Gay Left
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Gay Left was a collective of gay men and a journal of the same name which they published every six months in London between the years 1975 and 1980. It was formed after the dissolution of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Marxist Group.[1] Gay Left formed out of a reading group made up of members of the defunct Gay Marxist group.[2]
Its goal was to contribute towards a Marxist analysis of homosexual oppression and to encourage in the gay movement an understanding of the links between the struggle against sexual oppression and the struggle for socialism.[3]
The journal Gay Left initially described itself as "A Socialist Journal Produced by Gay Men", which evolved into "A Gay Socialist Journal" by the magazine's end, reflecting the internal debates that ran throughout Gay Left's life between the collective and lesbians who, though none ever joined the collective, frequently contributed articles.
The Collective
In all a total of fifteen gay men became part of the collective at one point or another, with nine members at the start and nearly half of them forming part of the final eight.[3] The group met on alternate Fridays and Sundays from 1974 until 1980. As well as editorial planning, the members also wrote a collective statement keynoting each issue. The collective espoused radical leftist politics, influenced by thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci, Sigmund Freud and Michel Foucault, and by the successes of the gay rights and feminist movements.[4]
Journal
The journal published by the collective, Gay Left, combined theoretical articles with reviews and political reports.[5] Alongside more historical articles like 'Where Engels Feared to Tread' (GL 1), which traced the evolution of Marxist attitudes towards sexuality and gender, were articles on struggles in the workplace like 'Gays and Trade Unions' (GL 1), 'The Gay Workers' Movement' (GL 2), 'All Worked UP' (GL 3), 'Gays at Work' (GL 6 and 7), and 'Work Place Politics: Gay Politics' (GL 10); and pieces on the attitudes of leftist organisations towards the gay issue, such as 'A Grim Tale', about the International Socialists' Gay Group (GL 3) or 'Communists' Comment' (GL 4).
Gay Left was also a leader in exploring gay culture in its broadest sense. Gays in film formed a continuous theme following a ground- breaking article by Richard Dyer in GL 2, with regular reviews (for example, of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (GL 2)), and coverage of Ron Peck's attempts to make his film, Nighthawks (Peck was then a member of the collective and other members were involved in the film making). Andrew Britton challenged 'Camp' (GL 6), and there were pioneering articles on 'Gay Art', the gay singer, Tom Robinson and the theatre group Gay Sweatshop (GL 7). Richard Dyer's article 'In Defence of Disco' (GL 8) was one of the first to take disco seriously as an expression of the new gay consciousness. Mandy Merck explored Gays on TV in GL 10 at the start of what proved to be a revolution in the ways in which lesbians and gays were represented.
Contributors
Gay Left's contributors included many experienced activists, particularly in the field of feminism, education and workplace politics.[3]
| Issue/Name | Issue 1 Autumn 1975 |
Issue 2 Spring 1976 |
Issue 3 Autumn 1976 |
Issue 4 Summer 1977 |
Issue 5 Winter 1977/8 |
Issue 6 Summer 1978 |
Issue 7 Winter 1978/9 |
Issue 8 Summer 1979 |
Issue 9 Winter 1979/80 |
Issue 10 Summer 1980 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alison Hennegen | Green tick | |||||||||
| Andrew Britton | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Barry Davis | Green tick | |||||||||
| Bea Campbell | Green tick | |||||||||
| Caroline Airs | Green tick | |||||||||
| Celia Holt | Green tick | |||||||||
| Chris Jones | Green tick | |||||||||
| David Fernbach | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| David Landau | Green tick | |||||||||
| David Thompson | Green tick | |||||||||
| David Widgery | Green tick | |||||||||
| Dennis Altman | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Fred Bearman | Green tick | |||||||||
| Glenn McKee | Green tick | |||||||||
| Hans Klabbers | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Helen Bishop | Green tick | |||||||||
| Jacky Plaster | Green tick | |||||||||
| Jamie Gough | Green tick | |||||||||
| Jane Lewis | Green tick | |||||||||
| Jeff Dudgeon | Green tick | |||||||||
| John de Wit | Green tick | |||||||||
| John Lindsay | Green tick | |||||||||
| John Quinn | Green tick | |||||||||
| John Shiers | Green tick | |||||||||
| John Warburton | Green tick | |||||||||
| Kate Ingrey | Green tick | |||||||||
| Kay Young | Green tick | |||||||||
| Ken Plummer | Green tick | |||||||||
| Lindsay Taylor | Green tick | |||||||||
| Lindsay Turner | Green tick | |||||||||
| Mandy Merck | Green tick | |||||||||
| Margaret Coulson | ||||||||||
| Margaret Jackson | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Marie Walsh | Green tick | |||||||||
| Patrick Hughes | Green tick | |||||||||
| Paul Hallam | Green tick | |||||||||
| Peter Bradley | Green tick | |||||||||
| Ros Coward | Green tick | |||||||||
| Sarah Benton | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Sarah Maguire | Green tick | |||||||||
| Shauna Brown | Green tick | |||||||||
| Stephen Gee | Green tick | |||||||||
| Sue Bruley | Green tick | Green tick | ||||||||
| Sue Cartledge | Green tick | Green tick | Green tick | |||||||
| Teresa Savage | Green tick | |||||||||
| Tom O'Carroll | Green tick | Green tick |
Other activities
Gay Left organised a conference in London in July 1977 titled "What is to Be Done?" (possibly after the famous pamphlet of the same name by Vladimir Lenin) and edited and wrote chapters for a book published by Allison and Busby in 1980 titled Homosexuality, Power and Politics. The book was re-published by Verso in October 2018. https://www.versobooks.com/books/2895-homosexuality Template:ISBN.
See also
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- List of fictional gay characters
- LGBT social movements
- 1970s in LGBT rights
- LGBT rights by country or territory
- Socialism and LGBT rights
References
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External links
Template:British New Left Template:LGBT topics in the United Kingdom
- Pages with script errors
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- 1975 establishments in England
- 1980 disestablishments in England
- Gay men's magazines published in the United Kingdom
- Cultural magazines published in the United Kingdom
- Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom
- LGBTQ collectives
- LGBTQ culture in London
- Defunct LGBTQ organisations in the United Kingdom
- LGBTQ socialism
- Magazines published in London
- Magazines established in 1975
- Magazines disestablished in 1980
- Marxist magazines
- Organizations established in 1975
- Organizations disestablished in 1980
- Socialism in England
- Socialist magazines
- Defunct LGBTQ-related magazines published in the United Kingdom
- Defunct gay men's magazines