The San Francisco Comedy Competition (sometimes referred to as the San Francisco International Comedy Competition or The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition) is a stand-up comedy contest held each September in San Francisco , California , and neighboring areas of Northern California.
68-540: The SFICC was originally conceived by Bay Area comedian Frank Kidder. However, it has been produced since its inception by Jon and Anne Fox, who now retain complete ownership after purchasing Kidder's share. The competition has evolved from two nights of 20 comics performing, to its current multi-week format. Hundreds of comedians each year submit applications to enter the contest. Of these, 32 are chosen to perform in one of two week-long preliminary rounds. In these prelims, comedians perform sets of 5 to 7 minutes in length and
136-465: A débutante 's coming-out party . This is a celebration for a young upper-class woman who is making her début – her formal presentation to society – because she has reached adult age or has become eligible for marriage. As historian George Chauncey points out: Gay people in the pre-war years [pre-WWI] ... did not speak of coming out of what we call "the gay closet" but rather of coming out into what they called "homosexual society" or
204-433: A rite of passage ; liberation or emancipation from oppression ; an ordeal ; a means toward feeling LGBT pride instead of shame and social stigma ; or a career-threatening act. Author Steven Seidman writes that "it is the power of the closet to shape the core of an individual's life that has made homosexuality into a significant personal, social, and political drama in twentieth-century America". Coming out of
272-522: A choice. Further, elements that accompany a change in gender can have financial, physical, medical, and legal implications. Additionally, transgender individuals can experience prejudice and rejection from sexual minorities and others in the LGBT community, in addition to the larger LGBT bias they can face from mainstream culture, which can feel isolating. Asexual and aromantic people might experience different challenges when coming out that other individuals in
340-558: A lack of understanding over their existence. Asexual and aromantic people may face risks of sexual assault , coercion, or other pressures to conform to sexual or romantic behavior from their sexual or romantic partners or external to their relationships. They can also experience being rejected by a partner or love interest for being asexual or aromantic, which may make some asexual and aromantic people tentative to come out. A 2023 study co-authored by Yasmin Benoit found that asexual people in
408-425: A model. For example, some LGBT youth become aware of and accept their same-sex desires or gender identity at puberty in a way similar to which heterosexual teens become aware of their sexuality, i.e., free of any notion of difference, stigma or shame in terms of the gender of the people to whom they are attracted. Regardless of whether LGBT youth develop their identity based on a model, the typical age at which youth in
476-531: A new boss, social worker, loan officer, landlord, doctor, erects new closets whose fraught and characteristic laws of optics and physics exact from at least gay people new surveys, new calculations, new draughts and requisitions of secrecy or disclosure. As Tony Adams demonstrates in Narrating the Closet , meeting new people makes for a new time to disclose one's sexuality. Observed annually on 11 October, by members of
544-424: A newly revealed gender identity as a "phase" or making efforts to change their children back to "normal" by using mental health services to alter the child's gender identity . The internet can play a significant role in the coming out process for transgender people. Some come out in an online identity first, providing an opportunity to go through experiences virtually and safely before risking social sanctions in
612-516: A process for gay and lesbian identity development, e.g. Dank, 1971; Cass, 1984; Coleman, 1989; Troiden, 1989. Of these models, the most widely accepted is the Cass identity model established by Vivienne Cass. This model outlines six discrete stages transited by individuals who successfully come out: identity confusion, identity comparison, identity tolerance, identity acceptance, identity pride, and identity synthesis. However, not every LGBT person follows such
680-460: A secret and separate from their outside appearance. This is not as simple as often thought, as Diana Fuss (1991) argues, "the problem of course with the inside/outside rhetoric ... is that such polemics disguise the fact that most of us are both inside and outside at the same time". Every coming out story is the person trying to come to terms with who they are and their sexual orientation. Several models have been created to describe coming out as
748-476: A series of pamphlets – as well as giving a lecture to the Association of German Jurists in 1867 – advocating decriminalization of sex acts between men, in which he was candid about his own homosexuality. Historian Robert Beachy has said of him, "I think it is reasonable to describe [Ulrichs] as the first gay person to publicly out himself." In early 20th-century Germany, "coming out"
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#1732869260148816-440: A study in 2015 on positive and negative behavior performed during the coming out conversation. During his study, he learned that almost all of his participants would attribute negative behaviors only to themselves during the coming out conversations, and positive behaviors to the recipient of the conversation. Manning suggests further research into this to figure out a way for positive behaviors to be seen and performed equally by both
884-406: Is a mixed metaphor that joins "coming out" with the closet metaphor: an evolution of " skeleton in the closet " specifically referring to living a life of denial and secrecy by concealing one's sexual orientation . The closet metaphor, in turn, is extended to the forces and pressures of heterosexist society and its institutions. When coming out is described as a gradual process or a journey, it
952-435: Is a crime, coming out may constitute self-incrimination . These laws still exist in 75 countries worldwide, including Egypt, Iran, and Afghanistan. People who decide to come out as non-binary or transgender often face more varied and different issues from a legal standpoint. Worldwide, legally changing your documented gender or name based on your identity is often prohibited or extremely difficult. A major negative effect of
1020-493: Is also the only woman to win in the entire history of the SFICC. Among the big names who entered, but did not advance to the semi-finals are Roseanne Barr , Janeane Garofalo , Bobcat Goldthwait , Christopher Titus and D.L. Hughley . Don Friesen won in 1999 and again in 2005, making him the only person to have won the competition more than once. Paul Ogata 's win in 2007 was the first by an Asian-American comedian in 32 years of
1088-488: Is meant to include becoming aware of and acknowledging one's gender identity, gender expression, or non-hetero-normative sexual orientation or attraction. This preliminary stage, which involves soul-searching or a personal epiphany , is often called "coming out to oneself" and constitutes the start of self-acceptance . Many LGBT people say that this stage began for them during adolescence or childhood , when they first became aware of their sexual orientation toward members of
1156-509: Is needed to assess whether these results generalize to a larger sample, these recent findings open the door to the possibility that gay men's online experiences may differ from those of heterosexuals in that these may be more likely to provide mental health benefits than consequences. Transgender people vary greatly in choosing when, whether, and how to disclose their transgender status to family, close friends, and others. The prevalence of discrimination and violence against transgender people (in
1224-412: Is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, because the consequences may be very different for different individuals, some of whom may have their job security or personal security threatened by such disclosure. The act may be viewed as a psychological process or journey; decision-making or risk-taking ; a strategy or plan; a mass or public event; a speech act and a matter of personal identity ;
1292-536: Is related to poorer mental health, physical health, and relationship functioning. For example, it has been found that same-sex couples who have not come out are not as satisfied in their relationships as same-sex couples who have. Findings from another study indicate that the fewer people who know about a lesbian's sexual orientation, the more anxiety, less positive affectivity, and lower self-esteem she has. Further, Gay.com states that closeted individuals are reported to be at increased risk for suicide . Depending on
1360-404: Is the deliberate or accidental disclosure of an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity by someone else, without the first individual's consent. By extension, outing oneself is self-disclosure. Glass closet refers to the open secret of a public figure widely thought to be LGBT even though the person has not officially come out. Between 1864 and 1869, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs wrote
1428-555: The Norm Crosby hosted The Comedy Shop television series. She won the San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 1979, over such competition as Dana Carvey and A. Whitney Brown . In 2017, Warfield publicly came out stating: When I told my mother I was gay, she said she knew, and had known all my life. Then, she asked me not to come out publicly while she was alive. I agreed, even though
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#17328692601481496-705: The Greek Basketball League and Kinder Bologna of the Italian Basketball League ), came out in February 2007 on ESPN 's Outside the Lines program. He also wrote a memoir, Man in the Middle , published by ESPN Books , which explores his professional and personal life as a closeted basketball player. He was the first NBA player (former or current) to come out. In 2008, Australian diver Matthew Mitcham became
1564-551: The LGBT communities and their allies , National Coming Out Day is an international civil awareness day for coming out and discussing LGBT issues among the general populace in an effort to give a familiar face to the LGBT rights movement . This day inspired the United States government to recognize October as LGBT History Month . The day was founded in 1988, by Robert Eichberg, his partner William Gamble, and Jean O'Leary to celebrate
1632-794: The NBC sitcom Night Court from 1986 to 1992, reprising the role on a guest basis for its 2023 revival . Warfield also starred in the sitcom Empty Nest as Dr. Maxine Douglas (1993–95). Before Night Court , she was a writer and performer on the short-lived Richard Pryor Show . Warfield appeared in feature films such as D.C. Cab (1983) and Mask (1985), hosted The Marsha Warfield Show for ten months (March 1990–January 1991) and has made guest appearances on many television shows, including Riptide , Family Ties , Clueless , Cheers , Living Single , In Living Color , Cybill , Moesha , Smart Guy , and Touched by an Angel . She has also done stand-up comedy including appearances on
1700-692: The Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights one year earlier, in which 500,000 people marched on Washington, DC , to promote gay and lesbian equality. In the United States, the Human Rights Campaign manages the event under the National Coming Out Project, offering resources to LGBT individuals, couples, parents, and children, as well as straight friends and relatives, to promote awareness of LGBT families living honest and open lives. Candace Gingrich became
1768-415: The "gay world", a world neither so small, nor so isolated, nor, often, so hidden as "closet" implies. In fact, as Elizabeth Kennedy observes, "using the term 'closet' to refer to" previous times such as "the 1920s and 1930s might be anachronistic ". An article on coming out in the online encyclopedia glbtq.com states that sexologist Evelyn Hooker 's observations introduced the use of "coming out" to
1836-409: The "light of illumination" reveals a true (or essential) identity. Nonetheless, Butler is willing to appear at events as a lesbian and maintains that "it is possible to argue that ... there remains a political imperative to use these necessary errors or category mistakes ... to rally and represent an oppressed political constituency". Diana Fuss (1991) explains, "the problem of course with
1904-518: The 1960s, Frank Kameny came to the forefront of the struggle. Having been fired from his job as an astronomer for the Army Map service in 1957 for homosexual behavior, because it was considered to make people vulnerable to blackmail pressure and endanger secure positions, Kameny refused to go quietly. He openly fought his dismissal, eventually appealing it to the US Supreme Court . As a vocal leader of
1972-613: The LGBT community may not face. The 2018 National LGBT Survey in the United Kingdom found that only 17 percent of asexuals received positive responses when coming out, in comparison to over 40 percent for other LGBT people. A 2016 study found that asexual individuals commonly experienced skepticism and misunderstanding over the existence of their identity when coming out as asexual. A 2024 review by Michael Paramo noted that asexual and aromantic people are commonly tasked with educating people about their identities when coming out because of
2040-423: The LGBT individual may not always enjoy positive effects from the decision. For example, teens who had parents who rejected them when they came out showed more drug use, depression, suicide attempts, and risky sexual behaviors later on as young adults. Some studies find that the health effects of coming out depend more on the reactions of parents than on the disclosure itself. A number of studies have been done on
2108-511: The UK were unlikely to reveal their identity within healthcare settings for fear of being pressured to conform to sexual behavior. Online role models may be helpful for asexual people when coming out because of a lack of representation surrounding asexuality. In areas of the world where homosexual acts are penalized or prohibited, gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people can suffer negative legal consequences for coming out. In particular, where homosexuality
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2176-550: The United States come out has been dropping. High school students and even middle school students are coming out. Emerging research suggests that gay men from religious backgrounds are likely to come out online via Facebook and other social networks, such as blogs, as they offer a protective interpersonal distance. This largely contradicts the growing movement in social media research indicating that online use, particularly Facebook, can lead to negative mental health outcomes such as increased levels of anxiety. While further research
2244-439: The United States, for example, transgender people are 28 percent more likely to be victims of violence) can make coming out a risky decision. Fear of retaliatory behavior, such as being removed from the parental home while underage, is a reason for transgender people to delay coming out to their families until they have reached adulthood. Parental confusion and lack of acceptance of a transgender child may result in parents treating
2312-400: The academic community in the 1950s. The article continues by echoing Chauncey's observation that a subsequent shift in connotation occurred later on. The pre-1950s focus was on entrance into "a new world of hope and communal solidarity", whereas the post- Stonewall Riots overtone was an exit from the oppression of the closet. This change in focus suggests that "coming out of the closet "
2380-442: The audience through their applause after a comedian's performance. If the audience gives a ten-count of enthusiastic applause, the extra point is awarded. Venues are varied and wide-ranged to ensure that the performers can play to all types of audience and have included bars, clubs, casinos, colleges, theatres and more. Marsha Warfield , in 1979, became the competition's first African-American winner and its first female winner. She
2448-407: The closet is the source of other gay slang expressions related to voluntary disclosure or lack thereof. LGBT people who have already revealed or no longer conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity are out of the closet or simply out , i.e., openly LGBT. By contrast, LGBT people who have yet to come out or have opted not to do so are labelled as closeted or being in the closet . Outing
2516-464: The closet there. In 1951, Donald Webster Cory published his landmark The Homosexual in America , saying, "Society has handed me a mask to wear ... Everywhere I go, at all times and before all sections of society, I pretend." Cory was a pseudonym, but his frank and openly subjective descriptions served as a stimulus to the emerging homosexual self-awareness and the nascent homophile movement . In
2584-486: The competition. After 44 years of holding the event annually, the competition did not run during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition returned in 2021. Marsha Warfield Marsha Francine Warfield (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side , graduating from Calumet High School . She is best known for playing tough, no-nonsense bailiff Roz Russell on
2652-454: The effect of people coming out to their parents. A 1989 report by Robinson et al. of parents of out gay and lesbian children in the United States found that 21 percent of fathers and 28 percent of mothers had suspected that their child was gay or lesbian, largely based on gender atypical behavior during childhood. The 1989 study found that two-thirds of parents reacted negatively. A 1995 study (that used young people's reactions) found that half of
2720-524: The end of his career. In 2013, American basketball player Jason Collins (a member of the Washington Wizards ) came out as gay, becoming the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay. On 15 August 2013, WWE wrestler Darren Young came out, making him the first openly gay active professional wrestler. On 9 February 2014, former Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam came out as gay. He
2788-595: The first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal . He achieved this at the Beijing Olympics in the men's 10-meter platform event. The first Irish county GAA player to come out while still playing was hurler Dónal Óg Cusack in October 2009, in previews of his autobiography. Gareth Thomas , who played international rugby union and rugby league for Wales, came out in a Daily Mail interview in December 2009 near
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2856-509: The growing movement, Kameny argued for unapologetic public actions. The cornerstone of his conviction was that, "we must instill in the homosexual community a sense of worth to the individual homosexual", which could only be achieved through campaigns openly led by homosexuals themselves. With the spread of consciousness raising (CR) in the late 1960s, coming out became a key strategy of the gay liberation movement to raise political consciousness to counter heterosexism and homophobia . At
2924-399: The harm caused both to a closeted person and to society in general by being closeted. Because LGBT people have historically been marginalized as sexual minorities , coming out of the closet remains a challenge for most of the world's LGBT population and can lead to a backlash of heterosexist discrimination and homophobic violence . Studies have found that concealing sexual orientation
2992-530: The highest percentage of housing instability. Homelessness among LGBT youth also affects many areas of an individual's life, leading to higher rates of victimization, depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, and participation in more illegal and dangerous activities. A 2016 study on homelessness pathways among Latino LGBT youth found that homelessness among LGBT individuals can also be attributed to structural issues such as systems of care, and sociocultural and economic factors. New data
3060-405: The incident. This further shows the barriers that trans individuals can have when coming out. Coming out as transgender can be more complex than coming out as a sexual minority. Visible changes that can occur as part of changing one's gender identity – such as wardrobe changes, hormone replacement therapy , and name changes – can make coming out to other people less of
3128-412: The inequality in regulations comes in the form of mental effects, as transgender people who have to legally announce a gender they do not identify with or their dead name can face uncomfortable situations and stress. In the early stages of the LGBT identity development process, people can feel confused and undergo turmoil. In 1993, Michelangelo Signorile wrote Queer in America , in which he explored
3196-409: The inside/outside rhetoric ... is that such polemics disguise the fact that most of us are both inside and outside at the same time". Further, "To be out, in common gay parlance, is precisely to be no longer out; to be out is to be finally outside of exteriority and all the exclusions and deprivations such outsiderhood imposes. Or, put another way, to be out is really to be in – inside
3264-685: The largest population of homeless youth; this has typically been caused by the reaction of others, especially parents, to self-identification and acknowledgment of being gay, or identifying with the LGBT community. About 20 to 30 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Native and Indigenous LGBTQ youth make up the largest population to suffer homelessness: 44 percent, compared to any other race. 55 percent of homeless LGBTQ and 67 percent of homeless transgender youth were forced out of their homes by their parents or ran away because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Compared to transgender women and non-binary youth, transgender men have
3332-495: The lives of modern-day Americans for two reasons. However, when understood as an act of self-disclosure, coming out (like any self-disclosure) cannot be accomplished once, and for all. Eve Sedgwick writes in Epistemology of the Closet : the deadly elasticity of heterosexist presumption means that … people find new walls springing up around them even as they drowse: every encounter with a new classful of students, to say nothing of
3400-440: The mothers of gay or bisexual male college students "responded with disbelief, denial or negative comments", while fathers reacted slightly better. 18 percent of parents reacted "with acts of intolerance, attempts to convert the child to heterosexuality, and verbal threats to cut off financial or emotional support". If rejected by their families, many LGBT youth can become homeless during the coming out process. LGBT youth are among
3468-412: The real world. But, while many trans people find support online that they may not have in real life, others encounter bullying and harassment. According to a study published by Blumenfeld and Cooper in 2012, youth who identify as LGBT are 22 percent less likely to report online bullying because they may have parents who do not believe or understand them, or they fear having to come out in order to explain
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#17328692601483536-478: The realm of the visible, the speakable, the culturally intelligible." In other words, coming out constructs the closet it supposedly destroys and the self it supposedly reveals, "the first appearance of the homosexual as a 'species' rather than a 'temporary aberration' also marks the moment of the homosexual's disappearance – into the closet". Furthermore, Seidman, Meeks, and Traschen (1999) argue that "the closet" may be becoming an antiquated metaphor in
3604-424: The recipient and the individual coming out. The closet narrative sets up an implicit dualism between being "in" or being "out", wherein those who are "in" are often stigmatized as living false, unhappy lives. Likewise, philosopher and critical analyst Judith Butler (1991) states that the in/out metaphor creates a binary opposition which pretends that the closet is dark, marginal, and false, and that being out in
3672-706: The relational bond between parents and children, a child coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender can be positive or negative. Strong, loving relationships between children and their parents may be strengthened but if a relationship is already strained, those relationships may be further damaged or destroyed by the child coming out. If people coming out are accepted by their parents, it allows open discussions of dating and relationships and enables parents to help their children with coping with discrimination and to make healthier decisions regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases . Because parents, families, and close others can also reject someone coming out,
3740-410: The request and her admission were hurtful in ways I couldn't put my finger on then, and probably haven't completely worked through it now, but, everybody who knew me, knew I was gay. The people I didn't tell knew anyway, and tacitly agreed to pretend that the unacknowledged had been acknowledged and accepted. Like I'm sure is true for millions of other glass door closeted people. When I went to bars, which
3808-418: The same sex. Coming out has also been described as a process because of a recurring need or desire to come out in new situations in which LGBT people are assumed to be heterosexual or cisgender , such as at a new job or with new acquaintances. A major frame of reference for those coming out has included using an inside/outside perspective, where some assume that the person can keep their identity or orientation
3876-456: The same time and continuing into the 1980s, gay and lesbian social support discussion groups, some of which were called "coming-out groups", focused on sharing coming-out "stories" (accounts) with the goal of reducing isolation and increasing LGBT visibility and pride . The present-day expression "coming out" is understood to have originated in the early 20th century from an analogy that likens homosexuals' introduction into gay subculture to
3944-785: The spokesperson for the day in April 1995. Although still named " National Coming Out Day", this day is observed in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland also on 11 October, and in the United Kingdom on 12 October. To celebrate National Coming Out Day on 11 October 2002, Human Rights Campaign released an album bearing the same title as that year's theme: Being Out Rocks . Participating artists include Kevin Aviance , Janis Ian , k.d. lang , Cyndi Lauper , Sarah McLachlan , and Rufus Wainwright . The first US professional team-sport athlete to come out
4012-433: The time constraints. The performances are judged on the following criteria: Material, Stage Presence, Delivery, Technique, Audience Response, Audience Rapport, and the judges' "Gut Feeling" about the performer. Typically, the judges, who are different at each event, are previous competitors, members of the media, talent agents/scouts and representatives from the performance venue. There is also an extra point awarded given by
4080-416: The top five from each preliminary round move on to the semi-finals. The semi-final round is another week of shows, with the 10 semi-finalists performing sets of 10 to 12 minutes. From this group, five finalists are chosen. Finalists must prove themselves in yet another week of shows, this time performing sets ranging in length from 12 to 15 minutes. Penalties are assessed for comedians who go over or under
4148-454: The topic in his major work The Homosexuality of Men and Women , discussing the social and legal potential of several thousand homosexual men and women of rank revealing their sexual orientation to the police in order to influence legislators and public opinion. Hirschfeld did not support 'self-denunciation' and dismissed the possibilities of a political movement based on open homosexuals. The first prominent American to reveal his homosexuality
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#17328692601484216-608: Was David Kopay , a former NFL running back who had played for five teams ( San Francisco , Detroit , Washington , New Orleans and Green Bay ) between 1964 and 1972. He came out in 1975 in an interview in the Washington Star . The first professional athlete to come out while still playing was Czech-American tennis player Martina Navratilova , who came out as a lesbian during an interview with The New York Times in 1981. English footballer Justin Fashanu came out in 1990 and
4284-449: Was at least as big of a burden to bear, but the "shoulds" that "should" matter, don't. Nobody should have to hide their sexuality. No parent should ask their child to. There should be no shame in being gay. Coming out Coming out of the closet , often shortened to coming out , is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation , romantic orientation , or gender identity . This
4352-417: Was called "self-denunciation" and entailed serious legal and reputational risks. In his 1906 work, Das Sexualleben unserer Zeit in seinen Beziehungen zur modernen Kultur (The sexual life of our time in its relation to modern civilization), Iwan Bloch , a German-Jewish physician, entreated elderly homosexuals to self-disclose to their family members and acquaintances. In 1914, Magnus Hirschfeld revisited
4420-620: Was collected by Amit Paley, the CEO and executive director of the Trevor Project, in regards to how the COVID-19 pandemic affected LGBTQ youth. The 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health shows that COVID-19 had made 80 percent of the LGBTQ youth housing situation much more stressful due to economic struggles, initially affecting their ability to have safe and secure housing. Jimmie Manning performed
4488-458: Was frequently, I never tried to hide who I was, so, it was an open secret. Had I never come out publicly, many, many people would have known. It would not then have ever really been a betrayal of trust to "spill the beans" because it wasn't a secret, it was an uncomfortably kept promise to my mother, but, it was also not the only reason I didn't come out swinging when she passed. The fear of the judgment of strangers and their holier-than-thou "shoulds"
4556-537: Was subject to homophobic taunts from spectators, opponents and teammates for the rest of his career. In 1995 while at the peak of his playing career, Ian Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out as gay. John Amaechi , who played in the NBA with the Utah Jazz , Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers (as well as internationally with Panathinaikos BC of
4624-577: Was the poet Robert Duncan . In 1944, using his own name in the anarchist magazine Politics , he wrote that homosexuals were an oppressed minority. The decidedly clandestine Mattachine Society , founded by Harry Hay and other veterans of the Wallace for President campaign in Los Angeles in 1950, moved into the public eye after Hal Call took over the group in San Francisco in 1953. Many gays emerged from
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