Hay, Henry (Harry)

One of the founders of the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles in 1951, Henry (Harry) Hay (1912–2002) [Page 449]later established the Radical Faeries in 1978. Comprised largely of White, gay men, Mattachine was the first modern-era gay rights organization. As one of the founders, Hay also did much of the early theorizing for the organization.

Hay long had been a Communist Party (CPUSA) activist, joining in 1933. He had even married another party member to remain in good standing. During this time, both the U.S. government and the CPUSA banned gay men and lesbians (closeted or not). According to John D'Emilio in 1983, both parties saw gay and lesbian people as potential targets of blackmail and security threats. By the late 1940s, however, Hay was increasingly dissatisfied with the party's hostility toward homosexuals and its poor-to-nonexistent theorizing regarding homosexuality.

In 1948, using the analytic skills he had honed during his work for the CPUSA, Hay began examining the status of gay men and lesbians in U.S. society. He concluded that homosexuals or homophiles (to use the parlance of that era) were a minority group just like any other. and similarly, they were discriminated against simply because of who they were. Hay quickly sketched a manifesto and sought out like-minded individuals to form an activist organization dedicated to promoting civil rights for homophiles. It took 2 years of cautious chatting in the Los Angeles area before he found anyone who would join him. Chuck Rowland and Bob Hull, who were also former CPUSA activists, helped Hay establish Mattachine. In 1951, Hay finally left his wife and the party, in that order.

The early meetings of Mattachine (1951–1953) were largely dedicated to education and consciousness-raising, with Hay typically facilitating the discussions. During his time with the CPUSA, Hay had worked as a community educator, so the efforts with Mattachine were a logical extension of his previous work. Furthermore, his work with the CPUSA and Mattachine can be seen as examples of educational leadership for social justice. Given the persecution of the era, the extreme secrecy and cell-like structure of Mattachine were also probably imported from the CPUSA—although Hay later denied this. Even in relatively progressive California, the caution was warranted. During the early 1950s, “open homosexuals” risked police entrapment, arrest, jailing (up to 20 years), dismissal from jobs, professional licensure revocation, and electroshock therapy.

By 1953, Mattachine had grown in strength and cohesiveness. It was able to launch ONE, the organization's magazine. It became the first widely distributed prohomophile journal. Many of ONE 's authors used pseudonyms, although a few brave souls attached their actual names to their articles. Unfortunately for Hay, 1953 also marked the height of anti-Communism in the U.S. In early 1953, a local newspaper outed Hay as a Marxist. This, in turn, triggered more reporting on both Hay and Mattachine. Fearing any additional subversive notions would doom Mattachine, the organization's more conservative members quickly purged the founders to shake free of any “Red” taint. Nevertheless, the foundations of Mattachine, as well as the nascent gay rights movement, had been laid. Hay would continue to be involved with varying aspects of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) rights movement, and he would continue to embrace radical and at times, wildly unpopular views, until his death in 2002. Persons such as Hay are important to know as founders in the movement to bring a wider perspective and understanding of the role of sexual orientation for educators at all levels.

...