Gay Activists Alliance

Abstract

New York’s Gay Activists Alliance (gaa) single-handedly made gay people a force in liberal politics in New York City and then nationwide. It developed strategies that were widely emulated, combining militant actions with a pragmatic agenda of getting antidiscrimination provisions protecting gays into the city’s municipal code. The gaa constitution emphasizes its single-issue stance: to unite all homosexuals around a civil rights campaign without requiring or even permitting any other political positions to be discussed. Earlier homophile groups, such as the Mattachine Society, had emphasized respectability and disdained those parts of the gay community (such as drag queens) that heterosexuals most disliked. By contrast, the gaa emphatically welcomed all, regardless of their appearance or sexual preference.