Credit: Courtesy Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.Īs Kay explained in a 2016 telephone conversation with MGH host Eric Marcus, Barbara and Frank went to a Gay Liberation Front (GLF) meeting in New York City shortly after the Stonewall uprising and were challenged by one of the leaders of that new organization who asked them what entitled them to be there. In their first MGH episode Barbara and Kay told us how they met, about their early work with the Daughters of Bilitis, and their partnership with Frank Kameny leading the first protests in front of the White House beginning in 1965.īut in the aftermath of the June 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, Barbara and Kay found themselves challenged by younger activists new to the movement. The story behind the photograph of Barbara Gittings and Kay Lahusen on the steps of their house holding dinosaur dolls offers the perfect setup for this second Making Gay History episode with Barbara and Kay where they share two stories from their activism in the early 1970s.
Courtesy Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. Kay Lahusen (at left) and Barbara Gittings in 1995 on the steps of their house in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
