The Stonewall Reader
A study guide of the New York Public Library’s 2019 book ‘The Stonewall Reader.’
Summary, part 3
“The How And Why of Virginia” by Virginia Prince
Prince was a transgender activist who founded the magazine Transvestia. In this essay, Prince reflects on her gender identity beginning with her love for high-heeled shoes as a child. Prince writes about her marriage to different women before transitioning. During that marriage Prince continued to explore her gender identity: “Being left alone was almost worse than being denied the opportunity because it made one feel despicable and unfit for company” (p. 110). Prince and her wife came to an agreement that Prince would be able to dress the way she wanted a few times a week.
Prince’s wife tried not to acknowledge what was happening until they consulted a psychiatrist. She proceeded to get a divorce from Prince and attempted to cease visitations to their son because she believed Prince was gay. Prince did not want a divorce and was against the assumption her wife made that she was a homosexual.
Prince remarried later and her partner was accepting of Prince. Prince pinpointed this marriage as the first time she took on the first name Virginia. In terms of her magazine Transvestia, Prince said that it was meant to provide support to other transgender people. Prince reflects that, “the very tempering experiences that hurt me so much had given me the growth, the freedom, and the guts, if you will, to start doing something about it for others, in the hope that they might be spared some of what I had been through” (p. 115).
“The Motion of Light in Water” by Samuel R. Delany
In this excerpt from his autobiography, Delany reflects on his experience as a gay Black man. There was a man in Delany’s church as a young man who was overtly queer. His name was Herman and there was an unspoken tolerance for his queerness, but not an acceptance.
“One thing I realized was that this kind of fooling around (the word “camping” I didn’t hear for another half dozen years or more) was strictly masculine ” (p.120)
There were social schemes that did not enable acceptance but rather a situation that made others comfortable (p. 121). First, Delany had to figure out how to be queer. There was no guidebook or how-to. Second, there were questions around how to find sexual outlets (p. 123). Third, Delany reflected on expression. He thought back to Herman and how he probably had to find some space for his queerness that was safe.
“I had decided—from Herman and several other gay black men I’d seen or met—that some blacks were more open about their homosexuality than many whites. My own explanation was, I suppose, that because we had less to begin with, in the end we had less to lose” (p. 125)
Delaney admitted himself into a hospital for a breakdown and intentionally hid his sexuality from the other patients. He eventually shared that part of his identity in a group therapy session which he describes resulted in an anticlimactic response from the group who overall accepted this part of Delaney:
“The most important part of the lesson resolved for me that night, however, while I was lying in bed, thinking over the day: Thanks to my unfounded fear of Hank’s anger (the guy—like most of the world—just had too many problems of his own), what had I managed to tell them about homosexuality, my homosexuality?” (p. 132)
Delaney realized that he and perhaps the rest of the world lacked the language to describe their experiences.
“The Gay Crusaders” by Barbara Gittings
Gittings talks about her experience going to gay bars and cross-dressing in the 1950s. Bars were an entry point for social lives. Gay bar culture and straight culture were both places Gittings didn’t quite physically fit into. There are physical presentations of sexuality: “two types of women in the gay bars, the so-called butch ones in short hair and plain masculine attire and the so-called femme ones in dresses and high heels and makeup” (p. 136). Gittings never felt fully part of either group.
Literature and gayness
Gittings also talks about gay fiction, which is a genre all on its own. It exists partially because many novels depicted the suffering of queer people, but there is still an avenue of liberation because gay fiction allows gay people to be represented.
Mattachine society and DOB
The Ladder, published by DOB, had an impact on Gittings. She decided to start a DOB chapter in New York City.
Evolution of the gay movement in the 50s and 60s
At first we told ourselves we were getting together to learn more about the nature of homosexuality and to let other people know. We looked for ‘sympathetic’ psychiatrists and lawyers and clergymen who would say things that made us feel a bit better about ourselves. In retrospect, I think this was a very necessary stage to go through. The movement we have today could not have developed if there hadn’t been this earlier effort to get over the really severe feelings of inadequacy about being gay that most of our people had (p. 141).
Political action became an integral part of the liberation movement. This meant changing laws that currently existed and then claiming rights as a group.
The attitudes around gay rights emphasized that society needed to change not those who society identified as defiant outliers. It was understood that, “the ‘problem’ of homosexuality isn’t ours at all—it’s society’s, and society should change to accommodate us, not try to change us” (p. 142).
This was the era of “Gay is Good.”
“Interview with Ernestine” by Ernestine Eckstein
Eckstein was a leader in the DOB New York chapter. Eckstein describes how language such as “gay” was new to some, and about how learning this language applied to her.
Blackness and Queerness
There are racial differences when it comes to sexual freedom and a lack of freedom for Black people to explore their sexuality. There is a constraint that exists because of the definitions enforced by society. In movements such as the Homophile, there was a lack of racial diversity.
Partnerships between straight and gay people
In order for queer liberation to be achieved, Eckstein recommends “an organization should be formulated with a definite aim in mind and then the membership should fall in line with this aim” (p.154). Here, cooperation fosters a united front and involvement. Additionally, Eckstein believed that movements should have the goal of erasing labels such as “black” or “white,” and instead focus on bringing in allies in support of this liberation movement.
In this movement, it must be clear to all that “homosexuality is not a sickness” (p. 157). Queerness is not an illness, despite what many psychologists and therapists at the time were saying. Instead, the best “therapy” for homosexuality is for queer people to associate with people who are like themselves.
“The Psychoanalysis of Edward the Dyke” by Judy Grahn
Grahn wrote this poem talking about homophobia and enforced gender conformity. Edward the Dyke lays on the table of Dr. Knox. “Naturally I can’t go into men’s restrooms without feeling like an interloper,” Grahn wrote, “but on the other hand every time I try to use the ladies room I get into trouble” (p. 163).
Dr. Knox insists Edward is a girl, enforcing a gender performance not aligned with Edward. “You’ll be exactly the little girl we’ve always wanted you to be,” Grahn wrote (p. 164). To Edward, homosexuality means they can do what they want. The poem ends depicting a lobotomy performed on Edward (p. 169).
“A Transexual Autobiography” by Mario Martino
Martino founded the Labyrinth Foundation Counseling Service, the first counseling service for trans men in New York (170). He had gender-affirming surgery in the 60s. Many downplayed the importance of the surgery, suggesting Martino just be a lesbian. Martino and his friend Bill wanted to change their birth certificate, something that was difficult to fight for: “Your papers are finished—but, well, the judge struck out that part of the order which says that the birth certificate must be amended to now read male gender” (p. 173). When the certificate could be amended, it was a source of joy for Martino because he had affirmed himself. Martino was the first on record name change request on a nursing license as well.
“The Gay Crusaders” by Craig Rodwell
Rodwell created and ran an organization, the Homophile Youth Movement in Neighborhoods (HYMN). He also helped plan the first Pride march in honor of Stonewall and opened the first LGBTQ+ bookstore in 1967, the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop.
New guard versus old guard in the Mattachine Society of New York
The sickness theory, referring to the idea that queerness was a mental sickness, was tolerated by many within the gay community and went unchallenged for a long time. The old guard did not want to address this, and even some bought into the notion that homosexuality was a sickness. The new guard wanted to adopt this statement:
In the absence of valid evidence to the contrary, homosexuality is not a sickness, disturbance, or other pathology in any sense, but is merely a preference, orientation, or propensity, on par with and not different in kind from heterosexuality (p. 181).
“Sip-In” demonstrations
Mirroring the Civil Rights sit-ins, Rodwell helped organize the sip-in to respond to the State Liquor Authority’s (SLA) regulations that prohibited bars to serve gay clientele. The intention of the sip-in was to sit at the bar and demand to be served as gay customers. Members of the Mattachine went to a bar for a confrontation (182). The sip-in was unsuccessful as the bar owners were tipped off and the bar was closed. With pressure from the City Commission on Human Rights, the SLA backed down.
Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop
This bookstore was born out of Rodwell’s frustration with members in the Mattachine Society, who did not want to invest in a queer bookstore. Gay bookshops were assumed to be gay porno shops, but Rodwell wanted this to show a “good light” on the community, stating: “My general policy was to have a shop where gay people didn’t feel they were being exploited either sexually or economically” (p. 185).
The store was like any regular bookstore and was curated to be a safe space. For example, Gay organizations could promote themselves at the store. Additionally, the store was built on the idea that literature leads to education, and that books can be used to educate family members who are not understanding of their loved ones’ sexuality and identity (p. 189).
Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee
Rodwell was one of the cofounders of the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee. The committee planned the Pride march, which was in celebration of the Stonewall uprising and the gay liberation movement. The march would be held on the last Sunday of June each year in New York City. This march was a chance to “show the vast diversity of gays and help change the heads of both straight and gay people” (p. 193).