Received from russell@cpp.pha.pa.us Sun May 8 22:06:08 1994 Subject: Spirit of Stonewall SOS Spirit of Stonewall c/o Gayme Magazine PO Box 15645 Boston, MA 02215 Tel.(617) 695-8015 Fax (617) 266-1125 NAMBLA MARCHES WITH US AT STONEWALL 25, JUNE 26, 1994 Spirit of Stonewall (SOS) calls on Stonewall 25 and the gay and lesbian movement to return to its roots. The Christopher Street uprising was an outcry by those at the bottom and on the margins of society against puritanical self-righteousness and bigotry. It was a cry for full sexual liberation as part of the struggle for social justice. Stonewall was the spontaneous action of marginal people oppressed by the mainstream - of teenaged drag queens, pederasts, transsexuals, hustlers, and others despised by respectable straights and "discreet" homosexuals. They did not call for their rights, they seized their own freedom. They did not ask for integration into middle-class America, they screamed against its pretensions of propriety. SOS is an ad hoc committee of lesbian, gay and other individuals and groups formed to bring Stonewall 25 back to the principles of gay liberation. We focus on one of the most glaring departures from those principles: the attempt to exclude the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), and possibly other groups, from the Stonewall 25 March and from their place within gay/lesbian space and discourse. Red-baiting, scapegoating, censorship and exclusion have been hallmarks of American society. Just as unions, the civil rights and peace movements were pressured to cleanse themselves of suspected "communists," the lesbian/gay movement is now expected to rid itself of social misfits, the vulnerable pederasts first of all. Never before has such an ostensibly progressive movement jumped so quickly through the hoops of its enemies. At least there were years of debates among activists before some capitulated to McCarthyism. ILGA, the Human Rights Campaign Fund, Stonewall 25, and others who claim to support sexual minorities and human rights have stumbled over each other as they rush to deny these rights to those deemed unacceptable. We find this the height of hypocrisy - to invoke the name of Stonewall to cast out the alleged molesters among us. The issue is not, first of all, intergenerational sex - although that is one the movement needs to confront honestly rather than avoid. SOS takes no stand specifically on age of consent laws or sex between adults and those deemed legally "children." The issues that now confront Stonewall 25 are free speech, free association and inclusiveness. NAMBLA's record as a responsible gay organization is well known. NAMBLA was spawned by the gay community and has been in every major gay and lesbian march. It has demonstrated in solidarity with people with AIDS, and for lesbians in custody cases. NAMBLA takes progressive positions on U.S. intervention in Central America, the military draft, reproductive rights, the death penalty, corporal punishment and racism. NAMBLA publicly condemns the exploitation of children, including genuine sexual abuse. NAMBLA believes the interests of young people demand not paternalistic protection, but empowerment to make real choices. Every organization within Stonewall 25 need not endorse every one of the other organization's positions. NAMBLA's call for the abolition of the age of consent is not the issue. NAMBLA is a bona fide participant in the gay and lesbian movement. NAMBLA deserves strong support in its rights of free speech and association and its members' protection from discrimination and bashing. Unless we return to the principles of Stonewall, the fate of NAMBLA today may be the fate of other "different" and "controversial" causes tomorrow. Gay and lesbian activists before Stonewall understood the task of liberation. We agree with the 1951 Mattachine Society slogan: "We will integrate as a group on our own terms, or we will not integrate at all." We will define our own agenda and decide for ourselves who we are! Within our movement, if our brother or sister self-identifies as gay, we will march with them and they with us. We call on Stonewall 25 to rescind its attempt to ban NAMBLA. Meanwhile, SOS announces: NAMBLA marches with us! SIGNED: Harry Hay, Pat Califia, Gayle Rubin, Chris Bearchelli, Scott O'Hara, Charley Shively, David Thorstad, Tom Reeves, Jim Becker AND: NAME:___________________________________________________________ ADDRESS:________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Telephones: (h)__________________(w)________________(FAX)___________________ Identification: (Writer, Activist, Professor, Name of Organization or Publication, etc. - does not imply endorsement): ________________________________________________________________ GROUP ENDORSEMENT: (if a group officially endorses the SOS call) ________________________________________________________________ I (WE) WILL MARCH IN NEW YORK, SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 1994 WITH SOS:________________________________ WE CANNOT MARCH, but we will march "in spirit":_________________ WE NEED HOUSING (Limited Availability at $30 per night, two to three persons per room):______________________