American Protest Literature

:CARCWIJTMAN

From Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto

1969

If the gay liberation movement began on the East Coast with the Stonewall riots, it be- gan on the West Coast with the publication of "Refugees from Amerika." Carl Wittman (194 3-1986) was an antiwar and civil rights activist, previously the national secretary of Students for a Democratic Society. His influential manifesto links the gay rights struggle to other protest movements and acknowledges the inspiration of civil rights activism. He examines the daily realities of gay childhood and adulthood and instructs gay people to end self-oppression and begin self-determination.

Written before Stonewall, though not published until later, "Refugees from Amerika" grew out of numerous discussions and meetings on gay rights. Wittman wrote it for gay people, to continue discussion, also hoping that straight people might read it and under- stand. He notes that San Francisco was a refugee camp, a self-protective ghetto that bred self-hatred and exploitation, and offers a vision of a free, self-governed territory. The idea of a free territory was as popular within the gay liberation movement as it was among black radicals: L. Craig Schoonmaker, the leader of Homosexuals Intransigent!, suggested migration to certain city neighborhoods and the takeover of election districts to create gay majorities; and the activist Don Jackson wanted to take over Alpine County, in Cali- fornia, and tum it into a "Stonewall Nation."

"Refugees from Amerika" quickly became a blueprint for gay activism, if not for a gay colony. It was taken up by the Gay Liberation Front, and one Marxist group, The Red But- terfly, responded to Wittman's manifesto by quoting Herbert Marcuse's Eros and Civiliza- tion: "Today the fight for Eros, the fight for life, is the political fight." The personal was now political. Wittman had painted the art of the possible. A line from Gwendolyn Brooks's poem "In Montgomery" (1971) aptly describes his manifesto's power: "To make a might of a movement you need a Resolution."

Further reading: John D'Emilio, Sexual Politics (1983); Jeffrey Escoffier, American Homo (1998).

San Francisco is a refugee camp for homosexuals. we have fled here from every part of the nation, and like refugees elsewhere we came not because it is so

' fled great here, but because it was so bad there. By the tens of thousands, we h pe of a small towns where to be ourselves would endanger our jobs and any 0

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I Carl Wittman / R efugees from Am erika

l·te· we have fled from blackmailing cops fr deeent I , , om familie h ·, 1 rated' us; we have been drummed out of the w o disowned or to e armed semce th

hools fired from jobs, beaten by punks and pol· S, rown out of sc , JCemen. And we have formed a ghetto, out of self-protection It .

th · 0

a tree territory because it is still theirs. Straight cops· is a ghetto rather a . . patrol us, straight le _

. Jators govern us, straight employers keep us 10 line straight g 1S . . , money exploits we.have pretended everythmg 1s OK, because we haven't be us. . , . en able to see

hOW to change 1t-we ve been afraid. In the past year there has been an awakening of gay liberation ideas and en-

ergy. How it began we don't know; maybe we were inspired by black people and their freedom movement; we learned how to stop pretending from the hi revolution. Amerika in all its ugliness has surfaced with the war and our n:. tional leaders. And we are revulsed by the quality of our ghetto life.

Where once there was frustration, alienation, and cynicism, there are new characteristics among us. We are full of Jove for each other and are showing it; we are full of anger at what has been done to us. And as we recall all the self- censorship and repression for so many years, a reservoir of tears pours out of our eyes. And we are euphoric, high, with the initial flourish of a move- ment . . . Our group consciousness will evolve as we get ourselves together-we are only at the beginning.

I. On Orientation

1 · WHAT HOMOSEXUAIJTY IS: Nature leaves undefined the object of sexual desire. The gender of that object is imposed socially. Humans originally made h~mosexuality taboo because they needed every bit of energy to produce and raise children: survival of species was a priority. With overpDpulation and technological change, that taboo continued only to exploit us and enslave us.

As kids we refused to capitulate to demands that we ignore our feelings t~ ward each other. Somewhere we found the strength to resiS

t being indoctn· md e ' and we should count that among our assets. We have to re loVi · • and that we have

ng each other is a good thing, not an unfortunate thing, a lot to teach straights about sex Jove strength, and resiS

t ance. of , , ·tt in the absence

Homosexuality is not a Jot of things. It is not a makeshi .. notge-th . . . Posite sex; it is e opposite sex; it is not a hatred or re1ect1on of the op uld see the ner · · much as we co ic; It is not the result of broken homes except mas meone of the

ili . ~-~-am of American marriage. Homosexuality 1s the capa same sex. . 1 e people of ei-

2 . . h capacity to ov b.

· BISEXUALITY: Bisexuality is good; it is t e . made such a zg th J • because society ·thef er sex. The reason so few of us are bisexua is . urseJves as ei

t . d ·nto see!flg 0

s mk about homosexuality that we got force 1

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446 Gay Liberation / THE LITERATURE

straight or non-straight. Also, many gays got turned off to the ways supposed to act with women and vice-versa, which is pretty fucked-ulll.en are will begin to tum on to women when I) it's something that we do b p. Gays

ecause want to, and not because we should, and 2) when women's liberat· We 1onch the nature of heterosexual relationships . . . anges

3 . HETEROSEXUAIJTY: Exclusive heterosexuality is fucked up It · retie fear of people of the same sex, it's anti-homosexual, and it is fraught w· cts a

tration. Heterosexual sex is fucked up too; ask women's liberation aboith frus. straight guys are like in bed. Sex is aggression for the male chauvi·n· ut What

1st· sex · ligation for the traditional woman . . . ' is ob.

II. On Women

1. LESBIANISM: It's been a male-dominated society for too long, and that has warped both men and women. So gay women are going to see things dif- ferently from gay men; they are going to feel put down as women, too. Their liberation is tied up with both gay liberation and women's liberation . . .

2. MALE CHAUVINISM: All men are infected with male chauvinism-we were brought up that way. It means we assume that women play subordinate roles and are less human than ourselves. (At an early gay liberation meeting one guy said, "Why don't we invite women's liberation-they can bring sand- wiches and coffee.") It is no wonder that so few gay women have become ac- tive in our groups.

Male chauvinism, however, is not central to us. We can junk it much more easily than straight men can. For we understand oppression. We have largely opted out of a system which oppresses women daily-our egos are not built on putting women down and having them build us up. Also, living in a mostly male world we have become used to playing different roles, doing our own shit-work. And finally, we have a common enemy: the big male chauvinists are also the big anti-gays.

But we need to purge male chauvinism, both in behavior and in thought among us. Chick equals nigger equals queer. Think it over.

3. WOMEN'S LIBERATION: They are assuming their equality and igm . d . ·tyand in doing so are challenging the same things we are: the roles, the exploitati~n of minorities by capitalism, the arrogant smugness of straight white male mid- dle-class Amerika. They are our sisters in struggle .. . We must come to knoW and understand each other's style, jargon and humor.

III. On Roles

. ty we I. MIMICRY OF STRAIGHT SOCIETY: We are children of straight socie ·. ht still think straight: that is part of our oppression. One of the worst of straig

Carl Wittman I Refu gees from Amerika ·s inequality. Straight (also white, English ma! . ,epts 1 ' e, capitalist) h" . ,on . gs in terms of order and comparison. A is bef B . t mking

· ws th!D . ore , B 1s after A- . \Ile

O is below three; there 1s no room for equality To· .d , one 1s

l)elow,tw · is I ea gets extend 1 /

female, on top/on bottom, spouse/not spouse het ed 10

111a e . . , erosexual/homo-

1 boss/worker, white/black and nch/poor. Our SOCial . . . seXua , . . . . mstitutions cause d reflect this verbal hierarchy. This 1s Amerika.

anW 've uved in these institutions all our lives. Naturally we . . e, m1m1c the roles For too long we mimicked these roles to protect ourselves-a survival mecha: n1sm. Now we are becoming free enough to shed the roles which we've picked up from the institutions which have imprisoned us. ustop mimicking strai•i.,,

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stop censoring ourse ves. 2. MAfUUAGE: Marriage is a prime example of a straight institution

fraught with role playing. Traditional marriage is a rotten, oppressive institu- tion . .. Gay people must stop gauging their self-respect by how well they mimic straight marriages . .. To accept that happiness comes through find- ing a groovy spouse and settling down, showing the world that "we're just the same as you" is avoiding the real issues, and is an expression of self-hatred.

3. ALTERNATIVES TO MARRIAGE: People want to get married for lots of good reasons, although marriage won't often meet those needs or desires. We're all looking for security, a flow of love, and a feeling of belonging and be- ing needed.

These needs can be met through a number of social relationships and living situations. Things we want to get away from are: I. exclusiveness, propertied attitudes toward each other, a mutual pact against the rest of the world;

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promises about the future which we have no right to make and which prevent us,from, or make us feel ~ilty about, growing; 3. inflexible roles, roles ~hi~h · ·cry and mabil- do not reflect us at the moment but are inherited through mum ity to define equalitarian relationships. . e for

W I . . le free soaal structur

e have to define for ourselves a new plura 1st1c, ro · ourselves . . . Id •s defined

4. GAY 'STEREOTYPES': The straight's image of the gay wo~ a\endency 1

. ht roles There is argely by those of us who have violated straig · 1 the queens h Jay visible ro es-- among 'homophile' groups to deplore gays w O P d l) Gays who k a clear stan · . and the nellies. As liberated gays, we muSt ta e d withstood disap-

Th y came out an ·t ·s stand out have become our first martyrs. e fr m being open, 1 1

h have suffered o proval before the rest of us did. 2) If t ey . . . t the queen. 'Uncle straight society whom we must mdict, no . analogous to · s becommg . ht sociallY,

6. CLOSET QUEENS: This phrase 1 d to be stratg 11 r to preten If we are Tom.' To pretend to be straight sexua Y, 0 . ·n the ghetto · · · C ,ne · f behaVIOr I t end. O

1s probably the most harmful pattern ° t queener}' mus l"ty Close liberated we are open with our sexua 1 • out ...

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448 Gay Liberation I THE LITERATURE IV. On Oppression

A I t of 'movement' types come on with a line of shit about homos . . . o exua1s not being oppressed as much as blacks or Vietnamese or workers or Women We don't happen to fit into their ideas of class or caste. Bull! When people fee; oppressed, they act on th~t f~eling._ w_e feel oppressed. Talk ab~ut the priority of black liberation or endmg 1mpenahsm over and above gay hberation is just anti-gay propaganda.

1 _ PHYSICAL ATTACKS: We are attacked, beaten, castrated and left deact time and time again. There are half a dozen known unsolved slayings in San Francisco parks in the last few years. "Punks," often of minority groups who look around for someone under them socially, feel encouraged to beat up on "queens" and cops look the other way. That used to be called lynch- ing .. .

2 . PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE: Right from the beginning we have been sub- jected to a barrage of straight propaganda. Since our parents don't know any homosexuals, we grow up thinking that we are alone and different and per- verted. Our school friends identify 'queer' with any non-conformist or bad be- havior. Our elementary school teachers tell us not to talk to strangers or accept rides. Television, billboards and magazines put forth a false idealization of male/female relationships, and make us wish we were different, wish we were 'in.' In family living class we're taught how we're supposed to turn out. And all along, the best we hear if anything about homosexuality is that it's an unfortu- nate problem.

3. SELF-OPPRESSION: As gay liberation grows, we will find our uptight brothers and sisters, particularly those who are making a buck off our ghetto, coming on strong to defend the status quo. This is self oppression: 'don't rock the boat'; 'things in SF are OK'; 'gay people just aren't together'; 'I'm not op- pressed.' These lines are right out of the mouths of the straight establishment. A large part of our oppression would end if we would stop putting ourselves and our pride down.

4. INSTITUTIONAL: Discrimination against gays is blatant, if we open our eyes. Homosexual relationships are illegal, and even if these laws are not regu- larly enforced, they encourage and enforce closet queenery. The bulk of the so- cial work psychiatric field looks upon homosexuality as a problem, and treats us as sick. Employers let it be known that our skills are acceptable as long as our sexuality is hidden. Big business and government are particularly notorious of- fenders .

The discrimination in the draft and armed services is a pillar of the general attitude towards gays . .. Hell, no, we won't go, of course not, but we can't let the army fuck us over this way, either.

.,,,.- -- Cari Wittman \ Refugees from Amerika

v.onsex. · think of good sex in terms of playing the violin· With bo I Jjke to . . th people , . • 1 el seeing the other body as an ob1ect capable of . one ev creatmg beauty on play it well; and on a second level the players c .

hen theY ommurncating W h their mutual production and appreciation of beauty As . 00d throug . . · m g mu-

get totally into it-and commg back out of that state of conset· . ~m . finishing a work of art or commg back from an episode of an 'd is hke aa or

mescaline trip. And to press the anal~~ further: the variety of music is infinite and yaried, depending on the capab1httes ~f the players, both as subjects and

objects. Solos, duets, quartets (symphomes, even, if you happen to dig Ro- :antic music!) are possible. The variations in gender, response, and bodies are like different• instruments. And perhaps what we have called sexual 'orienta- tion' probably just means that we have not yet learned to tum on to the total range of musical expression . ..

VI. On Our Ghetto

We are refugees from Amerika. So we came to the ghetto-and as other ghet- .tos, it has its negative and positive aspects. Refugee camps are better than what preceded them, or people never would have come. But they are still erislaving, if only that we are limited to being ourselves there and only there.

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Ghettos breed self-hatred. We stagnate here, accepting the status quo. The status quo is rotten. We are all warped by our oppression, arid in the isolation of the ghetto we blame ourselves rather than our oppressors . .. Our ghetto cer- tainly is more beautiful and larger and more diverse thart most ghettos, and is certainly freer than the rest of Amerika. That's why we're here. But it isn't ours. Capitalists make money off of us, cops patrol us, government tolerates us as,long as we shut up, and daily we work for and pay taxes to th0se who op- press us.

] b own institutions, 0 e a free territory we must govern ourselves, set up our d f , r Jives The emer-

e end ourselves and use our own energi·es to improve ou · Th i-'" ' ' · ood start. e ""' gence of gay liberation communes, and our own paper 15 a g Rural re- ab uld be acted upon. out gay liberation coffee shop/dance hall sho I alienating treats 1· . · · s a free schoo , un , po 1t1cal action offices, food cooperative , h ve even the ba I difweareto a rs and after hours places-they must be deve ope shadow of a free territory.

VU, On Coalition ·0n? took to for coJlabOrall . · · · face it: we can't change Amerika alone: Who do we

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450 Gay Liberation I THE LITERATURE

1 WOMEN'S LIBERATION: summarizing earlier statements l) h . . , t ey ar closest ally· we must try hard to get together with them. 2) a lesb· e our

, %~ probably the best way to attack gay guys' male chauvinism and ch

1 cus is

. . , a lenge th straightness of women's hberat10n; 3) as males we must be sensitive t . e . Otheifd veloping identities as women, and respect that; 1f we know what ou f e-

r reectorn . about, they certainly know what's best for them. is 2. BLACK LIBERATION: This is tenuous right now because of the upu ht

and supermasculinity of many black men (which is understandable) gD n~ss · esp1te that, we must support their movement, particularly when they are unct

er at. tack from the establishment; we must show them that we mean busines s; anct we must figure out which our common enemies are: police, city hall , cap. italism.

3. CHICANOS: Basically the same problem as with blacks: trying to overcome mutual animosity and fear, and finding ways to support them. The extra prob- lem of super up-tightness and machismo among Latin cultures, and the tradi- tional pattern of Mexicans beating up "queers" can be overcome: we're both oppressed, and by the same people at the top.

4 . WHITE RADICALS AND IDEOLOGUES: We can look forward to coalition and mutual support with radical groups if they are able to transcend their anti- gay and male chauvinist patterns. We support radical and militant demands when they arise, e.g. Moratorium, People's Park; but only as a group; we can't compromise or soft-peddle our gay identity . ..

5 . HIP AND STREET-PEOPLE: A major dynamic of rising gay lib sentiment is the hip revolution within the gay community. Emphasis on love, dropping out, being honest, expressing yourself through hair and clothes, and smoking dope are all attributes of this. The gays who are the least vulnerable to attack by the establishment have been the freest to express themselves on gay libera- tion ...

6. HOMOPHILE GROUPS: 1) reformist or pokey as they sometimes are, they are our brothers. They'll grow as we have grown and grow. Do not attack them in straight or mixed company. 2) ignore their attack on us. 3) cooperate where cooperation is possible without essential compromise of our identity.

Conclusion: An Outline of Imperatives for Gay Liberation

d political ac-1. Free ourselves: come out everywhere; initiate self defense an tivity; initiate counter community institutions. t

• accep · 2. Turn other gay people on: talk all the time; understand, forgive, ·t from 3. Free the homosexual in everyone: we'll be getting a good bit of sht

threatened latents: be gentle, and keep talking & acting free. actors, , mmate 4. We've been playing an act for a long time, so we re consu

Now we can begin to be, and it'll be a good show!

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