Gay-In I and II: Gay Liberation Meets the SWAT Team

by Don Kilhefner

The early precursors to the Gay Pride parade and festival in Los Angeles were the Gay-Ins I and II, organized by the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in 1970. The impetus for this project was moving gay people from invisibility to visibility in our society. One of the worst things that could happen to a gay person in pre-liberation days was to be exposed by name and face as a “homosexual.” Invariably, it destroyed our lives with loss of jobs, ostracism by family and abandonment by friends. Many times it literally ended lives. It was one of the ways heterosexual supremacists oppressed us, and the Gay-Ins were designed to give us a public presence in which we could take satisfaction.

The Gay-Ins were patterned after the Be-Ins of the 1960s in which people of all ages, but preponderantly young people, gathered together in parks, listened to rock music, danced and got high together. In order to bring gay people out of the closet and into the light of day, GLF organized the very first Gay-In early in 1970 at the merry-go-round in Griffith Park. We scouted the location first and found out there were electrical outlets we would need for rock bands' electrical equipment. The park rangers were helpful by saying anyone could have a picnic in Griffith Park at designated areas—such as the merry-go-round area—but we didn't mention who was coming for dinner; I just mentioned it would be a large family reunion.

A talented gay artist, Bruce Reifel, designed a beautiful, multicolored silk screen poster for the event which has become highly-prized by collectors (In addition to his GLF involvement, Reifel was also the artist for most of the early Gay and Lesbian Center design work). We plastered them all over the city and the Los Angeles Free Press wrote about it.

On a beautiful, warm, cloudless Saturday in early spring of 1970, several hundred gay and lesbian people gathered at the merry-go-round. It was probably the largest public gathering of gay people the city had seen up to that time. The vibe was relaxed and mellow and there was no hassle whatsoever. Several rock bands played; people danced vigorously. The sweet smell of grass—not of the newly-mowed type—wafted gently through the breeze, children played, and there were helium-filled balloons reminding us that “Gay is Good!,” “Be Gay And Proud!” and “Out of the Closets, Into the Streets!” The Gay-In was a huge success.

GLF immediately began planning a second Gay-In in Griffith Park a month later and, thereafter, every month throughout the summer. By this time, LAPD undercover agents had infiltrated GLF as they had virtually every anti-war, civil rights, and social justice organization in Los Angeles that was working for radical social change, including gay liberation. They influenced GLF members into having the second Gay-In in Griffith Park just south of the Greek Theatre. I argued for the merry-go-round area since it had worked so well, seeing no need to fix something that wasn't broken, but the organization was swayed by the Greek Theatre location.

On the appointed day as we were setting up the event and only a few gay people had shown up because it was still early, a LAPD bus drove up to the location. Out of the bus came about 70 SWAT team members, fully-geared for combat, who surrounded the Gay-In. Over a loud-speaker the event was declared an unlawful assembly and we were given three minutes to disperse or be arrested. Pandemonium reigned as people scattered. Facing a SWAT team that has encircled you in full combat gear is a frightening experience whether in Los Angeles' Griffith Park or Bejing's Tiananmen Square. Gay-In II, compliments of the LAPD, was over before it even started. In pre-gay liberation days, homophobes would do anything to keep gay people from being visible and peacefully gathering in public places. It was part of their system of social control over us. As it turned out, the second Gay-In was only the first of three encounters by GLF and the SWAT team in 1970.

Quickly, a demonstration was organized by GLF at the Hollywood police station the following Saturday protesting the police action against the Gay-In. About 150 people picketed silently in front of the station with beautifully-made protest signs, while visible on the roof of the police station, right over the entrance, were two uniformed policemen holding machine guns. The demonstration received media attention but more was called for.

GLF had been contacted by an attorney in Century City offering his services if needed. His name was Alan Gross and he agreed to file a request for a temporary restraining order in federal court against the LAPD interfering with future Gay-Ins or any other lawful public assembly by gay people—a first for our people. Numerous gay attorneys that GLF had solicited all turned us down in fear or cowardice. Gross, who had organized the Legal Aid program in Oregon against much opposition, became legal counsel to GLF and continued to play that role for 25 years at the Gay & Lesbian Center. He and his wife Sheila became my close life-long friends.

With Gross dictating and me typing, a request was filed that ended up in the federal courtroom of Judge Andrew Hawk, the LAPD's favorite judge. His first action was to make Sheila Gross leave the courtroom because she was wearing a pantsuit. “Only men wear pants in this courtroom,” he thundered. Then he asked, “Who is the attorney for the queers?” Referring to us as “faggots” and “queers,” things only went downhill from there. He denied the order, but thereafter LAPD harassment of GLF decreased because they knew we would not run away and hide, as previous generations of gay people had done. We would fight back non-violently but aggressively and resourcefully. The gay liberation movement was creating a new type of public gay person.

questions? donkilhefner@sbcglobal.net