Gay activists endorse July 4th coalition
Adapted from reporting by PGN staff
Gay Activists Alliance in Philadelphia endorsed the July 4th Coalition, a nationwide group of more than 100 organizations planning marches and rallies as alternatives to the official Bicentennial celebrations.
Harry Langhorne, GAA spokesperson and PGN politics reporter, called the alternative rallies “a celebration of 200 years of struggle.”
“It is also a chance for groups working for social change to get to know each other and for us to raise the gay-rights issue with the non-gay political left,” he said. “The government-sponsored celebration, on the other hand, is bound to encourage an uncritical acceptance of the status quo.”
The local rally was slated for North Philadelphia on Independence Day 1976.
The coalition was a broad platform that included various social-justice proponents. The Gay Caucus of the coalition was proposed by Philadelphia Quaker activist George Lakey.
Some gay people objected to the GAA endorsement of the coalition because they thought the disparagement of symbols of American patriotism would be a bad tactic for the gay-rights movement.
Lesbian weekend set for Pocono Mountains
Adapted from reporting by PGN staff
The second-annual Lesbian Feminist Weekend was held the first weekend of June 1976 at Lake Owego in the Pocono Mountains.
Organizer Susan Roberts told PGN they expected about 150 women to attend.
Workshops were planned on lesbian centers, role-playing in relationships, spirituality in politics, classism, politics of lesbian separatism, lesbianism and feminism and incoming sharing and the community. Other activities included swimming, sports and an informal campfire social.