Gay USA (1978) - full transcript

-I think it's at least double

what it's been in the past,

and as we expected,

there's a new militancy

in the gay movement

and it's here today.

-To each his own, you know?

I ain't prejudice or

nothing like that,

but when they come

in the streets

and messing with

normal people, then

that's something different.

-I'm surprised to see so

many women in the parade.

After all, you can recognize

the men more or less.

But from looking

at the women, there

must be an awful lot

that we don't know about.

-I have two beautiful

children, both boys,

seven and nine years old.

If they grow up to

be gay, I'll love

them as much as I love them now.

-I think they're nuts.

-Well, we have the fight

for what's right on earth.

And we're here, we want to

help the homosexuals to live

the right way, the way Christ

tells, the way of the Bible.

We're sympathetic, we

understand they have a problem.

But we want them to

be cured, we don't

want them to go

on living in sin.

-Gay people are learning that

they are oppressed no matter

what their jobs are, what

their roles are in society.

That when there are laws

passed against gays,

they're passed against all gays.

-We represent the Human

Life Amendment group,

we're fighting abortion.

Life supported Anita Bryant,

so that's exactly how I feel.

I'm not for gay rights.

-As far as you can see, honey,

it's all the way back there.

We got it together this year.

No more gay county for

us, honey, no more.

-This act discriminates

the men certain jobs.

Just like heterosexual

who might molest a child,

he will be discriminated

for minding my children.

Gays rape children.

Gays are in the Porty Authority

picking up boys and girls

all the time.

-They got to do more

than just come out

when it's easy like

this on gay day.

This is a sign of gay power.

What we can do if

we all get together.

We still really do this,

we got to do it more often.

-I think it's disgusting.

If they want to

live that way fine,

but why push it down my throat?

-The only way sometimes

you can get certain rights

is by demonstrating,

and this is probably

the best way to demonstrate.

-I'm seventy years old

and when I was growing up,

I never saw this.

And thank God, I have

no children of this age

that I-- that I have that

would see a thing like this.

-The reason that we're

staying in the Church

is to protest it's

policies against gay people

the Archdiocese of

New York especially.

They've always been

instrumental in defeating

the gay rights act.

-We-- we respect man's

rights, but homosexuality is

condemned by Christ

in the Bible.

It's unnatural way of living.

And while God loves

the sinner, he

abhors the sin of homosexuality.

It is a sickness and we believe

there's a divine position also.

There's Christ, and

there's religion.

And if all young

people, all ages,

heterosexual and otherwise,

were taught what God wants

and the way we're

suppose to live.

But they're not getting

it in the schools today.

-(CHANTING) Gay rights now!

Gay rights now!

Gay rights now!

-You mind talking?

-No, I came just because it was

interesting, human interest.

I'm sympathetic to

the gay movement.

And that's all.

-OK.

-Very interesting people around.

-Are you having a good time?

-Sure.

-Are you angry about what's

been happening to gay people?

-Angry?

Yeah, angry.

But not really vocal

about it I would say.

-You have an opportunity now.

Are you gay?

-No.

-Do you have any

curiosity about it?

-Yeah, naturally.

-You think most people do?

-I think most people do

in one way or another.

I have a lot of gay friends.

-Well, I think when any

group of people is oppressed,

all people are oppressed.

If any group loses its rights,

we all lose our rights.

Now as you can see from

my sign, I'm not gay

and none of my family is.

But yet, but yet it is a

group who has every right

to have their

opinion, their belief,

their private lives just

the way anyone else should.

And I feel very

strongly about it.

Also, I was aroused by

the disgusting campaign

that this woman in

Florida conducted.

She had all the-- the

ultra-right rabble

and the kooks in

the world there,

and it was a very backward

and reactionary thing.

Then of course, as so

many San Franciscans were,

I was very appalled by the

murder of the young man.

That's why I came.

I believe in human rights.

Every mother has a child.

That child, she does not

know whether that's child's

going to be a homosexual

or a heterosexual.

She shouldn't ever

disavow that child.

She should love it from the

moment she gives it birth

till the moment she

or the child dies.

And none of us, none

of us, can choose.

We grow up to a certain

stage and somebody,

somewhere in our genes has laid

down something that has decided

ahead of our birth what

we are doing to be.

But I would say just as God

decides whether you're going

to be a boy or a

girl, He decides

whether going to be a

homosexual or a heterosexual.

-We hope we get my

rights, that's all.

-Yeah I hope they give us cause

I won't go back in the closet.

You know it's like

you know suicide.

Really is.

-Feels like it kills you.

-Yes, it would kill me.

I don't think it will.

-We're getting

married and I don't

know if I should

get married now.

-Yeah.

-Really?

Today's changed

your life that much?

-It's just really

changed my life.

I don't if I should

get married now

because I don't think

I'll have my rights.

-And the reason that I

believe that whenever there's

an attack on any

group in our society,

we all must come to their aid.

And it's a question of human

rights, not gay rights.

And I feel that the environment

in our country today

is going a little backward.

There has been attacks, not only

on gays, but on women's rights,

on the abortion.

That new legislative bit

with the Supreme Court

where poor women are going

to be denied abortions where

rich women could

always get them.

-To support our gay friends

and all the people who we know

are gay, who we personally

share some space and living

space with and find no

different than ourselves

and are entitled to the same

rights that we are given.

-Are you lesbian?

-Yes.

-How would you

feel if your child

came out to be a boy or girl?

-A girl.

-How would you feel if

she was a lesbian too?

-That's OK.

Feels OK.

-How do you feel about

being here today with her?

-Oh, I feel really

good about it.

I like her being here.

It's nice energy and

she's really enjoying it.

-And I'm here

because I would like

to support civil

rights for everyone.

I think you know this is

something this country has

fought for for a long time, and

why let it go down the drain

now?

-Why did you come here today?

-Well, we believe

in human rights.

-Are you a lesbian?

-No.

-Are you a lesbian?

-No.

-Why did you bring

your children?

-Well, I believe in

human rights, also.

-Do you understand what

gay rights is about?

-No.

-Are you having a

good time here today?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, but even walking around

like you'll notice there's-- I

mean, that ratio of men

to women, it's really--

must be 20 to 1 or

20 to 3 or something,

cause it's just a

lot more men around.

And that's more like

bittersweet but it's OK.

-Where you from?

-Los Angeles, California.

-Are you gay?

-No, I'm not gay, I'm here

to see what gay people act

and how they act.

-What do you think

so far of the parade?

-I think the parade

is a success.

I think it's going to have a

great impact on the country.

But in the wrong direction.

-Why is that?

-Because to me, this means that

these people are going in the--

in the wrong direction,

for they're not--

they're not healthy in a sense.

-But I don't know, I don't

know how you mean that?

-Well, when your sex hormones,

they balance properly,

you're not a gay person.

When you're sex hormones

are balanced probably,

you will not find

this kind of growth.

-But what does that

have to do with

this civil right of gay people--

-This I admire.

--where they want to.

-They could do what they wish

but you have to understand,

that this is a-- this is

accelerating genetic process

that's taking place

across the country

and it's not a healthy process.

Freedom, yes, but to not to

be healthy is another thing.

-But if everybody isn't free

that means nobody is in a way

doesn't it?

-I agree with that

concept, it's fine.

Rona Barrett made it very

clear across the coast,

they have their

right to their day.

But if the country

goes this way,

it'll be a sad day

for the country.

-Well gay people don't want

the country to go this way,

they just want to be

themselves and-- and

have rights like everybody else.

-I agree with the

right aspect of it.

This has been said

by many people.

-And-- and, we're not saying

that everybody is gay.

-I'm not saying that either.

I'm here to observe

and I say this

is a bad trend for the country.

But you have your rights.

This is freedom of the

constitutional right.

This I agree with 100%.

-Oh, yeah, I like

this parade a lot.

There were a lot

of spaces in it,

and it didn't feel

all smashed together.

It was like you could pick

out different kinds of people

and there were all

different kinds of people;

teachers, and

nurses, and all kinds

of contingents that

made me real proud.

Yeah, they were

standing up saying, uh,

saying what I believe,

you know, which

is that you have to

come out of the closet.

And you have to stand up and

fight, because they're going

to kill you anyway, you

know, one way or the other.

And this way feels a lot

better than the other way,

where we're just

cowering away hiding

and you don't even know

who your friends are.

In this way, you know

your friends are,

you know who your enemies are.

But at least the friends

are right there, you know.

I like that.

-I feel wonderful

about this parade.

In all the years that

I've been in them

since the first

anniversary in New York,

this one has, has

that wonderful balance

between a certain seriousness,

but there's also fun to it,

too.

People are having a good time.

-I'm here from Florida,

and I want to find out

how these California

people enjoy orange juice.

And of course-- hello?

No sound.

The sign says it, huh?

-Are you very moved

by being here?

-I am.

I was really crying before.

I just got really, I

got really turned on

by seeing how many

people, you know,

were brave and weren't cowed

by the tremendous amount

of repressive things that

are coming down in the media,

and the kind of headlines and

things that are making people

feel uptight.

-I'll tell you one thing, if

there is a balance here today,

you can rest assured that the

media will really jump on it

and seize on it,

cause it's sensational

and that's what people

will want to see.

It'll be on channel

2 and channel

5 and channel 7 and channel 11.

-I can probably speak

for all the kids

in the United States

and my brother even.

We all believe in

equal rights for kids.

-All right.

-I think that should

be made into a law too.

[CHANTING]

[MUSIC - ELLEN ROBINSON, "SEND

ME NO FLOWERS"]

-I live up in the country.

But after I was seeing

the headlines up there

in the newspaper, there was

no way I could stay up there,

I had to come down.

It really scared me.

I have talked to my mother.

I ask her how she would

have voted in Miami,

she said she didn't know.

She didn't like my little

sister sitting on my lap.

Makes me really angry.

I was thinking of stealing

her address book with all

my relatives and their

friends names is it

and sending them cards--

you know a queer, too.

You know, next time

you hear a queer joke.

I mean they could prevent

me from seeing my brothers

and sisters, and they've

tried to in the past.

-I'm out of the

closet everywhere.

Work, home, everywhere.

And it's the finest feeling

I've ever had in my life.

-Marching for gay rights,

I feel like there's

a strong connection between

third world oppression

and gay oppression, poor

people in this country.

I think we're all

feeling the same thing.

-We're just strictly observers.

-Are you going to march in it?

-No, I'm not.

Sorry.

-Monitoring's keeping

people starting, marching,

we're watching the sides.

-Yes, making everything funnel

right in to Market Street.

-Just watching.

-Well I'm-- I'm standing

up for my rights.

-I think it's beautiful.

It's absolutely marvelous.

We have straight people

here, we have children here,

we have families here, and

we have a marvelous show

of strength and unity

from the gay community.

-What are you doing in

the middle of the summer,

though, in San Francisco?

-I think there's no

time like the present

to march for human rights.

-Santa Clause for human rights?

Santa Clause and children

for children's rights.

And I think that the

movement in the country

to repress the

sexuality of children

and I think that that

should be fought against.

-For this Christmas,

what would you

wish for the children

of the world?

-Tolerance, and all that stuff.

-Thanks a lot, Santa Clause.

-You're welcome,

Merry Christmas.

-So I'm going to be

the gay consciousness

for everyone in San

Francisco today.

Going to be the perfect fool.

The Parsifal.

The risen prince,

so that everyone

can walk in freedom

when the day is past.

-Now there's the

women's contingent

and the motorcycles

are going to lead off

the front of the

women's contingent.

There are at least

two bike clubs.

The Dykes on Bikes from the

East Bay and from the city

are both here and we're going

to be leading off the parade.

[MUSIC - MARJIE ORTEN,

"REFLECTIONS]

-I grew up in small town

in northwest Canada.

And because of this

location it was

impossible to be

gay and be happy.

So I got married

and had a family.

And was moderately happy.

Nothing to get excited about

for 15 and a half years.

-Did you have gay friends?

-I did, but I didn't know it.

-Any lovers?

-No, not until after I came out.

And that was in 75.

-What caused you to come out?

-I met a lady and

talked with her

and was able for the

first time in my life

to express my feelings

without being laughed at

or given dirty looks.

And I just--

-Was this in Kansas still?

-No this was down in Alabama

for Army Reserve training.

-Oh, wow.

-And I also have a

brother that is gay.

And this helped a lot because

I could talk with him.

And I finally just

decided, I can't

go on being miserable

all my life so I left.

-What was it that made

you most miserable?

-I think the lack

of any total love.

I loved my husband, but I

wasn't in love with him.

And I don't think I was ever

in love until I met this one.

-When did you meet Charlotte?

-In 1975, the same

year I came out.

Just a few months later.

And we've been

together ever since.

-Far out.

How'd you meet?

-At a bar in Wichita.

-You met in Wichita?

-Yes.

I left the town I was raised

in and left my husband

and moved to Wichita.

-What was it like

to gay in Wichita?

-More freedom than

most places in Kansas,

but still very suppressed.

-It doesn't sound like much.

-No, it wasn't much.

And if your employer

found out you were gay,

you lost your job.

-Did you lose yours

for being gay?

-Yes, I lost several

jobs for being gay.

She's lost jobs.

-Let me repeat that question.

Did you ever lose your

job for being gay?

-Yes I did several of them.

If they didn't actually come

right out and say your gay

and we don't want you, they

would ask me if I was gay

and I would say yes and

then they would just

make the work so

totally miserable

that I would have to quit.

-That's awful.

-It was.

And we decided that we

had to have more freedom

to be ourselves and we

came to San Francisco.

-You two came together

to San Francisco?

-Sold everything

we owned, come out

here with $18 in our

pocket and two suitcases.

-That takes a lot of courage.

-Yeah, it did.

-Are you gay?

-Sure.

-Um, depends on what

you mean by gay.

-What's happening?

Are you gay?

-No.

-I don't know.

I don't think I can

classify myself.

-Well, that's really

none of your business.

-Everyone is homosexual,

I'm heterosexual.

in the same body.

Everyone is male and

female in the same body.

-Am I gay?

What do you mean

by the word gay?

-It's what's in your head.

-Are you gay?

-Yes, I am.

-Are you gay?

-Yes.

-Are you gay?

-Yeah.

-Are you gay?

-Yes, I am.

-You?

-Yes.

-Are you gay?

-Yes.

-Are you gay?

Having a good time?

Are you gay?

-Yes.

-Having a good time?

-Right on.

You bet.

-Are you gay?

-Why not?

-Are you gay?

-Yes.

-Are you gay?

Are you gay?

-I definitely am gay, yeah.

-You sure?

-I'm positive, I'm positive.

-Yes, I am.

-Yes.

-Oh, yes.

-Of course.

-I consider myself

a bisexual person.

-I'm sexually turned

on to men and women.

And also that, I

think I'm politically

committed to men and women.

-Yes, I am.

-Forever?

-Yes, forever.

-Well, I'm a very

persuasion type

and I don't think that

popular myths should

be limited to one

particular viewpoint.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah.

Sure.

-No.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

-I am.

-No.

-No.

I could be, but I haven't

had any experience.

-No, I can't really restrict

myself to just being gay.

I'm not straight either.

And I'm not bi really.

I consider myself pansexual.

-Oh, yes I am.

Today I'm more than gay.

Today I'm jubilant.

Really.

-Yes, I've been homosexual as

far back as I can remember,

which is a long way back

because I'm almost 60.

-Have you been in San

Francisco for long?

-Yes I've been in San

Francisco since World War II.

-Did anything in particular

draw you out here to this city?

-Well San Francisco's

always been an open city

that every one came to,

that's the last frontier.

And when I came out

here with the Army,

I decided this is

where I belong.

And I've never regretted that.

It's a good place

for a gay person

and it's a good

place for everybody.

-What do you think about what's

happening right now behind us?

-I think this is wonderful.

I think this is the kind of show

of individualism and of people

power that we saw in the

other minority movements

back in the '50s and '60s.

And it's time now

for gay people.

-How does this parade compare

with previous parades?

-Well the parades have

changed over the years

as gay consciousness

has changed.

The parades came about first

as an anniversary celebration

or an anniversary

statement after

the Stonewall demonstrations in

New York, in Greenwich Village,

in 1969.

At that time the police had

been harassing various bars,

as they always have harassed

gay bars over the years.

And suddenly there

was fighting back

that occurred by a

group of people who

were at the bar in

Greenwich Village.

The people who fought

back were not organized,

they were not leaders

of the gay community,

they were just bar folks.

And many of them representing

the poorer elements of New

York's gay life-- drag queens,

street kids, the bar people.

And because they fought back

and because other people

joined them, a

movement was forged.

A movement that

said we're not going

to put up with the

kind of bullshit

that we've been subjected

to over so many years.

And at that time,

it became nationally

important to

recognize that event

by some kind of annual parade.

The first parades were

aimed at gay liberation.

They were aimed at

the out of the closet

into the street idea.

And many people

joined in those just

on a kind of spontaneous

personal basis.

Households of people,

individuals, couples, people

were involved in coming out.

And so being in the

parade was a coming

out event for a lot of people.

There were also organizations.

Some of the older

gay organizations

marched in the parades.

-Other marches?

Yeah.

The first-- first march

that I remember ever doing

was Mattachine Society.

There were only four

women at that time.

-Four women, wow.

-And the stipulations

for the march

were that we must

not appear gay.

We must the men must

wear business suits

and the women must

wear dresses and shoes.

-What was the spectator's

reaction to that march?

-Was a mixture of

hostility or indifference.

-As the years went

on, they became

more celebrations, carnivals.

So by 1972 or 1973,

political statements

began to be less

evident and there

began to be more of a sense

of, we're already out.

We're not going to be invisible,

we're not going to be silent,

and we're going to

celebrate by being out.

[MUSIC - JAMES O'CONNOR, "GREAT

EXPECTATIONS"]

-We're downtown just

on a Sunday afternoon

and it's just a parade

for the children

to look at more than anything,

to be quite honest with you.

-May I ask you a really

personal question?

If one of your children

came to you some day

at the age of 15 or 16

and said, "Mom, I'm gay."

What would you say to them?

-If you want me to

answer you seriously

that's a very, very

difficult question to answer.

It's as difficult as if one of

my girls came to me and said,

you know, Mom I'm pregnant

when she'll be 15 or 16.

I really don't know

what I would say.

-How do you feel

about gay people?

Are you--

-They're people.

They're humans, just like I am.

-Do you know any gay people

are they friends of yours?

-Yeah we stayed, we stayed

with a guy last night,

we just got in town two

days ago and we just got in

and he offered us

a place to stay.

Took us out to breakfast.

It was great.

-Was he cool?

-Yeah he didn't try to force

himself on us, you know.

That's his thing, beautiful.

I've been in the penitentiary,

see, I know what it's about.

Sometimes it's forced on you,

but most the time it isn't.

People are people.

-Where you from?

-I'm from Denver,

Colorado originally.

-How are things there as far

as gay people, do you know?

-Well, they're more

hypocritical there.

They get mugged all the time,

which isn't right, you know.

-I saw a guy from work.

I work with him

every day and now I

know why he tickles

me all the time.

Cause he's gay too.

I'm really glad.

[MUSIC - JAMES O'CONNOR, "GREAT

EXPECTATIONS]

-You've never been to bed

with man, either of you?

-No.

-Where you been, have you

been living in the city

all this time?

-Mhm.

-Don't you ever get

approached by men?

-Sure, sure.

-What, what do you tell them?

-Well, you know, I ain't

ready for that yet.

-27 years and you're

not ready yet?

-No, I'm not ready for that yet.

But I ain't got

nothing against it.

[MUSIC - JAMES O'CONNOR, "GREAT

EXPECTATIONS]

-It's gotten rid of that hassle.

You know.

-What hassle is that?

-Of hiding it from your

parents, from your family,

from your friends.

This sort of thing.

-I think we should all began

by, OK I'm gay, so what?

You know.

-And have you been

able to do that?

For your life?

-Yeah, for the most part.

I mean slip once and a

while but them we all do.

[MUSIC - JAMES O'CONNOR, "GREAT

EXPECTATIONS]

-(CHANING) We are your children!

We are your children!

-Makes me angry

to see gay people

not coming together and hiding.

Fighting amongst

themselves whenever

they're in an organized group.

-Do you think that's

happening today?

-Well, no.

I think what's been

happening recently

is probably going to

cause a lot of solidarity

with the gay people.

And it's going to help

a lot of straight people

to realize that we're

not all in the closets,

and that we are here.

We're a viable part

of the community

and we're all aspects

of the community.

We can't just sit

back and expect

other people to accept us.

We've got to let it be

known that we're here.

And we're not going to change.

-How long have you been out?

-A couple of years now.

At age 33, I finally, I ran

into an old friend of mine

and spent some time with her

and I couldn't understand what

these strange new feelings were.

And I suddenly

said, "Oh my God, I

think I'm sexually

attracted to this woman."

Then I said how do

I feel about that.

I thought about it for

a while and I said,

I think i feel

terrific about that,

I think I'll give it a try.

And I was scared to death

but being the kind of lady

she was it was a marvelous

experience for me

and it opened up a whole

new, a whole new life.

Actually it opened up life to me

because I had no idea that this

existed in one's

life experiences.

I meant the

lovingly, the caring.

I got in touch with my-- for

the first time in my life,

I got in touch, with a

band right behind me.

I got in touch

with my femininity

that I really was

not aware that I had.

I'd been pretty much

androgynous most of my life.

I've been married

for four years,

I had an affair for four years.

But--

-Had you had any

relationships with women

before you were married?

-I had none whatsoever.

I'd never entertain

the idea of having

a relationship with women.

I thought it was

terrific for other people

but I never thought

it applied to me.

And when I ran into this old

friend from eight years ago

and this happened, I

said my God, you know.

I've been missing what happened.

But I think being from the

south in a small community,

I didn't even know

what homosexuality was,

so I had absolutely no

validation for any feelings

that I might have had

coming up, like crushes

on the gym teacher and

that kind of thing.

I had no idea.

-Did your family

know you're gay?

-I'd say no.

I've never talked

to them about it.

They think I'm

strange and different,

but they don't, I

don't think they've

put homosexual or lesbian

or gay person on me yet.

-This parade was

like a reaction,

but this parade is bigger

than any one reaction.

So many people saying

thank heavens Florida

happened so that

we get together.

This parade's bigger than that.

You know I think

the sum is really

bigger than all of its parts.

And that's something no

one could have predicted.

The feeling that

I'm feeling today,

it's just a really

incredibly powerful.

And that's something new for me.

I didn't feel this way

in the peace marches,

and maybe because they

weren't openly gay.

-Because I wanted

to see for myself

the city of San Francisco

show our nation and the world

that we're not quite

as ignorant and bigoted

as they are in other parts.

We both agreed that we have

never seen such a large crowd

and felt such good vibes.

-I think I just

like it, I enjoy it.

And I think the

gays should be given

the freedom for their own.

-Where are you from?

-Philippines.

-From the Philippines?

-Yeah, but I think I'm for them.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

Yeah.

-A gay man 50 years

old, spent 30 days

in jail one time for no

other reason than I was gay.

To see this day, I want to cry.

It's beautiful.

It's fantastic to

see our kids free.

It's beautiful.

-OK.

-Thank God they're out,

they won't need shrinks.

[MUSIC - TOMMY TALLEY, "SAYING

YES"]

-A separation of church

and state is not a new idea

but a lot of people

would like to forget it.

Big churches, maybe

not the members,

but the churches for sure have

always back pretty repressive

ideas-- war, burning

witches, having

the Crusades, the

Spanish Inquisition.

-The Bible makes it quite clear

that sex of any and all kinds

aside for the specific

purpose of procreation

is amoral, decadent,

and degrading

And so morally there is

no difference whatsoever

between two guys having

sex or two women having

sex and straight sex using any

kind of birth control at all.

In short, fun sex is

degrading and decadent,

weakening and childish

and unproductive.

-Well you can use the Bible

to defend any position,

if you just take one little

portion of it or one excerpt.

-And the Bible says the

wages of sin are death.

A man was not intended

to enjoy his senses.

-For Christianity, again this

is-- it's hard to say this,

it probably offends people,

but Christianity very often

is against people,

it's against pleasure.

And I don't think that

this is necessarily

what the teachers intended.

And even if it was, not

necessarily my teachers.

-God love homosexuals just

like he loves everyone else.

He just wants them to turn

to him and stop the sin.

-This country has a constitution

which is the primary law.

Not the Bible, not the

Koran, not somebody's

idea of what's good

and what's bad.

-I feel like many

of these people,

if they had a good preacher,

if they had somebody tell them

about Jesus the way

that it would help them,

I feel like it wouldn't

be as hard as it is.

-It's right there

in the constitution.

Freedom of religion.

And you can't have

freedom of religion

if you have religion in the law.

Just impossible.

-It's more or less this time

about religion and how it's

being used to hurt

people rather than

for what it's really supposed

to be intended about.

At least, the teachers

that most of us

respect, Christ

and all the others,

keeping religion

out of the laws.

And I mean the law here

is the Constitution.

It's not The Bible, or the

Koran or anything else,

it's the Constitution.

Well we at least have the

right to our own bedroom.

And we have the right to not be

forced to accept someone else's

religious ideas on

our personal lives.

I mean, I guess religion

gets into things

like murder and stuff like that.

We kinda all agree

we don't want that.

But there's certainly

differences here.

And religion has no

place in Congress

or in city government

or anything like that.

-So you're saying you want a

separation of church and state?

-Definitely.

Definitely.

We've been promised

that a long time now.

And I hope we finally get it.

I think maybe what's

happening is coming to a head.

For a long time,

you didn't even have

the right not to have children.

I mean there were laws in a lot

of states about contraception.

That wasn't even

your right because

of certain powerful

churches that

decided that it's

evil in their eyes

that they have to prevent

everyone else from doing it.

-But sometimes doesn't preaching

against a certain group

of people incite

violence against them?

-Many people have

a violent nature,

as in this instance of

killing this one man

the other day are

very, very wrong.

More wrong than the sin of the

other person whatever that was.

-A week ago, I was walking down

the street and this these three

black kids passed me and one

of them bumped me in the arm

and called me a faggot.

You know.

And with that sort of

hostility running rampant.

-What was your reaction

to that, that incident?

-I was really upset about it.

I was, I felt hurt.

But I was also angry.

-Last week I got on a bus

one day with a friend of mine

and I went to sit

down and there were

about four black teenage

youths in the back of the bus.

And they started yelling

faggot and harassing us,

and I just kind

of froze because I

was really torn

between fear and anger.

-I experienced it right at

Market and Castor Street, which

is suppose to be the center of

the gay community in a sense.

And If it can happen

there, it certainly

will happen anywhere

else in this world.

And days like this,

we feel very united

and we feel safe and secure.

And yet I feel that

there is a threat.

-I understood you

to say that sometime

earlier that you were married?

That correct?

-Yes, I was married

for five years.

I have two daughters.

They live in-- they

know that I'm gay

and they're very accepting

of that situation.

And I hope that they remain so.

-I'm on the Jean Gillian

defense committee

and we're trying to familiarize

people with the case.

And we've been selling food to

raise money for her legal fees.

-Tell us a little bit

about Jean Gillian's case.

-Jean Gillian is a lesbian

mother from Oakland,

and her husband has recently

taken her children away.

She's had a trial and an

appeal has gone in already,

and the judge has dismissed both

summarily without reading it

and has put gag orders

on the whole case.

So the appeal's now going

to the supreme court.

We're trying to help her

raise $12,000 for a defense.

-How much money have you

raised today do you know?

-Over $1,000.

-We're representing all

the women that can't afford

to be here, because they

feel that there are millions

of lesbian women that

are really locked at home

in dependent relationships

with men, you know,

because they depend

on them for money.

And so they can't come out, you

know, to a parade like this.

-Do you think that there are

a lot of lesbian mother's who

are afraid to come out

because their children

will be taken away from them?

-Absolutely.

I mean, I think the whole

save our children campaign

has been a real attack

on lesbian women

and on lesbian mothers,

you know, a real attempt

to push up back into the

home and force us to choose

between being lesbian and

having children at all.

-How do you feel

about the word dyke?

-Dyke, I don't like it.

Walking down the street

and I heard some women even

say, hey, yeah, right

on beautiful dykes.

I don't like the word.

I won't respond to it.

I'm a woman.

-What do you think

about the word dyke?

-Dyke, I like dyke.

I'm a dyke.

And um--

-You think people have

used that word negatively.

-I don't.

Do you?

-No, I don't, I like it.

-Having a good time?

-Oh yeah.

-Good parade?

-Yes.

-Good parade?

-A real good parade.

-Very high.

Very high.

-Are you gay?

-No, but I'm all

for their right.

-Straight for the rights.

-You having a good time?

-Fantastic.

-Got you another beer?

-Nothing like it.

-You from San Francisco?

-Oh, yes, sir.

-Are you gay?

-Sure.

-Having a good time?

-Yes, sir.

-How long you lived out here?

-Oh, 50 years.

-Things changed a

lot in that time?

-Oh, boy and how.

-For the better?

-For the better, for the better.

-Far out.

-What do you think

of the parade today?

-It's wild.

No where else in

San Francisco, could

I say that this

should take place.

It's just fantastic.

-And I glad everyone here, and I

wish you know a lot more people

to come and just see the great

feeling that is going around.

-How did the two

you get together?

-Well first time was

at the Castro theater.

We were watching a movie

and we saw each other

and just, you know.

Then second time,

we just started

sitting together so

it just worked out.

-If I love someone, I don't want

to say I love you but I cannot

touch you, because, you know,

feeling is also very important.

We are very

sensitive, all of us.

-What brought you out here?

-Uh, friction between family

life in Kansas and just more

relaxed out here.

-Did you find problems

with being gay there?

-We can't, we can't show

any feelings at all,

or they just sort

of crucify you.

They just, they just

don't like that out there.

-I believe that people should

be able to relate to people

and communicate with

people and not draw lines,

because one you happen

to be male or female.

Because we are here

for life, liberty

the pursuit of happiness.

And that's I want.

-Do you think you're going to

stay around in San Francisco?

-Yeah, we live in San Francisco.

Hopefully for quite a while.

[MUSIC - PAUL DUBOIS, "I LOVE A

MAN"]

-Now there's you story.

OK, somebody fell in love with

me when I was 18, a woman did.

But I didn't actually come

out till I was 21, almost 22.

-Well I guess because I

became intensely interested,

I was very curious about

having sex with women.

-And that yet back

east especially women

are into the male

female dichotomy

and so that was even harder

because I knew what I wanted

but it was mostly

in west coast terms

but I was still stuck on

the east coast at that time.

-At first I was really

curious and excited

then I got very freaked out.

And I was living in Los

Angeles, at the time,

I didn't know anybody at all.

I mean, I mean, I didn't

know anybody that was gay.

And so I was very freaked

out about me being gay,

like I just could not see

a future in it at all.

-That came out for woman

and that blew sky high

so I had to find my own

reasons for being here

and California means a

lot to me as a person.

-Then I don't know.

I was also very curious as

well as being very sympathetic,

so one time I ask her,

Ann tell me what's

it like to make

love with a woman.

And she said well,

you know I can't, I

can't tell you what that's like.

You, you can only find that out.

I went ahhh!

-This is three lovers later,

and now my lover due to economic

whatever is working in

Bakersfield for the summer.

-Couple of weeks later this

friend of mine and her lover

ask me if I wanted

to sleep with them.

And I was married at

the time to a man.

-Really difficult because

they're into roles, and that

was some of my hangups is

that I'm not into roles,

and being gay for me is a whole

political power type situation.

-I don't really know how to

talk about what it's like, I

guess it's like to love, I mean.

The woman that I'm

involved with right now,

I guess I don't know

why I love her but I do.

[MUSIC - WILLOW WRAY, "I FOUND

YOU"]

-I came because, um,

I'm proud of being gay

and I wanted to let

people know that.

And I thought the

more of us-- and I

knew also it was going

to be an incredible high,

I mean there's no way that you

can see this many gay people

together ever any

other time of the year,

and it's such a free thing.

Cause, you know,

usually you walk around,

you can gay but you know most

people don't know you are

and if they know

you are, you assume

that they hate you for it.

And here you can walk around

and people love you for it,

you know, and you

can love them for it.

Well the straights over

here are for gay rights

and a lot of them are

our friends in someways

you know I mean like,

they're not afraid.

In some ways of

course, they don't

have to be as afraid

as gay people do

because they aren't

going to get it.

I'm digging the fact that this

is the first time ever I've

been with this many men,

and I have not been afraid,

and I've not been hassled.

And to be able to be out in the

streets with this many people

and not be afraid of them

physically or mentally,

you know, is just-- it's

never happening to me

before in my life except

maybe at the lesbian commerce

but that was with women right?

And this is like being

in the real world,

the whole real world, and

not having to be separate

and being able to be yourself.

You can't beat it.

-For the straight folks

who don't mind gays

but wish they

weren't blatant, you

know some people

got a lot of nerve.

Sometimes I don't believe

the things I see and hear.

Have you met the woman who was

shocked by two women kissing

and in the same breath tells

you that she's pregnant?

But gays shouldn't be blatant.

Or the straight couples

sits next to you in a movie

and you can't hear the dialogue

because of the sound effects,

but gays shouldn't be blatant.

And the woman in your office

spends your whole lunch hour

talking about her

new bikini drawers

and how much her husband

likes them, but gays

shouldn't be blatant.

Or the hip chick in your

class babbling a mile a minute

while you're trying

to get stalled

in the john about

the camping trip

she took with her

musician boyfriend.

But gays shouldn't be blatant.

You go in a public

bathroom and all

over the walls there's John

loves Mary, Janice digs

Richard, Pepe loves

Delores, et cetera,

but gays shouldn't be blatant.

Or you go to an amusement

park and there's

a tunnel of love and

pictures of straights painted

on the front and grinning

couples coming in and out,

but gays shouldn't be blatant.

The fact is blatant

heterosexuals

are all over the

place-- supermarkets,

movies, at work, in church, in

books, on television every day

and night, every place,

even in gay bars.

And they want gay men and women

to go hide in the closets.

So you straight folks, I say,

sure, I'll go, if you go too.

But I'm polite, so after you.

-Well, right now I'm employed

as a nursery school teacher

for the Cross Cultural Family

Center here in San Francisco.

And I work with two,

three, and four year

old children as a teacher.

-And they have for as

long I've been out.

And maybe for as long as

I'm aware of being gay,

that was a question

with my desired

ballet training as a kid.

My mother's best

friend said that I'd

be a silly little faggot, so

I didn't get ballet training.

I would have want to,

I'm sorry I didn't now,

it would have been

nice preparation.

-Oh I just, I just

enjoy it so much.

I just love being

with little children

and I love sharing my

love with little children.

Watching them run

and jump and grow.

It's been a shear

joy, just a joy.

-I'm from San Diego, and

with the exception of friends

I've made since I've been

here, most of my friends

here are San Diego gay men.

And we moved pretty

well on for that reason

because it wasn't

possible there.

We didn't give as possible

to be comfortably gay,

be where we are and

be gay and stay there.

So we split.

This is the place

to be to do that.

-Living in San

Francisco has been,

has been a real

saving grace for that.

I found problems with it

as a junior high school

teacher in Rochester, New York.

That's one of the reasons

that led me to come out here.

I used to teach junior

high school for five years,

I was a junior high school art

teacher in upstate New York.

Was in the closet, was feeling

very dissatisfied with myself.

And then I came out to

visit San Francisco,

and saw everyone loving everyone

else and saw so much openness

and I just knew

I had to be here.

-I guess it's cause I'm gay,

I haven't ever been straight,

so I don't know

how I would relate

to this if I were straight.

-Because I have

beautiful relationships

with their parents as well.

I, for the first

time in my life,

I can live as an open gay person

and can totally be myself.

I could be as flashy

as I want and I

could be as

conservative as I want.

-Well, here's the story.

When I was four years old, I

used to put blocks in my socks

because I always wanted

to wear high heels.

And I used to do it very

secretive, you know.

Well I came to San

Francisco and I

found out that it was really OK.

And I wear my high

heels on days like today

because I've always wanted

to wear high heels, you know.

I think it's really, it's OK.

It's perfectly all right

to wear high heels.

I get a little

flack now and again

but I can handle it I hope.

-My feeling is about drags,

it's degrading to women.

And I don't pretend to

understand what motivates

the men to do that but I know

that the whole society mocks

women at the same time that

it pushes them into that role.

And I think that there are women

still all over the country, all

over the world,

suffering from trying

to being that stereotype.

And being taught continually

that that's what they're to be.

And then to see men just getting

off on it knowing that they're

not stuck with the

oppression that goes with it.

That they're just

having a good time.

They can take off their

dress and their makeup

and just be free of that role.

So really to me, it's a

very, very heavy issue.

-Oh I love it.

I made a decision

a long time ago not

to do anything I

didn't feel good about.

To have a good

time, to have fun.

I mean it's the only

thing worth doing.

-Really, I haven't

taken any time

to deal with drag

queens or men who

are into drags, because

I find it offensive.

-Drag is just the tool that

you use to express who you are,

and in terms of clothes.

Some people wear leather,

some people wear feathers,

some people wear sequins,

some people wear Levi's.

It's all drag.

It's all the tools to tell

other people who you are.

-I like outrageousness.

You know like I like punk

rock and I like crazy things.

But I'm a punk rock freak.

But drag is somewhat

offensive to me.

-And I think that when

you're having a good time,

people relate to that goodness,

even if it's not their style.

-When I see men dressed up,

um, as Anita Bryant look likes

and, which is what they're

doing most of the time,

in a very offensive

way, cause there's

no description for

womanhood in my mind.

-It runs from all sorts.

I mean people love

it, people hate it.

The same way that people love

or hate you no matter what.

But it's just the

focusing device, you know?

It's like a magnifying glass

that just makes it clear,

it makes it bigger in your eyes.

And I still relate to people

hopefully as I would relate

to them outside of this

dress and this feathers

and these makeup.

-Into it is a giggle.

I talked to a guy at this

thing we went to last Sunday

and it's just a giggle.

-Yeah, because it's

fun there's also

a political sentiment behind it.

I mean I feel a

victim of sexism.

And I think it to understand

what I am victimized about,

I have to understand

what sex is all about,

both as a homosexual--

as relating to women,

sex in terms of the clothes

that they wear and stuff,

this helps me feel

androgynous or hermaphrodite.

I mean it makes me feel

like a whole person

instead of just half a person.

Just like I'm part of the whole

human race instead of just half

of it.

-In to radical a

societies and oppressive

societies and fashion societies.

People are taught

to dress a like.

People are forced to

dress alike, to act alike,

to perform a life as opposed

to follow their inner needs,

inner inter wants,

their own promotion.

And it's easier.

It's easier to control people

when you don't relate to them

on an individual

level, or you're

relating to them as an image.

I'm an individual human being

and I want to express that.

I want to express the

truth inside of me.

I mean everybody is different.

They need to express that

differentness then people don't

automatically fall into line

and start automatically taking

orders and automatically not

question what superiors quote

unquote are telling them to do.

And when everybody

looks alike, then you're

just assuming that everybody

is exactly like you,

so you can take all these

liberties with them,

as opposed to seeing that

people are into different trips.

When you look at mass

demonstrations in totalitarian

societies, I mean, where you

see these, as many people

as there are here

today, you don't

get a sense of the individual,

you don't get a sense

that these are

real people there,

you only I mean

see herds of sheep.

I mean the basis of

racism and sexism and ages

and seeing people

at not individuals,

but seeing them as

part of the group.

Seeing them as stereotypes,

you know, a faggot

or a nigger or a dirty old man.

You begin not to think

of people as individuals.

People dress alike,

people talk like, people

raise their hands at same time.

When people are just

being themselves,

you begin to see that there

is this whole diversity.

Seeing all these people

today just gives one

a sense of confidence

that that kind of thing

could never happen

again because there's

this whole spectrum

of people around.

And certainly some of us are not

going to let that happen again.

-I notice a lot of people

wearing pink triangles today.

-The pink triangle has come

into use in recent years

as an identification with

the gay individuals, who

were imprisoned in Nazi

Germany, and were forced

to wear a pink triangle

signifying their homosexuality.

The sad fact of gay

history during that time

is that very few people,

either then or even now,

realize how many or hundreds

of thousands of gay individuals

were rounded up, thrown

into concentration camps,

and killed, executed

summarily or worked to death.

The homosexual

population in Germany

was one of the first populations

that was subjected to genocide.

In fact some of the

methods of extermination

that were used

later had first been

try it out on gay individuals.

Gay people must learn

their own history.

Many people wear

the pink triangle

and probably have

little idea how

horrible the history

of that triangle is.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

-(CHANTING) Gay rights now!

Gay rights now!

Gay rights now!

-If you could invite one

gay person from any period

of history, who would you

like to see here today?

-Well I, I wouldn't want to

say anyone one person I'd like.

I mean, I can think of lots

and lots of people that like,

I wish were here.

I wish.

-Well I think I would like

to see Alexander the Great,

after reading the

"Persian Boy," I

think it would be a

beautiful history lesson

to see that men

strutting down the street

with the sunlight

glinting off of his armor.

-I wish all Amazons were here

that raise so much ruckus.

-Herman Melville.

-I'd like to have

Jesus Christ, I'm

pretty convinced he was gay.

I mean, any man

that has no women

and you know, who can say,

we know he had no women,

it says that in the Bible.

It never mentioned no men so

I think that probably was gay.

-Well, I think he'd

enjoy the parade.

-I think he would

definitely enjoy the parade.

He's see that a lot of people

dress like him for sure.

-I wish Sappho was here

and all, all her friends.

-I think James

Baldwin, if he's gay.

-I wish Diana the

Huntress was here.

-Probably Buster Crab you know.

Nowadays he could

still be in his movies.

Back then they kicked him

out of his movie contract

for being gay.

-Bessie Smith.

-Well I think, I

think Andre Gide would

be the man I was thinking about

today as I was going along.

When I was a student, Andre

Gide, the great French man

of letters, was an

inspiration and model

because he was open

about his gayness

although it was a

struggle for him.

And he would have liked

taking to the streets.

He was a man of the streets

as well as a man of letters.

-The spectacle of today with all

of the thousands and thousands

and thousands of people on

the streets in San Francisco

and in other major

cities, is that's it's

a statement to

everyone in the world

that there are gay people, that

there is a gay life, that there

is a gay community

for the young person

somewhere feeling

very much alone.

This kind of statement does

away with that terrible sense

of isolation and loneliness.

We used to have an expression

that so and so was not

for street wear, meaning

you couldn't walk down

the street with

them without being

somewhat identified

as a gay person.

And if you were trying

to keep a cover,

if you were trying to maintain

a job or live in a community

where you didn't want

people to know you were gay.

There were certain people

you couldn't associated with.

But those people,

we always knew,

were serving us a purpose.

They gave us a screen

behind which we could hide.

And therefore, it's very

important in today's gay parade

that there be individuals who

are blatant, who are obvious,

who are outrageous.

Because they've

always been there.

The drag queens,

the hair fairies,

the people who by their

behavior said, I'm so gay,

I can't cover it up.

And then the rest of us

could stand on the sidelines

and let the rest

of the world think

that that's what a gay

person looked like.

Today, we join them

and hold hands.

[MUSIC - TOMMY TALLEY, "ALL

PEOPLE"]

[MUSIC - ELLEN ROBINSON, "GLAD

TO BE LOVING YOU"]