Step 1:
Watch the online lecture, “LGBTQ+ Terminology and Issues.” This is a primer on LGBTQ terminology and issues to help orient you to the content this week.
Queer History Lecture, part 1:
Here’s the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/2rIk32o81Qo
Queer History Lecture, part 2:
Click here to download part 2 of the video lecture(YouTube was having issues with copyright infringement and wouldn’t let me upload the video the usual way).
Step 3:
Read chapter 3 of Transgender History by Susan Stryker.
Step 4: Inspirational History!
Watch this short inspiring video about the group STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), and Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, activists for transgender liberation:
Guiding questions for content this week:
Again, note that these questions are here to help guide you through the main themes and ideas. These are not your discussion questions. When you participate in the discussion forum, make sure to respond to the discussion questions I post.
LECTURE
- What was the context of discrimination that helped to spur activism for LGBTQ/queer rights beginning in the 1950s?
- How did medical science both stigmatize queer people and facilitate, in positive way, the creation of queer identities?
- What did queer identity look like in the 19th and early 20th centuries?
- Why was the community formed in gay and lesbian bars essential in the formation of identity and community, and how does this relate to the emergence of activism in the 1960s and 1970s?
- What political differences existed between the homophile movement and the gay liberation movement?
- Why did the Stonewall Riot happen? What does it have to do with the emergence of a mass movement for gay rights?
- What was the influence of Women’s Liberation on Gay Liberation?
- How successful was the gay liberation movement, considering the rightwing backlash by the late 1970s?
- Why did queer people revive their activism in the midst of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s?
READING
- Why was the riot at Compton’s cafeteria different from previous outbursts of activism/riots?
- How did the movements of the 1960s influence transgender activism in San Francisco?
- What were some of the issues faced by transgender people in the 1960s that helped to spur their activism?
- Why ultimately was the riot at Stonewall more influential than the Compton’s cafeteria riot on a national scale? (use the lecture and the reading to answer this one).
- What role did trans women of color play in leading the movement for transgender liberation?
Bonus Material:
Documentary: Outrage ’69
This is about the Stonewall Riots of 1969, often referred to as the spark for gay liberation. Every year Pride parades are held at the end of June specifically to commemorate the riots at the Stonewall Inn. This is the entire documentary. You can get extra credit for watching this or reading or watching any of what follows.
Documentary: Screaming Queens
This is a documentary made by Susan Stryker about the Compton Cafeteria riots in San Francisco in 1966, which she spends some time discussing in your reading.
Documentary: Before Stonewall
This documentary chronicles LGBTQ history before the Stonewall riots of 1969. Here’s the entire documentary on YouTube. A much better quality version can be found on Kanopy through the ARC Library website.
Documentary: After Stonewall
This discusses some key moments in queer history after the Stonewall riots. This is the trailer — watch the whole thing on Kanopy through the ARC library website.
Documentary: Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson
This documentary is about Marsha Johnson, a key figure in transgender history.
Latina USA Radio Interview: Sylvia Rivera: A Forgotten Hero of the Stonewall Riots.
This short interview was aired on Latina USA, an NPR show. Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson were good friends as activists for the rights of trans* people in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. (This one is too short for extra credit).
“For Today I Am a Boy” by Antony and the Johnsons
Here’s a song I remember liking several years ago but was just reminded of. Thought I’d share something different.
“Gentleman Jack” TV show
This is a new TV series on HBO! It’s a fictionalized account about the life of Anne Lister, an out, masculine-of-center lesbian in 19th century England, who kept a very detailed–and explicit–diary. I saw the first episode recently, and thought it was excellent.
There are many more documentaries I could list here!
Like Brother Outsider: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin about the Civil Rights Movement leader; The Celluloid Closet about queerness in Hollywood; Howto Survive a Plague about the AIDS epidemic; Paris is Burning about the queer black ball scene in New York City in the 1980s; The State of Marriage about the struggle for marriage equality in Vermont; We’ve Been Around, a series of documentary short films celebrating the lives of trans* pioneers; Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America; and on and on.
If you have recommendations for documentaries or books, let me know (or post them in the discussion forum).
Discussion Question:
What did you find particularly exciting, interesting, or challenging about the assigned content this week?
As you answer these questions, make sure to make specific references to the reading and the lectures. Remember also that you need to cite all required content (lectures and reading), and that without references to the reading you may not receive higher than a ‘C’ on your discussion post.
And please note that the proper terminology is “transgender people.” Also, you are expected to engage in this discussion in a respectful manner, as you would all discussion forums.
Your initial discussion post should be at least 250 words, you should answer all questions, and your responses to the discussion should be thoughtful and not too brief — i.e. “me too” and “I agree” do not suffice as adequate responses. Your responses should be at minimum 50 words.
Please remember to include both in-text MLA citations and a Works Cited page
