Mashka Sutton, Class of 2022, Government and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

This is the first Gay Flames: A Bulletin of the Homofire Movement paper pamphlet published by New York’s Gay Liberation Front. This pamphlet written by Martha Shelley describes a transitory moment in many LGBT organizations in the early 1970s. Rhetoric of distributed ephemera by LGBT organizations became more strident during this time and reflected a move from seeking acceptance into straight society to wanting to build a gay culture. This is clearly illustrated in Shelley’s issue title, “Gay is Good,” and the opening line of the pamphlet, “look out straights!” This shift is also noticeable in the “Homofire Movement” portion of the pamphlet name, as it reflects a radical change from the homophile movement, which was a more conservative gay effort to gain acceptance into straight society. As Marc Stein writes, Shelley herself was involved in the early homophile movement in the Daughters of Bilitis prior to joining New York’s GLF. The circulation of this Gay Flames pamphlet throughout New York and elsewhere likely influenced the Cornell Student Homophile League to rename itself Cornell’s Gay Liberation Front.

Although Shelley notes in this pamphlet that members of the GLF had difficulties being out in the other progressive organizations they were involved in, such as those related to the women’s liberation movement and the antiwar movement, in an interview with Kelly Andersson, Shelley states that from early on the GLF’s platform included abortion rights and ending the Vietnam War. Shelley later mentions in the interview these organizations eventually supported out LGBT members, but that this pamphlet acknowledges the initial struggle for recognition and acceptance of LGBT members.

Source

Gay Flames: A Bulletin of the Homofire Movement, Issue 1, New York Gay Liberation Front, September 1970. Pauline Layton Papers, #7620, Box 1, Folder 17, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/3077872

Bibliography

Cain, Paul D. “Shelley, Martha.” In Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America, edited by Marc Stein, 120-121. Vol. 3. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. Gale eBooks. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3403600473/GVRL?u=cornell&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=2013093e.

Shelley, Martha. Interview by Kelly Anderson. Transcript of video recording, October 12, 2003. Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, Sophia Smith Collection, pp. 37-38.