.
Several members of the GLF including Peter Tatchell continued their campaigning beyond the 1970s under the banner of OutRage! which still exists today, using similar tactics such as 'zaps' and performance protest to attract a significant level of media interest and controversy. It was at this point the emergence of a divide within the gay activist movement occurred mainly due to a difference in ideologies, after which a number of groups including Organisation for Lesbian and Gay Action (OLGA), Stonewall (which focused on lobby tactics), the Lesbian Avengers and OutRage! co-existed.