Gay Activists Alliance Student Organization at OSU

The Ohio State University’s Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) student organization operated out of the Ohio Union beginning in 1972. The group was formed in 1970 and was officially recognized by the University in 1971. This was one of many gay and lesbian groups to form across the country in the post-Stonewall era of gay liberation. The nationwide emergence of a movement for LGBTQ+ social and legal rights inspired Ohio State University gay and lesbian students to fight for local change. The students pushed back against discrimination by protesting the police and university, hosted social events, and created support services, such as counseling and bail funds, for the Columbus LGBTQ+ community. The goal of GAA was to promote acceptance of all sexual orientations, help students come out, end social and legal discrimination against homosexuals, and to establish and foster a supportive community. GAA laid the foundation for the present-day queer community of Columbus, Ohio and it represents a local response to the gay liberation movement.

Over the duration of the twentieth century small communities of homosexuals formed along the coasts and in major inland cities. They created organizations, such as Daughters of Bilitis and the Mattachine Society, and local chapters sprang up all across the country. The activism of these early organizations mainly aimed to educate heterosexuals on homosexuality, to advocate for acceptance of lesbians and gays in society, and offer some pushback against discrimination. The emergence of a nationwide gay liberation movement in the 1970s occurred as a result of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. During this multiday rebellion, starting on June 28, 1969, Black street queens fought back against local police raids and discrimination at the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, New York. Lesbian and gay activists responded to this rebellion and organized political activist groups to take action. The Ohio State University’s Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) was one of the many lesbian and gay organizations to form on college campuses across the nation between 1970 and 1972. They had 25 active members and an estimated 200 non-active members in 1971.[1]

The group was originally founded as Gay Liberation Front (GLF); however, the name quickly changed to Gay Activists Alliance because the national GLF movement was organizing around issues other than gay rights, such as the Vietnam War, and many students wanted to focus on issues pertinent to the gay community.[2] With an adjusted focus on social issues, GAA sought to bring together gay and lesbian students to create a supportive community and to address university and community discrimination. GAA gave speeches in classrooms, hosted weekly meetings in Hagerty Hall, and held social events, such as film showings, dances, and balls.[3] These events allowed LGBTQ+ students to meet one another, socialize, make connections, and feel a sense of community. GAA also published The Columbus Gay Activist. In this periodical, they publicized local and national LGBTQ+ news or events, advertisements for LGBTQ+ friendly businesses and bars, LGBTQ+ literature and films, and events beyond campus.[4]

One of the first major events that GAA organized was the first Gay Pride Week in May of 1972. The week was filled with activities, educational opportunities, for both heterosexual and homosexual students, and social gatherings.[5] Activities included a “guerilla theater” production on the oval to demonstrate examples of discrimination that homosexual students face on campus and in the community, an end of the week dance and concert, a small arts and crafts festival, discussion groups on queer issues, and speeches were given by important lesbian and gay figures and civil rights leaders, including Martha Shelley (founder of the first New York Gay Liberation Foundation), Tina Mandel (Former president of Daughters of Bilitis, a pre-Stonewall lesbian organization), Rich Wandel (contemporary president of GAA New York), and Frank Kameny (founder of Washington, D.C. Mattachine society, a lesbian and gay organization, and the first openly gay man to run for a governmental position).[6] The organizers of Gay Pride Week saw the event as the best opportunity to demonstrate the presence and unity of the central Ohio LGBTQ+ community.[7]

It was also important to GAA that they provide support services for the LGBTQ+ community, both on and off-campus. Their office in the Union provided counseling for homosexual students.[8] GAA worked with a nearby medical clinic, nicknamed the Gay Clinic, that provided additional services that were beyond the organization’s capabilities.[9] To help LGBT students and members of the community who often faced discrimination by the police they set up a Gay Bail Fund that was available 24/7 and had six lawyers available to callers.[10] They distributed information and advice, in pamphlets or in The Columbus Gay Activist, on what to do if you are arrested.[11] These services were key to supporting the Columbus LGBTQ+ community.

Within the first two years of its founding, GAA expanded to be an impressive organization. The students laid down the foundation for today’s central Ohio queer community. They were eventually able to negotiate an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment passage to protect LGBT students and faculty in OSU’s policies.[12] Their continued advocacy led to the creation of LGBT literature courses at OSU and research into sexual orientations.[13]GAA achieved so much for the LGBT community. Most notably, in a short amount of time, they created a solid community and carved out a physical and social space for queer individuals to come out and exist in Ohio. 

Note: In some parts of this entry, I specify lesbians and gays instead of LGBTQ+ because during the post-Stonewall era the political and personal identities that dominated the gay liberation movement were gay men and lesbians.

[1] Patrick Dilley, Gay Liberation to Campus Assimilation: Early Non-Heterosexual Student Organizing at Midwestern Universities (Illinois: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), 57-73; John D’Emilio, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in The United States, 1940-1970 (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1983).

[2] Stephan Brice, “Gay Lib: New Name and Policies,” The Lantern, October 28, 1971, 2.

[3] Patrick Dilley, Gay Liberation to Campus Assimilation, 57-73; “Announcements,” The Columbus Gay Activist, April 12, 1972, 3, Ohio History Archives; “Mardi Gras Ball,” The Columbus Gay Activist, March 8, 1972, Ohio History Archives; “Kismet Meeting,” The Columbus Gay Activist, March 8, 1972, 1, Ohio History Archives; Mike Balduf, “Gay Activists describe alleged discrimination,” The Lantern, January 26, 1972.

[4] “Announcements,”; “Homophile Confab,” The Columbus Gay Activist, March 29, 1972, 5, Ohio History Archives; “Miss Drag Ohio,” The Columbus Gay Activist, April 26, 1972, 5, Ohio History Archives; “Mardi Gras Ball.”

[5] Patrick Dilley, Gay Liberation to Campus Assimilation, 57-73.

[6] “Gay Week Promotes Pride, Unity,” The Lantern, May 16, 1972.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Patrick Dilley, Gay Liberation to Campus Assimilation, 57-73.

[9] Joyce Tracewell, “GAA provides stepping stone for homosexuals ‘coming out,’” The Lantern, January 27, 1975.

[10] Sharon Spolter, “Gays Maintain Bail Fund,” The Lantern, August 17, 1972; “Gay Bail Fund,” The Columbus Gay Activist, March 8, 1972, 2, Ohio History Archives.

[11] “Know your Rights,” The Columbus Gay Activist, March 29, 1972, 2, Ohio History Archives. 

[12] The Ohio State University, “Generations of Activists Forge an LGBTQ-Inclusive University,” The Carmen Collection, Accessed December 5, 2021. https://carmencollection.osu.edu/story/generations-activists-forge-lgbtq-inclusive-university.

[13] Tony G. Belli, “Class to study gay roles, lives,” The Lantern, February 4, 1977.