From La Gente Unida:
THE PHOTO of the 1981 PROTESTS (see original post here) prompted
comments from several people. Circulated by La Gente Unida in early
April 2012, the 1981 photo was taken at the protests against racist and
sexist policies of three gay bars in Denver. Listed below is the
feedback on the historical photo.
Thank you for sharing this photo. Really a wonderful treat for us young pups. Wink.
-- Lisa Flores, activist since the early 1990s
Big, big thank you for sharing this with me. Incredible story and rich history.
-- Brad Clark Executive Director of One Colorado, GLBT lobby/advocacy group
Thank
you very much for sharing another piece of LGBT Denver history – very
educational and informative. I have saved your email in my historical
archive folder as we want to build a historical/archive room in the
future that will chronicle our history. Thanks for the contribution.
-- Carlos Martinez, CEO of the GLBT Community Center in Denver
I
remember the incident very well, but I don't actually remember
photographing it or showing up at the protest in person. I checked with
Pat Gourley to see if he remembered, and he also doesn't think I was the
photographer. Of course, memory is not what it used to be. Pat thought
it might have been taken by someone from The Center, which had a
newspaper at the time, or by someone from Big Mama Rag.
-- Phil Nash, longtime activist since the 1970s
This
was before my time. However, I do remember seeing protesters outside of
The Broadway, but I did not know at the time that it was a gay bar. I
was not out and about in the club scene until around the mid 1980s. I
first met Miguel when he was involved with Ambiente Latino, and I
actually DJ'd a Cinco de Mayo event for the group at an African-American
gay bar called The Raven.
-- Lorenzo Ramirez, longtime Chicano gay activist since the mid 1980s
Sexist bar! Racist bar! Where's Billy? I remember Betty! And Pat Gourley--what's he up to these days?
-- Tea Schook, longtime activist since the 1970s
[Her reference to “Sexist bar, Racist bar” was one of the chants during the 1981 protests of which Tea was a participant.]
Thanks
for the photo and the wonderful text. Now I need to figure out how to
make a file of this so I can refer to it in the future.
-- Jerry Gerash, longtime activist since the 1960s
Wow!
That photo sure was a blast from the past in the late 1970s and early
1980s when I used to go to all three bars listed in the caption for the
photo. I never knew there was any problem until I saw protesters outside
the bars. Of course, I am a white gay guy and that guaranteed my
hassle-free entry into the bars. Many of us bar queens inside the bars
were just interested in partying and picking up a hot man to take home.
Many of us never joined the protests because we thought they were too
militant and should have used diplomacy to work things out with the bar
owners instead of clobbering them over the head with picket lines and
calls for a boycott.
-- Jack Nance, formerly of Denver now living in Kansas
[Note
from La Gente Unida: African American gay activist Ed Mayo and other
activists did try in-person negotiations with the bar owners, but
protesters of all races resorted to picketing when diplomacy failed. See
Phil Wade's letter herein about the meeting he and Carol Lease had with
one of the bar owners.]
I
am a lesbian who was treated badly in all three bars that were picketed
31 years ago in 1981. A few months before the protests, a Chicana
lesbian friend and I went to the 1942 bar with two white gay men
friends. The bar wouldn't serve us, and the bouncer escorted the Chicana
and me out the door. The two gay men with us were also escorted out for
bringing women in the bar. I stopped going to those bars because they
hassled women and Black men for three pieces of identification while
white men walked in unchallenged. The bars had a dress code that
required women to wear dresses and men to wear pants. Open-toe shoes
(like sandals) were not allowed. One bar insisted on a $5.00 cover
charge (a lot of money back then) from women to discourage us from going
there. Although I could not take part in the protests because of fear
of losing the professional job I had back then, I was thrilled when the
protests started outside those bars. Thank you for illuminating that
chapter in Denver GLBT history.
-- Bobbi Mattinson (Longmont, CO)
Thanks
for the photo. At some point, I brought up the discrimination to the
Center and was told that we couldn't do anything because the 1942 was a
donor to the Center. I returned my membership card to the Center at that
time. Later, when I was on the Board of the Center, I raised the issue
and was chastised by Paul Hunter himself, that we could not antagonize
LGBT businesses. At some point, Carol Lease and I interviewed the owner
of the 1942. There was a third person with us, but I don't remember who.
Nieser [bar owner] told us that a few African Americans were allowed
into the club, but not only don't they tip well, too many of "them"
(African Americans or Latinos) discourage white clientele from coming to
the bar. Further, regarding women, he told us that he witnessed a
straight couple kissing and it turned his stomach. He had a hard time
explaining why lesbians were discriminated against. I don't remember the
year of the interview and whether or not we were doing it in
conjunction with YOU (Your Own Understanding). Ed Mayo, who is deceased,
was responsible for much of the energy behind the protests. Thanks for
sending this to me.
-- Phil Krasnowski Wade, longtime activist since the 1970s
I see you are back in the news on the MileHighGayGuy website. Old militants never die. They just get sweeter with age!
-- Gale Whittington, gay liberation pioneer in the 1960s
[He is the author of the 2010 book Beyond Normal: Birth of Gay Pride.]
