1971

That Was the Year that Was ... the beginning of a whole new gay community in Washington, DC

The Year 1970 ended with a riot: the DC Twelve, gay liberationists arrested on November 28, 1970 for 'rioting' in the Zephyr Restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue, NW. The restaurant refused service to a group of gay men returning from the Black Panthers' People's Revolutionary Constitutional Congress at All Souls Church. The gay men and fellow Gay Liberation Front delegates staying at American University returned to the restaurant to demand service and the 'riot' followed.

The new year, 1971,opened with the trial and resolution of the case against the DC 12 (no jail time). Over the next twelve months, the GLBTQ community in Washington, DC moved from the heady days of gay liberation and involvement in a larger world of activism to a new focus on its own issues and community building. Washington, DC 'discovered' the appearance of a gay community in its midst. It also woke up to the existence of a new political power: gay voters. The year saw an incredible number of 'firsts' in the community. A selection of some of the major events in 1971 follows. Among events not covered are the opening of the Eagle bar and restaurant, the organization of the Gay Men's Counseling Collective, and the first gay community forum to evaluate candidates for local political offices.

Month	What Happened	Webpage
January to March	Kameny for Congress - Dr. Kameny, the nation's first openly gay person to run for Congress (for DC's new seat), ran a campaign that demonstrated growing gay political power in Washington, DC and invigorated the local debate	Kameny for Congress
February/March	Lilli Vincenz started the Gay Women's Open House, a weekly open house for lesbians and the first regularly scheduled non-bar social venue for lesbians or women interested in exploring their possible lesbianism	Gay Women's Open House
April	Members of the Kameny for Congress campaign organized a new local civil rights organization, the Gay Activists Alliance, which brought to civil rights campaigning and gay activism a new style in tactics and targets	Gay Activists Alliance
May	DC's Gay Liberation Front helped organize and support a major national antiwar protest, participating as a gay affinity group, Gay Mayday, in the 1971 Mayday attempt to shut down the government. The experience turned many gays and lesbians against working with the straight left of the early 70s	Gay Mayday
May	DC's three activist organizations - Mattachine Society of Washington, Gay Liberation Front, and the Gay Activists Alliance joined forces to invade the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in protest of the organization's classification of homosexuality as a mental disorder.	The APA Zap
May	The Community Church, originally supported by the Homophile Social League and meeting at All Souls Church, became associated with the new Metropolitan Community Church and rented space on Capitol Hill for services and for its pastor Paul Breton	coming
Summer	A group of lesbian separatists including Charlotte Bunch, Joan Biren, Rita Mae Brown, and Sharon Deavey organized the Furies collective to strengthen ties among lesbians independent of and in opposition to male gay liberation	The Furies
September	A local bearded gay hippie, Deacon Maccubbin, took over a craft shop in the Community Building and opened Earthworks, the first non-bar gay business in DC and the beginning of a long community career for Deacon	coming
October	Outraged gay community leaders organized the Committee for Open Gay Barsin protest of racial and sexual discrimination at the Lost and Found, a new gay dance bar	coming
November	Following the lead of students at the University of Maryland, students at George Washington University organized the Gay People's Alliance, the first gay student group in the city, giving the community important access to facilities at the university for community events	coming