There's no going back to the closet for gays

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"We don't discriminate against homosexuals in this compary. As matter of fact, weve already set up an office for you.

SAN FRANCISCO-Gay people will never return to the days before 1969, when the patrons of the Stonewall bar in New York repelled a police raid and launched the fight for full citizenship for gays and lesbians. Too many thousands have fought and won battles to go back into the closet.

Despite the menace of AIDS and conti -nued oppression, gays and lesbians can celebrate victories. Over 60 cities have passed laws banning discrimination because of sexual preferencé. New York recently passed an ordinance in the face of the AIDS scare.

Gains have been made in the union movement. The AFL-CIO passed a resolution at its national convention condemning discrimination against homo -sexuals and calling for legislation at the federal, state, and local level to defend the right of sexual preference.

Lesbian women have gained protection as they fight for the rights of all women. As a result of this, some courts. no longer take children away from lesbian mothers. But the fight must go on.

Homosexuality is no longer a taboo subject in American culture. On TV and in films, gay and lesbian life is increasingly being treated sympathetically.

It has taken decades of struggle to win CLOSET these victories. Small groups of gay activists have grown into movements that can summon hundreds of thousands into the streets. From the first, the strategy has been to take the offensive-bolder and ever bolder-with court suits, boycotts, rallies, and mass marches.

Carol+ simp Today hundreds of lesbian and gay groups claim to speak for over 22 million Americans. This emphasizes the importance of their demands within the civil rights struggle. And the gay rights move -ment is international. American gays and lesbians are not fighting alone.

"In San Francisco," Wallace said, "there was a whole succession of events and battles but they did not take so dramatic a form. It took a legalistic form. Gay organi -zations engaged in legal action and education.

"But then there began to be small sporadic direct action events in San Francisco. Gays used the Stonewall victory as a sort of rallying cry. Nothing massive, however. A regular commemoration of Stonewall was established, and then the annual parade. The parades started out quite small, eventually growing to 200,000 or 300,000 people."

The parades served to make San Francisco a mecca for gays around the country. "The city was seen as a sanctuary," Wallace told me. "I was lured to the city from Denver at that time-in 1968."

"When I joined the fight for sexual freedom, I became convinced that the single most important factor in building the movement was constant visibility. So that the public could not escape discussing this Far-right organizations and individuals are trying to use the AIDS hysteria as a club to beat gays back into the closet. "Homosexuals create AIDS!" they cry. But AIDS is not a homosexual disease. It is striking heterosexuals in increasing numbers. If every gay person were back in the closet, the AIDS problem would not disappear.

Jerry Falwell, Lyndon LaRouche, and their ilk don't want AIDS to disappear. They are riding a wave of hysteria-hoping it will increase their political power. Falwell talks of God's retribution on gays. LaRouche wants a blood test for every citizen and advocates isolating all AIDS suspects in leper-like colonies.

In 1979 State Senator John V. Briggs jumped on the homophobic bandwagon with his initiative to ban sexual freedom in California. Early opinion polls gave his initiative a two-to-one chance of passing.

The pollsters did not count on a mobilization of lesbians and gays and other defenders of civil rights. The initiative was defeated two to one. It showed that in the face of danger, a united movement oriented toward mass action can deliver a lot of clout. Falwell and LaRouche can b defeated—as Briggs was in 1979.

The Reagan administration's plans to cut the already inadequate AIDS budget while increasing the Pentagon budget is a national disgrace. The discrimination gays face in employment, housing, publicity, immigration, child custody, and insurance should seen as a threat to everyone's right to equality. A return to 1950s-type social repression in the name of "sexual decency" likewise threatens everyone.

The AIDS crisis will be overcome. The struggle for sexual freedom will continue as part of the struggle for economic and social justice for everyone.