From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gay Left
Gay Left
Issue/Name Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10
Autumn Spring Autumn Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer
1975 1976 1976 1977 1977/8 1978 1978/9 1979 1979/80 1980
Keith Birch • • • • • • • • • •
Gregg Blach- • • • • •
ford
Bob Cant • • • •
Emmanuel • • • • • • • • • •
Cooper
Ross Irwin •
Randall Kin- • • • •
caid
Angus Suttie • • •
Jeffrey • • • • • • • • • •
Weeks
Nigel Young • • • • • • • • • •
Derek Cohen • • • • • • • • •
Ron Peck • •
Richard Dyer •
Simon Wat- • • • • •
ney
Phil Der- • • • •
byshire
Tom Wood- • •
house
quently contributed articles.(see Contributors table be-
Gay Left was a collective of gay men who produced a jour- low)
nal of the same name published every six months in Lon-
don, England between the years 1975 and 1980. It was the
aftermath of the evaporation of the Gay Liberation Front
The Collective[3]
(GLF) and the Gay Marxist Group.[1] In all a total of 15 gay men became part of the collective
Its goal was to contribute towards a Marxist analysis at one point or another with nine members at the start
of homosexual oppression and to encourage in the gay and nearly half of them forming part of the final eight.
movement an understanding of the links between the The group met on alternate Fridays and Sundays from
struggle against sexual oppression and the struggle for 1974 until 1980. As well as editorial planning, the mem-
socialism.[2] bers also wrote a collective statement keynoting each is-
The journal initially described itself as "A Socialist sue.
Journal Produced by Gay Men", which evolved into "A
Gay Socialist Journal" by the magazine’s end. That transi-
tion, in itself, spoke volumes for the vigorous debate that
The Journal
ran throughout Gay Left’s life between the collective and Alongside more historical articles like ‘Where Engels
lesbians who, though none ever joined the collective, fre- Feared to Tread’ (GL 1), which traced the evolution of
Marxist attitudes towards sexuality and gender, were ar-
ticles on struggles in the workplace like ‘Gays and Trade
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gay Left
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 atti-
tudes 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 Fass-
binder (GL 2)), and coverage of Ron Peck’s attempts to
make his film, ‘Nighthawks’ (Ron 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 Sweat-
shop (GL 7). Richard Dyer’s article ‘In Defence of Disco’
(GL 8) was one of the first to take disco seriously as an ex-
pression of the new gay consciousness. Mandy Merck ex-
plored Gay 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[3]
Gay Left’s contributors included many experienced ac-
tivists, particularly in the field of feminism, education
and workplace politics.
Other activities
Gay Left organised a conference in London in July 1977 ti-
tled ‘What is to Be Done?’ (possibly after the famous pam-
phlet of the same name by Vladimir Lenin) and edited
and wrote chapters for a book published by Alison and
Busby in 1980 titled Homosexuality, Power and Politics.
References
[1] The Knitting Circle - Gay Left Collective
[2] Issue 1
[3] ^ Gay Left Issue 1
See also
• White Crane
• Gay Rights
• 1970s in LGBT rights
External links
• Gay Left
• The Politics of Homosexuality
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gay Left
Issue/Name Issue 1 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue 5 Issue 6 Issue 7 Issue 8 Issue 9 Issue 10
Autumn Spring Autumn Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer Winter Summer
1975 1976 1976 1977 1977/8 1978 1978/9 1979 1979/80 1980
Alison Hen- •
negen
Andrew Brit- • •
ton
Barry Davis •
Bea Camp- •
bell
Caroline Airs •
Celia Holt •
Chris Jones •
David Fern- • •
bach
David Lan- •
dau
David •
Thompson
David •
Widgery
Dennis Alt- • •
man
Fred Bear- •
man
Glenn •
McKee
Hans Klab- • •
bers
Helen Bish- •
op
Jacky Plaster •
Jamie Gough •
Jane Lewis •
Jeff Dudgeon •
John de Wit •
John Lindsay •
John Quinn •
John Shiers •
John War- •
burton
Kate Ingrey •
Kay Young •
Ken Plum- •
mer
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gay Left
Lindsay Tay- •
lor
Lindsay •
Turner
Mandy Mer- •
ck
Margaret
Coulson
Margaret • •
Jackson
Marie Walsh •
Patrick •
Hughes
Paul Hallam •
Peter •
Bradley
Ros Coward •
Sarah Ben- • •
ton
Sarah •
Maguire
Shauna •
Brown
Stephen Gee •
Sue Bruley • •
Sue Car- • • •
tledge
Teresa Sav- •
age
Tom • •
O’Carroll
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gay_Left&oldid=463917077"
Categories:
• Cultural journals
• Marxism
• British LGBT-related magazines
• LGBT culture in London
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