Copyright May 18, 2004 by Ken Bronson. All rights reserved.

Contents

About the author

FREE hosts Minnesota's first Gay Liberation convention

June 1970
Not content to simply fight the Regents' refusal to hire Michael, Jack worked within FREE to expand the discussion of gay equality beyond Minnesota. On June 24, FREE sent a request to Vice President Stanley Wenburg's office requesting permission to hold a regional convention on the campus October 10-11. Wenburg referred the request to the Faculty, Staff and Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Regents, the same unit that rejected Michael's appointment.

James Chesebro, the convention coordinator, noted that, "As far as we are able to tell, the only distinct feature of the request is the fact that FREE is requesting a convention." The Regents rejected the request at their September 11 meeting. President Malcolm Moos later explained that legal counsel said the convention would prejudice the appeal of Michael's' case.

The Minnesota Daily responded with a scathing editorial, proclaiming the Regents to have the moral authority "somewhere between that of Billy Graham and Judge Julius Hoffman." The pain felt by James Chesebro was immense. At 25, he was a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Speech-Communications. How could a place that calls itself a "university" forbid speech, any speech? The Regents had cheapened the degree that he was pursuing. He felt cheated as a student. To make matters worse, the MCLU refused his request for help.

Undaunted, FREE moved the convention off campus, to Dania Hall, an historic building on the West Bank of the Mississippi. News of the Regents' action produced commitments from Gay Liberation and homophile leaders in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas and New York.

Event planners intended to have a series of speakers and possibly a session to discuss the comments of Black Panther leader Huey Newton urging his followers to work with both the Gay and Women's liberation movements. Also planned was a discussion about developing relationships between different homophile organizations nationally. (The proposed agenda is reprinted in the PDF version.)

Unfortunately, "Revolutionaries" demanded that the proposed agenda be set aside in favor of "reports from each group represented, followed by a discussion of Gay oppression and how Gay people repress each other, followed by a discussion of sexism and then racism." Forty of the 145 delegates walked out. Coverage in the Minnesota Daily appeared under the headline, "Disorganization marks gay lib convention." Polarization between moderates and radicals became evident as issues of racism, sexism and chauvinism were discussed. Tempers flared when delegates debated whether to recognize the Black Panther Party as the "vanguard of revolution in America."

The New York Mattachine Times said the convention fell apart because "the delegates spent the week-end trying to `outradical' one another."Chesebro dismissed the criticism. "The framework for discussion," he said, was merely a tool that allowed everyone - liberals, conservatives and radicals - "to speak and participate." Chesebro's report to the membership (reprinted in the PDF version) provoked a bitter debate.

Not only did Chesebro defend the "Revolutionaries" who turned the convention into something that was not approved, but he also insisted "that unless the entire Gay Community is represented, FREE ought not hold meetings for the need becomes getting the Gay Community represented, not holding business as usual". Robert Halfhill, FREE 's treasurer, tried but failed to get Chesebro to account for expenses incurred at the convention. After five months of no accounting and no apologies by Chesebro, Halfhill released his analysis of "the worth of the October Regional Gay Convention."

Halfhill's audit uncovered unauthorized expenses to pay for ransacked kitchen facilities, and for two tanks of gas, enough to get the "Revolutionaries" back to New York. Also, FREE incurred expenses for guest speakers who were not allowed to speak.

The convention radicalized a small but growing minority of FREE members who were becoming less patient with straight society and its institutions. They pushed for and won approval for a resolution recognizing the Black Panther Party as "the vanguard for the elimination of repression for all people." Chesebro said he pushed for the statement because institutional channels for action were being closed and other channels had to be found.

The Young Americans for Freedom were just glad to be rid of it. After the convention ended, they met with President Malcolm Moos to demand that he "think twice" about permitting on campus "a convention of individuals who would participate in illegal acts, such as a convention of homosexuals."

Contents

Full and absolute equality for ALL God's children; no exceptions, no excuses.