The Atlantic publishes essay by Professor Jim Downs
Jim Downs, professor of history and director of 糖心TV鈥檚 American studies program, argues in a that networks of activists transformed the Stonewall uprising of 1969 from an isolated event into a turning point in the gay liberation movement, and traces the origins of that activism to an unlikely place: a bookstore.
Downs tells the story of the first gay bookshop鈥攖he Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, opened in New York in 1967 by activist Craig Rodwell鈥攁nd its impact in the lead up to Stonewall.
鈥淎ctivists like Rodwell understood the value of visibility; he was among the architects of New York鈥檚 gay-pride parade. But some were struggling not just for rights or liberation, but for something still more revolutionary,鈥� he wrote.
鈥淭hey were fighting for what they called 鈥榞ay power,鈥� the authority to define their own identity. Their efforts produced the intellectual revolution that lent the Stonewall protests their power, and which helped ensure that long after the protests were over, the changes they wrought would endure.鈥�
The article, is part of a The Atlantic about the gay-rights movement and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.