Gay activists alliance firehouse

Many of the gay bars at that time were owned by Mafia members who had complicated relationships with the police and who would often blackmail wealthy patrons, threatening to out them to their employers and families. Nov 5, Related People. To be included in this list of potential landmarks speaks to the vital importance of the Firehouse to the origins of the gay rights movement of the s.

The firehouse building that was once the headquarters of Engine Company 13 at 99 Wooster Street was also the headquarters of the Gay Activists Alliance GAAwhose symbol was the Greek letter lambda, fromthe period when the group was most active.

The GAA Firehouse, however, was also a gathering place, a community center that hosted many social events, most notably its hugely popular Saturday night dance parties.

Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse :

Even the Front’s name was unapologetically radical, inspired by the National Liberation Front fighting U.S. troops in South Vietnam at the time. The building is now home to a Victorinox Swiss Army store. 1 However, GLF members quickly divided over strategy.

Preservationists are now fighting to have other sites significant in the early gay rights movement designated as landmarks, including one here in SoHo. It is not a surprise that it was located in SoHo, probably one of the most inclusive communities in New York City at that time.

The firehouse building that was once the headquarters of Engine Company 13 at 99 Wooster Street was also the headquarters of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), whose symbol was the Greek letter lambda, fromthe period when the group was most active.

The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) formed in December and became the most influential American gay liberation political activist organization in the early s. Gay Activist Alliance Firehouse "A School for Democracy" Within weeks of the Stonewall Rebellion, activists formed the Gay Liberation Front (GLF).

According to the entry for the GAA on Wikipedia :. Posted in SoHo Places. Aside from being a top fundraiser for the GAA as well as an ideal outreach and recruitment tool, the dances offered a safe space for LGBT people at the time to have some fun without fear of persecution.

Some of their more visible actions included protests against an anti-gay episode on the popular TV series Marcus Welby, M. This can be easily changed by amending the designation reports for these districts to include information about the LGBT history of these sites, or by considering the sites for additional individual landmark designation.

From toGAA used this firehouse in SoHo as its headquarters, which served as New York’s most important LGBT political and cultural community center during these years. Subjects activismpreservation. By minorscience. These dances were one of very few places LGBT folks could go to interact socially and politically.