"You Had to be There"

"You Had to be There"

Once again being an old guy comes in handy. We remember shit because we were there. I'd say we were "...fucking there", but that could be misunderstood. Anyway back in the 20th century. During the part when cars had just shed their cute fins, and guys started walking around on the Moon.

Them were the days.

In them happy long past times Queers was going nuts, and demanding everybody should stop beating us up, and killing us. Imagine. 'Course now in these bright enlightened times such is unimaginable,...unless it happens to you.

Well you or some other random Queer.

Okay shit ain't changed at all other than we're more visible. This making it easier to find, and kill us. 


But I digress.

An apparent little known fact of those gleeful elder daze was the founding of the first as in the first American Queer community center. Mind you not the first in history. The real first I think was the 1919~CE "Hirscheld Institute".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_für_Sexualwissenschaft

Wadda guy. Look him, and his pals up. You'll get an eyeful. Anyway 52 years later during another try after the Institute was burned to the ground by Nazis, and 80+ Millions of folks were murdered during WW2.

There was another attempt at that stop killing folks stuff. 

A bit more modest this time. In 1971 the first American Queer Community Center opened in NYC in a loft above "Folk City". A dive where the like of Mr. Dylan the Fugs, and Mr. Ginsberg held forth.
Like most of history it's forgotten.

Except by those still alive like myself who were there. I was just 20, and dropped out of college,...again. A habit I was to maintain for several years till finally finishing.

By the standards of today it was revolutionary in that it didn't forbid anyone. Every variation of Dykedom Faggotry imagination peacefully blended like a very happy 'gay' cream in deep black coffee.

I mean every color age class, and hat size was there. Trannies before they had a name. Sissies BL folks leather rough trade street kids hippies lonely lawyers librarians young G.I.'s just back from the Vietnam War. 

This plus any number of high school teachers who would accidently run in to former or current students.

I ran into a former English teacher there.

We were profoundly democratic in our desperation. Stonewall was still thought of as a riot, and it looked like a failed one. This as opposed to a City sponsored Mardi Gras.

I liked it there, and went near everyday. I eventually was on the housekeeping collective,....yeah we called it that. The revolution coming, and all. So being Queers we kept it nice, and tidy.

Till the City found out we were there.

They put the screws to our landlord the Folk Club. After a year of fire inspection raids, and police hunts for minors,...which was about one quarter of the usual population. ...this is why we forbade drinking, and dope. Anyway after a year, and four months we had to close.

...and were forgotten.

Several years later as things got more organized a few other centers opened. These I never liked as they were reflection's the divisions that were fracturing the hippie ethnic we used to have. Race gender class, and particular orientations became barriers.  We had begun to internally segregate ourselves.

When the current politically connected NYC Homophile Center opened in the 1990's I had nothing to do with it. For one people like me had long since been declared "not gay". It was also racist in the ugly slightly screened way liberals do it.

I'd have preferred that they just wore pink hoods, and had done with it. Anyway that was the brief rise, and fall of the first, and last Community Center for Perverts of all kinds to hang out in. This in safety, and laughter.

Back then when a sister Dyke called me her Gay brother,....I would know she meant it. We were still one family then. 

Today if I marched with a banner with my fantasy Queer Angel, and Faerie art on it. As I did back then at demos. 
I would not get kindly supportive comments from my former comrade perverts.  As I did back in the day.

At the time I actually thought like Michelangelo that Angels were 'supposed' to be beautiful winged, and nude. See above the times force me to illustrate this with modesty.

Today my banners would be likely be attacked, and me arrested.

Progress.

Happy Pride Day, if you fit the expected norms.