Gay liberation front london


The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was founded by students Bob Mellors and Aubrey Walter. The first meeting was held on 13 October at the London College of Economics. Click below to consult the GLF Manifesto, which was published in and verb out the key demands and principles of the GLF. It challenged gay people to verb out and be visible, while also exploring the means by which they were oppressed by society. For the GLF, gay liberation was not about law reform, it was about a revolutionary change in society. Also included below is the revised edition from

The diverse politics of people who joined the GLF however, meant that consensus on a single topic was often hard to come by. By the end of GLF had disbanded, but the organisation and its manifesto, cast a long shadow. Many gay rights organisations that emerged during the course of the s and s would have their core principles rooted in the operate of the GLF.

The manifesto digitised here is the first in what will become an online library of key LGBTQ+ texts from the s, s and s, held in the Particular Collections and Archives here at the I

Gay Liberation Front

The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was part of the first openly public demonstration by homosexuals in the UK and present on the first Gay Pride March. They have been marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and the founding of the GLF in New York, the origin of the fight back that inspired and brought hope to LGBTQI+ people of every country in the world.

The year brings the 50th anniversary of the begin of Gay Liberation in London, the moment when everything changed in Britain by setting off the first Gay Pride March in , making the 50th anniversary of that political demonstration and celebration. GLF&#;s aim is ‘Absolute Freedom for All’ and they empower the queer community to achieve this through artistic and activist processes to confront a variety of forms of institutionalised homophobia including workshops, events, exhibitions, street actions and community organising.

GLF stands for liberation: the choice is always there – liberation or slavery.

‘Out of the Closet and into the Streets’is a political education and activism programm

Lisa Power – activist, journalist, co-founder of Stonewall and former-Islingtonian, collected the histories of the GLF in her book ‘No Bath But Plenty of Bubbles – an oral history of the Gay Liberation Front ’. Quoted in the book is Stuart Feather who attended the demonstration:

“It was dusky and we all wandered spherical lighting each other’s cigarettes which was the action given in Police evidence against Eakes and then we kissed openly, which was extraordinary. It was an enormous release to be proficient to kiss and carry on.”

In the 90s, OutRage!, the LGBT resistance group committed to equality through agitation and non-violent direct action, erected a plaque on the toilets of where the infamous Eakes incident took place. The unveiling of the plaque was attended by Chris Smith MP, the first MP to openly come out as gay during his time as office, and Jeremy Corbyn MP, representing both parliamentary seats in Islington.

The plaque remains today, long after the conversion of original toilets, thanks to Terry Stacy, former leader of Islington Council, who rescued the plaque fro

Out and proud - the legacy of the Gay Liberation Front

The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) originated in America, with the adj Stonewall Riots on 27 June and leading figures such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. By , the concept had been brought over to the London School of Economics and the first meeting was held in a basement with 19 people on the 13 October Within a month, after leafleting and more meetings, the crowds of attendees grew.

The movement had grown to attendees by November , adding publications such as Gay News and Approach Together and starting to grip ‘gay days’. Other branches of the GLF started popping up across the country, especially in Manchester and Brighton.

The GLF Manifesto was published in It had radical demands. The lengthy manifesto outlined 10 ways that gay people were oppressed, including in school, employment, the family, law, and self-oppression. Their aims were radical, wanting to abolish the family unit and cultural distinctions between men and women, aiming to end the sexist supremacy of the straight man. They shared a lot of solidarity with fe