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Smash the Church, Smash the State!: The Early Years of Gay Liberation

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Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn rebellion resulted in that story, called the birth of the gay rights movement, having been told numerous times this year. The logical follow up question would be "What happened next?" And that is what is told in this compilation edited by activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca.

The book consists of a diverse collection of over forty articles, speeches, essays and poems based on recollections and experiences by their authors, who had some role in the fight for GLBT visibility and rights. Most deal with the period from the late 60's to mid 70's (about five years before and after Stonewall in 1969), and give a perspective not just from big cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, but smaller cities and towns, as well as a few other countries. While the story of Stonewall is more gay-male centric, these stories are more evenly divided between gay, lesbian and transgender voices and experiences, and deal frankly with the rifts between those factions that, at times, made progress more difficult than it needed to be. There are stories of experiences with living in collectives, alternative newspapers managing to publish despite huge obstacles, GLBT people of color dealing with two sets of biases, civil disobedience and the justice system, and overlaps with socialist and other beliefs. The final section of the book, dealing with more modern topics (which I personally felt detracted from the focus of the book, as expressed in the subtitle), deals with more modern movements such as ACTUP, the Coors Beer boycott in Los Angeles gay bars, and the ENDA bill that excluded protection for transgender individuals. Overall, a lot of excellent writing and ideas much recommended for students of gay liberation. Four proud stars out of five.

When everyone hates you, it's natural to hate them right back. "Smash the Church, Smash the State!: The Early Years of Gay Liberation" is a look at the early days of gay liberation where much of society grew finally tired of hiding a major part of them and took a stand for their rights. A fight that rages on to this day, the stories of those who threw the first stone are inspiring and will motivate current civil rights fighter to stand their ground. "Smash the Church, Smash the State!" is an ideal addition to any history collection focusing on civil rights.

The essays in this volume look back some forty years to the heady years of gay liberation that followed the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City in June of 1969. As a participant, I remember those days in fondness and in gratitude. Yet they are now history. Many of the writers of this collection are not only nostalgic (which is fair enough) but seem to think that somehow the fervor and radicalism of the 1970s can be revived. Above all, the dragon of "assimilationism" must be slain.

Unfortunately for the writers, most of us are assimilationists now. We must be, because we recognize that progress is not to be obtained in the streets, but through a hard slog in the Congress, legislatures and the courts. This strategy requires participation in the political process, renouncing utopian illusions of fundamental transformation through street actions and establishing communes.

There have been at least two major changes that make the revivalist project of this book's authors improbable, to say the least. First, young people today lack the experience of 1960s liberation movements--black, women's, and antiwar--that provided the training, as it were, for the firebrands of gay liberation. Secondly (and partly as a result of the accomplishments of gay liberation), a highly visible and assertive gay and lesbian middle class has emerged. These people want a stable home life, access to consumer goods and travel, and (if desired) same-sex marriage and adoption. This "assimilationist" outcome may be, according to some estimates, undesirable, but it has happened and is irreversible.

This book is recommended as a historical retrospect. However, the illusions and utopianism that thrive herein must evoke skepticism.