Why I Joined the Movement
By: Jack Nichols
This is the text of an address given by Jack Nichols in the spring of 1967;
it was a joint appearance with Barbara Gittings at Bucknell University in
Pennsylvania, by invitation of a student group.
It first appeared in The Homosexual Citizen, the monthly publication of the
Mattachine Society of Washington but was published again in Speaking for Our Lives:
Historic Speeches and Rhetoric for Gay and Lesbian Rights (1892-2000)
edited by Robert B. Ridinger (Harrington Park Press.) Kay Tobin (Lahusen)
and Randy Wicker's book of historic interviews, The Gay Crusaders
(Paperback Library, 1972) tell of Gittings' and Nichols' collaboration as speakers.
Marchers at Independence Hall who are referenced in Nichols' speech recall the
Annual Reminder July 4 protests held each year between 1965 and 1969
by members of what were then called "the homophile organizations"
reminding the American people that gay men and lesbians did not enjoy the
full benefits of liberty and were still being treated as second-class citizens.
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Why did I join the movement to equalize the status of the homosexual?
Because I found out that there were rewards. When I stand up in a
positive fashion for my own rights I feel self-respect, self-knowledge,
and self-confidence. I see that it's helpful when homosexuals stand up
for their own rights and take their destiny into their own hands, trying to
make a world for themselves that's free of fear, confusion and discrimination.
There is something to he said for casting aside one's fears and confronting the
forces of darkness and despair with a healthy vigor. People who work in our
movement can't help but benefit from putting their focus on human freedom
and dignity.
The effects of discrimination which have reigned over homosexual people are
subtly pernicious. In centuries past homosexuals were burned at stake.
The dry sticks thrown at their feet were called "faggots." That's origin of that
pejorative word.
It may be argued that homosexuals can avoid such pitfalls without belonging
to the Homophile Movement. True. But it is also true that homosexuals must be
made of the strongest stuff if they are not to fall prey to insidious confusions
that trickle into their minds from an ocean of misunderstandings.
The Homophile Movement to which I belong gives to the homosexual constant
awareness of his humanity, of his oneness with the rest of mankind.
It makes him realize that homosexuality should mean no more than left-handedness
and that he is a full member of the human race.
These are just a few of the rewards the Homophile Movement grants to those in its ranks.
There is also the satisfaction of doing a job never done before. And there is the joy
of collaborating with my fellows on projects bringing comfort and hope, aid and solace
to millions who have never heard of this movement or who are unable to align themselves
although they may hope every day for its success.
Without this movement, what do we find'? Look first at the masses of' young homosexuals;
often bewildered, uninformed, searching for guidance, wondering about their inner feelings,
and fighting what Edward Carpenter called "a solitary and really serious inner struggle.
" A veil of complete silence has been drawn over the subject of homosexuality
and this often leads to the most painful misunderstandings.
Look at the agonized face of' a parent as he or she learns for the first time the
"dreadful" secret of an offspring. Here is an area in which many homosexuals
are painfully sensitive. To see the faces of those we love contorted in disbelief,
dismay, revulsion, or rejection and anger, is an experience all too common
among those who have, in one way or another, revealed life's facts to parents.
The Homophile Movement works toward breaking down not only the prejudices
effecting young homosexuals and their parents, but also those which affect
homosexuals throughout their lives. When the homosexual community itself
stops believing the nonsense that society has been proclaiming, the Movement
will have begun to accomplish its goals.
Dr. Wardell B. Pomeroy, co-author of the Kinsey report, states that when
homosexuals "are called nuts and neurotics and goofers by therapists,
immoral by the clergy, criminals by lawyers and judges, and perverts and c
hild molesters by the public" they need a very "special kind of faith in themselves"
and "faith in their fellow man." The Homophile Movement exists to give that faith to
its members and to those who share, without being members, its aspirations
for a brighter future.
The Homophile Movement has distinct roots in the American dream.
It is, in great measure, a social protest movement, but these words alone
do not describe it adequately. It is another chapter in the Book of Freedom,
asking as it does for the rights of the individual, for the sanctity of privacy in
an area-sexual behavior-which is certainly the most personal of concerns.
In a sense, the Homophile Movement is thus protecting not only homosexuals
but all people resenting the intrusion of government, employers, and others
who pry into their private lives seeking excuses for condemnation and
discrimination.
There was a time not long ago when private employers felt free to discriminate
against citizens, to hire and fire them on the basis of political beliefs, religion,
or race. Today such employers are thought to be misguided, if not immoral,
but we live in a nation where an individual's private sexual behavior behind
the closed doors of his own home is still considered relevant to employment.
In the Great Society this nation is building, the Homophile Movement is lending
new meaning to the primacy of the individual, protesting the ever-watchful eye
of Big Brother while it demands freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and
of the right of a person to be the sovereign of his thoughts and feelings
.
Homosexuals are mistreated by officialdom not because of what they have
done-their actions-but for their inclinations. No policy could be further from
the principles on which this country is founded. To dismiss a man, to hound him
through the remainder of his life for his thoughts and feelings are the tactics of
totalitarianism. A person joining the Homophile Movement is waging war on the
growing tendency of officialdom to judge men and women by their private sexual
inclinations. This person will help protect fundamental freedoms.
Adlai Stevenson used to say that "the American Revolution is never complete.
America is a continuing revolution." The many men and women, who annually
march in front of Independence Hall on July 4 to remind America of the plight
of the homosexual, contribute peacefully and lawfully to the meaning of the
Revolution from which American principles developed
Two heterosexuals stood watching the protest. "It's terrible,"
said one to the other. His friend turned to him and said,
"At last I'm convinced that freedom in this country is meaningful.
It makes me realize that America is really going somewhere."
The Homophile Movement belongs to the revolution with which Jefferson
allied himself when he swore "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny
over the mind of man." There is no tyranny no tyranny more morbid that that
dictating to love and affection and no slave more pitiful than he who succumbs
to such dictation.
Sex is a fundamental human need. Those who do not interfere with the rights
of others and who pursue this need privately should be protected from
interference.
Those people concerned with the meaning of America, longing to build
a truly great society, will protest official sexual inspections and official approval
of sexual desires and inclinations. They will realize that support of the
Homophile Movement is an important way of curbing and stopping such tyranny.
