Smash the Church, Smash the State!: The Early Years of Gay Liberation
This anthology by former members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) captures the history and spirit of the revolutionary time just after Stonewall, when thousands came out of the closet to claim their sexuality, and when queer resistance coalesced into a turbulent, joyous liberation movement--one whose lasting influence would ultimately inform and profoundly shape the LGBT community of today.
Personal essays explore the philosophy and culture of the stridently anti-assimilationist GLF: the actions, demonstrations and marches; views on marriage, religion and gender; the drugs, orgies and communes; and GLF's relationship to the hippies, the Black Panthers, the straight Left, the women's movement, civil rights and the antiwar struggle.
The collection includes contributions from Martha Shelley, Cei Bell, Paola Bacchetta, Susan Stryker, Tom Ammiano, Nikos Diaman, Mark Segal, Barbara Ruth and Perry Brass.
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Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a former member of Gay Liberation Front who has never stopped being an activist for queer and social justice causes. His writings have appeared in various anthologies over the years, and he is a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, SF Examiner and SF Bay Guardian, among other newspapers.
"Smash the Church, Smash the State! offers an intoxicating glimpse into that time before 'pride' replaced liberation, when 'gay' was still a fiery threat to the violence of the status quo, and revolution was right around the corner from the corner store. Full of brash, contradictory, intoxicating dreams, the essays in this anthology invoke the sexual flamboyance, intellectual rigor, activist troublemaking and communal possibilities of a different era while simultaneously offering bracing critiques."--Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of So Many Ways to Sleep Badly and editor of That's Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation
"The personal is riotously political and the history is tangibly personal in these diverse, down-to-earth reflections on the early days of Gay Liberation, that heady era of Stonewall, getting stoned, and lobbing metaphorical (and actual) stones at our oppressors. Avicolli Mecca has woven a colorful tapestry of first-person accounts that is reflective and emotional, joyous and poignant--and ever defiant."--Richard Labonte, Book Marks, Q Syndicate
"This book vividly recreates the thrilling and euphoric moments of gay liberation in the wake of Stonewall, with the added wisdom and grace of 40 years of hindsight." --Jeffrey Escoffier, author of American Homo: Community and Perversity and editor of Sexual Revolution
"A proud testimony to the brave people who stood up to be counted for our right to love and live any way we pleased. Their spirit and struggle will resonate forever, inspiring, I hope, many others." --Carla Trujillo, editor of Chicana Lesbians: The Girls Our Mothers Warned Us About and author of What Night Brings
