Gay Chicago Timeline - June 22-28

BACK IN THE DAY (JUNE 22-28, 2010)

1970, CHICAGO'S FIRST PRIDE PARADE

THIS WEEK IN ...

1970

On June 21 - 28, 1970, Chicago gays and lesbians celebrate their first Gay Pride Week to mark the one-year anniversary of Christopher Street Liberation Day (aka the 1969 Stonewall Riots). It was organized by the Chicago Gay Liberation Front and endorsed by Mattachine Midwest and other groups.

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On Sunday, June 21, the festivities kick off with an evening cruise on Lake Michigan aboard the Trinidad.

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On June 22, the Midwestern Gay Lib Conference begins at the U. of Illinois CCC, a week of consciousness-raising workshops - more like unstructured "rap" sessions - opening with "The Analysis of the Gay Manifesto," through "Women of Gay Lib" and "Building the Counter Culture," ending on June 26 with an all-day continuous workshop on "Gay Lib Organizing; Gay Lib and the Movement; Education and Social Change."

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On June 23, 18 Gay Libbers infiltrate a Chicago meeting of the American Medical Association to protest Dr. Charles Socarides, a physician noted for his anti-gay writings; that month in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, he wrote: "The pattern arises from faulty sexual identity, a product of the earliest years of life. Typically, we find a pathological family constellation in which there is a domineering crushing mother who will not allow the developing child to achieve autonomy from her, and an absent, weak, or rejecting father."

The protestors dispersed throughout the hall and when Socarides said the word "homosexual," a Gay Libber jumped up and shouted "Homosexuals are beautiful," while others distributed a leaflet. Socarides continued but was interrupted again with calls of "you're making things up" and "do you cure your straight patients of heterosexuality?"

A report on the zap written by Step May in Gay Flames reads: "After Socarides finished, one furious doctor demanded to know by what authority we were attending the session. Another doctor suggested that the issue that the Gay Liberation people were raising should be given legitimacy, and that one homosexual should join Socarides and the other authorities on the panel. A gay guerilla raised the objection that there were women homosexuals and men homosexuals and that both groups would have to be represented. A gay woman and a gay man then took their places on the panel and explained that homosexuals are not inherently sick, but that society and psychiatrists force them to think of themselves as sick. Socarides reiterated his position about gender identity and being confused by childhood trauma, which by now must have sounded pretty lame to just about everyone present. That evening a man called the number on the leaflet and said that he approved of the action we'd done. 'I'm a doctor,' he explained. 'I'm gay.'"

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On Saturday, June 27, Chicago's first Gay Pride march starts with a 12 noon rally at Bughouse Square - the home of free-speech orators by day and male prostitutes by night. Among the speakers was Sunny King of Detroit Gay Lib, who tells the crowd she gave up her high-paid job to work full-time on Gay Lib because freedom is more important than job security. Also speaking are ACLU lawyer Jonathan Smith, psychologist Kitch Childs and Chicago Gay Lib's Michael Barta and Henry Weimhoff. Speeches over, 150-200 people hold hands and chant as they march south on Dearborn and east on Chicago Avenue, passing gay landmarks, the Lawson YMCA and the Chicago Avenue police station along the way. They continue down Michigan Avenue, Wacker, State and Randolph to the Civic Center Plaza for more speeches and a circle dance around the Picasso sculpture. By this time "the pig quota was up to five squads and two meat wagons," according to underground newspaper The Seed.

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On Sunday, June 28 lesbians and gay men end the first Chicago Gay Pride Week with a Bring-Your-Own-Food picnic at Belmont Rocks and a dance at the Aragon Ballroom with bands, tapes and a light show. Tickets are $2.