Because I technically don't have much time, still, and need to finish a paper by tomorrow, I'm going to simply give you a glance at a moment in history. I don't know if I should make this a separate type of blog entry, though. I suppose not, considering that (since this is a history blog) posts that focus on a specific moment and point of history won't be of little quantity. Alright, enough of my blathering.
Here is a character of gay history that has little recognition. Oddly enough, when I tried to look him up just a year or 2 ago, I could come up with only one relevant page. Now, I have 4 tabs open in my browser, he actually has a Wikipedia page, and I'm actually learning more about him than I had already known.
While not exactly well known, Melvin Boozer was one of the many direly important figures of our Civil Rights Movement who worked behind the scenes, lobbying, getting attention, coercing politicians to actually be sympathetic to our cause – or actually holding marches, parades, and the such which people simply never noticed (the most recent march on Washington has not been our first, and many other such public events have happened, but, of course, our history is ignored and remains unknown. Let us not forget how hard it is to get others to know of and recognize Stonewall, even).
Born in 1946, Boozer grew up in D. C. and graduated as salutatorian of his class at Dunbar High School. He attended Dartmouth College on a scholarship in 1963, one of only three African Americans admitted that year. He became a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland.
Unfortunately, since information is not in the largest bundle, his gay activities during these times or when he developed an interest in gay rights or any other such knowledge is unknown to me. All that I know happens next is that he is elected president of the Gay Activists Alliance (now the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance) in 1979, being the first African American to serve as president and one of the few gay African Americans in a position of power and with large visibility within the gay rights movement.
If it interests you, the GLAA lists as their accomplishments during this period:
Now, there is a good deal of things which we could consider already. For one, who are these other people who have done so much for Gay Rights Movement? Sure, we've heard of Harvey Milk. But have you heard of Steve Endean? Or how about the significance of an African American having prominence in the Gay Movement?Boozer was also active in Black and White Men Together. In September 1981, he opened the Washington office of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. He died of AIDS in 1987.
- Winning a court battle with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for the right to place educational posters in Metro buses with the message "Someone in Your Life is Gay";
- Establishing the Gay and Lesbian Education Fund as a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational organization;
- Winning a fight with the U.S. Army for the right to sponsor the first annual wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery to honor all those who have died in the military service of the United States, including gay men and lesbians;
- Successfully pushing for establishment of the Civilian Complaint Review Board to monitor police behavior;
- Preparing a slide show on gay issues that became part of the regular training program at the DC police academy;
- Winning unanimous passage of the the Sexual Assault Reform Act by the DC Council, which decriminalized sodomy and repeals solicitation laws for consenting adults. Exercising its oversight power for only the second time, Congress overturned the Act under pressure from the Moral Majority;
- Convincing the DC Council to broaden the Housing Purchase Assistance Program to include single persons and domestic partners.
Well, there is a ton to cover as far as all the activists who have helped us along, and I haven't the time now, I'm afraid. Plus, I think you'd all get bored pretty quick were you to receive it all right now (and this would be one Hell of a long entry). And race is, sadly, important when considering the Gay Movement, though I think we're moving quite nicely to change, even if not immediately (have you all checked out the speech by Julian Bond yet?). Speaking of race, what about women? All these things deserve more attention, and 2 out of three in some way relate directly to Boozer. But that's not what I'm going to focus on, for the sake of sanity and interest in digesting information; I will address these in the future.
Boozer is a little different from the many others who have worked behind the scenes for our freedoms because he actually has a really historically important public moment. Not to mention, it's a rather moving one.
In 1980, he was nominated for the office of Vice President of the United States by the Socialist Party USA and, by petition at the convention, by the Democratic Party, the first openly gay person ever nominated for the office. As aptly put in Out For Good:
In 1976, the gay caucus to the Democratic convention would have fit around a small table in a crowded coffee shop. In August 1980, as Democrats gathered in New York, it filled the Georgia Room of the Statler Hilton—seventy seven delegates, alternates and committee members, larger than twenty-five state delegations and nearly twenty times the representation of four years ago. Most of the critical work had been done. The platform had been negotiated, and Carter was assured nomination. But from the first meeting of the caucus on Sunday night, there was a clear desire to do something—to turn this show of force into a display of power. And an idea Paul Kuntzler had pushed without success at the 1976 convention, to nominate a vice presidential candidate, suddenly seemed to make a lot of sense. This time, though, he though, the candidate should not be Frank Kameny, but Melvin Boozer.And if the moment isn't momentous enough, you really ought to read the speech. I'll post it below, though you can find it on the GLAA website.
Few people outside Washington, D.C., had heard of Mel Boozer. A thirty-five-year-old sociology professor at the University of Maryland, he had been elected president of Washington's Gay Activists Alliance the year before. He was popular and charismatic, reserved and dignified, but was not part of the group that had established a gay rights movement in the District. Because he was black, he was an unusual figure in the mostly white delegation and, indeed, in the movement itself. It took an extra measure of courage, Boozer said, for a black gay person—and a D.C. native—to be openly homosexual in Washington. Most Washington activists were people who moved there for a job. But Boozer grew up in the city, as he pointedly noted after his election as the GAA president. "It's a lot easier to come out and be politically active in the gay community when you don't live near your family than when you do," he said.
It would take 334 signatures, or 10 percent of the delegates, to nominate Boozer and win him a spot to speak. It seemed impossible. Delegates would not want to sign a petition forcing Walter Mondale into a purely symbolic battle for the vice presidential nomination. The fact that the petitions were for a homosexual candidate, an explicit effort to win a lectern speech about gay rights, made it even more difficult. Although some gay delegates said the honor should go to a woman, or someone with a name that would not suggest demeaning jokes, or a caucus member with a more established record in the movement, Kuntzler argued that delegates who might not be inclined to give a gay man a spot might be more reluctant to oppose a black speaker, whatever his sexual orientation.
For three days members of the gay caucus canvassed the floor and the conference rooms of Madison Square Garden, encountering hostility many found startling, a reminder that advances for the gay movement were confined to the nation's larger cities. "Why don't you just shut up?" one man said to Boozer. "You wouldn't get fired from your jobs if you just shut up." "Go back to California," someone yelled at Jeanne Cordova, who wore a "Lesbian for Kennedy" sandwich board. Another delegate called her a "screwball." But they got nearly four hundred signatures, and early Thursday evening, Boozer made his way to the lectern to present his case for the vice presidential nomination. The scheduling of his remarks made certain that they would not be carried on television. [Wikipedia, however, says that the speech was televised in prime time, and cites a source] Boozer glanced across a two-thirds empty floor; most delegates were out to dinner before the evening session. There were a few boos, but the gay delegation was out there, small but determined, holding its signs aloft. "Lesbians for Boozer" read one; "Carter and Boozer—a ticket for the '80s." Boozer's speech wasn't typed, so he had to keep a finger on the page of his handwritten text, which had been rewritten a dozen times by members of the delegation. His throat was parched, and he couldn't wait to finish, since he was sure his voice would give out.
[...]
On the floor, Tom Bastow found himself unexpectedly moved. There had been some doubt about whether Mel Boozer had been up to this. No one had been prepared for his eloquence and quiet dignity. It may have gone unnoticed, a provocative and moving speech in a mostly empty hall, but that didn't matter to the gay delegates on the floor. Boozer gathered forty-nine notes that evening, before Speaker of the House Thomas P. O'Neal declared the voting over and Mondale the choice by acclamation.
In 1981, Boozer was hired by the National Gay Task Force as district director and a lobbyist. The NGTF executive director, Virginia Apuzzo, fired him in 1983 and replaced him with the then-GAA president Jeff Levi.
Sadly, Boozer died of an AIDS-related illness in March 1987 at the age of 41 in Washington, D.C.
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Address by Melvin Boozer, Candidate for the Democratic Nomination for Vice President of the United States
Democratic National Convention, New York City, 1980
Mr. Chairman, I rise in grateful appreciation of more than 400 delegates at this convention who gladly signed the petition to place my name in nomination, and in appreciation of those who wanted to sign but were not able to, and for the 77 women and men in the lesbian and gay caucus who have worked day and night to circulate the petition.
I rise in proud recognition of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, Mr. Marion Barry, and the entire delegation of the District of Columbia who have supported me and encouraged me in this effort.
I rise in thankful recognition of the citizens of the District of Columbia who voted for me to come here knowing that I am gay, and who continue to labor and live in a city which has no voice in determining how it shall be taxed and which has no power to effect the decisions which affect the quality of our lives.
And finally, Mr. Chairman and members of the convention, I rise in anguished recognition of more than 20 million Americans who love this country and who long to serve this country in the same freedom that others take for granted, 20 million lesbian and gay Americans whose lives are blighted by a veil of ignorance and misunderstanding.
For more than 200 years a majority of Americans waited to be admitted to the institutions of our nation on an equal footing. This struggle has led us successfully through the abolition of slavery, the movement for universal sufferage, the civil rights movement, the continuing movements to include the elderly, the physically challenged, and the economically disadvantaged. And now the same vision which has guided the first two centuries of our existence compels us to pass the Equal Rights Amendment so that women and men can share equally in that vision and in our continuing struggle to make that vision a reality for all Americans.
But this same struggle which has animated our greatest leaders and our most loyal citizens is far from over. Mr. Chairman, members of the convention, today across our land more than 20 million Americans hide in the twilight of fear and oppression. Lesbians and gay men throughout this country are daily forced to choose between a life of service and labor to their communities without identity, or an identity which would deprive them of any opportunity to serve and work at all.
Mr. Chairman, we have come to the Democratic Party, as others have come before us, to appeal to the vision of equal justice, the belief in fair play, and the sense of compassion which are the bedrock upon which the greatness of our nation is founded.
We believe that now more than ever fairness, equal justice and compassion are under attack by the forces of the extreme right, but we also believe that the ideals embedded in our Constitution by the founders of our republic are alive and well in the Democratic Party.
Mr. Chairman, we come from towns and cities where our friends are jailed and beaten on the slightest pretext. We come from churches which have been burned to the ground because they admit us to worship. We come from families which have been torn apart because we have lost our jobs, and we have lost our good names which have been slandered by false accusations, myths, and lies.
Mr. Chairman, the leadership of the Democratic Party has called upon us to be responsive to the plight of all oppressed groups. Governor Brown has declared that lesbians and gay men have a right to a job without reprisals and a right to serve in the highest capacities of civil government.
Representative Dellums of California has affirmed that lesbians and gay men are entitled to the same rights as all other Americans. Senator Kennedy has declared that it is the responsibility of government to protect the rights of all American citizens, including lesbians and gay men. And President Carter, before he became President, declared that lesbians and gay citizens should not be subjected to arbitrary discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
Members of the convention, we are pleased that the charter of our party now bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. We are pleased that the charter and the platform ban discrimination. Yet, today the suffering continues across our land by those who are willing to hold us up as scapegoats to the extreme right for all the ills which beset our society.
But why should so many men and women continue to suffer from arbitrary discrimination? Why must we be denied a fair chance to participate in the American life which we have contributed to as much as anyone else? Why must we be subjected to harassment and intimidation and ridicule when the Constitution of this great nation has already provided that all citizens shall enjoy the equal protection of the law?
Members of the Democratic Convention, there can be no justification, no defense for social injustice. The Constitution does not make exception. We who have waited patiently to be admitted to the vision of the Constitution know the consequences of prejudice. WE have felt the sting of ignorance, and we have come to the Democratic Party seeking new hope which this party has always represented.
Over and over again the Democratic Party has insisted that in our society there can be no haven for discrimination. Is this not the same party which has championed the cause of every minority which has come before us? Is this not the same party which has sought to include women on an equal footing? Is this not the same party which has led the battle for civil rights for black Americans?
Would you ask me how I'd dare to compare the civil rights struggle with the struggle for lesbian and gay rights? I can compare, and I do compare them. I know what it means to be called a nigger. I know what it means to be called a faggot. And I can sum up the difference in one word: none.
Bigotry is bigotry. I have been booed before. Discrimination is discrimination. It hurts just as much. It dishonors our way of life just as much, and it betrays a common lack of understanding, fairness and compassion.
I know I am an American. I know not because of my birth certificate, but because when Old Glory is unfurled and the Anthem is played, my heart is warmed and my eyes are watered. I love this country as much as anyone in this hall. I am thankful in my prayers for the privilege of being a citizen of this nation.
I believe that there is no power on this earth that can defeat the American people as long as we remain true to the values which have made us great.
Equal justice, fair play and compassion are the true sources of our greatness. I shudder to contemplate how we waste the energy and devotion of more than 20 million lesbian and gay Americans who remain shackled by degradation and isolation. And I am astonished by the longing and pleading of my gay brothers and sisters whose faith in this Party, in this country, and the democratic process has not been defeated, and will not be defeated by the falsehoods and fears of all those who would oppress us.
Like them, I have faith in this nation and in its people, and in this Party. I believe that when the American people have heard the facts, when they have seen us as we truly are, then they will insist that we not be abandoned to the prejudices and the caprices of the ignorant.
So, my fellow Democrats, I appeal to you to search your hearts and minds and recall that you, too, have wanted the right to work as long as you could do so competently; and you, too, have sought the right to live and seek your own happiness, as long as you did not interfere with the right of other people to do the same. And I beg you to recall that most of you in this hall who now take those same rights for granted have had to struggle to overcome suspicion and fear and prejudice in order to achieve them.
So now, we, too, appeal to you to acknowledge for ourselves the same rights, and together to continue the struggle to expand the vision so that no American can ever again be subjected to abuse and harassment.
And so, my fellow Democrats, in keeping with the faith which has made this nation great, in keeping with the promise of the American vision, and in keeping with the belief that we are all equal Americans, I respectfully withdraw my nomination.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
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[Note: When Melvin Boozer gave this address to the Democratic National Convention in 1980, he was President of what was then known as the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, DC. His nominating speech for Vice President was made by Bill Krause, and the seconding speech was made by Ginny Apuzzo.]
