1970 Lesbian Protestors at Women's Conference Reunite in New York

Several participants in the 1970 Lavender Menace protest reunited in New York City last month to share memories and advice for current activists. Members of the Gay Liberation Front and Radicalesbians posed for a reunion photo at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York on September 26, 2024. The gathering took place next door to the Stonewall Inn, site of the 1969 uprising.

Activists Judy Reif, Fran Winant and Martha Shelley staged the Lavender Menace protest at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York in May 1970. The protest occurred at an event in New York City sponsored by the National Organization for Women. Dozens of lesbian feminists interrupted the National Organization for Women event in New York City in 1970.

Karla Jay was 23 years old during the Lavender Menace protest in 1970. She stood up at the 1970 Second Congress to Unite Women and said 'Sisters, I’m so tired of being in the closet in the women’s movement. Karla Jay ripped off her blouse to reveal a Lavender Menace T-shirt at the 1970 protest.

Betty Friedan, who co-founded the National Organization for Women, referred to lesbians as a lavender menace. Her book The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963. The demonstrators called themselves the Radicalesbians.

The Radicalesbians held the floor for hours at NOW’s Second Congress to Unite Women in 1970. They passed out copies of the manifesto The Woman-Identified Woman at the 1970 protest. The National Organization for Women passed a resolution recognizing the oppression of lesbians as a legitimate concern of feminism in 1971.

Flavia Rando participated in the Lavender Menace protest and worked to remove Mafia control of gay bars into the 1970s. “Our movement is needed right here, right now,” said Flavia Rando.

“It’s really because we’re an easy scapegoat, an easy target. ” Martha Shelley is now 80 years old. She spoke on the second night of the June 1969 Stonewall rebellion. Martha Shelley was born with the last name Altman.

Martha Shelley changed her last name in the 1960s because of government surveillance of the Daughters of Bilitis. She was a member and president of the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis. Ellen Broidy co-organized New York City’s first gay pride march in 1970, then called the Christopher Street Liberation Day march.

She said she could still feel the energy from over a half-century ago. “It just gave me chills right now,” she said. Betty Friedan apologized for her use of the phrase lavender menace in 1977. Years later, Betty Friedan told Karla Jay 'Karla, you caused me so much trouble' in an elevator.

Karla Jay pointed out that change was made in the 1970s with a small group. “It didn’t matter that there were only 30 or 40 of us, and I think that young people today can do what they want and not be afraid that there aren’t enough of them to make social change,” Jay said.

“They have to have the courage of their convictions and go out and organize, and they have to decide what dream they want to follow.

Don’t follow my dream. ” At least 18 out transgender candidates are running for seats in state legislatures in the coming election as of October 2024, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. @NBCNews reported that a slew of laws targeting LGBTQ people have been passed in the last couple of years, with restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youths among the most common.

Martha Shelley offered direct advice for today’s activists. “In every generation, you have to fight back,” she said. “If you try, if you fight, you may lose, but if you don’t fight, you will certainly lose, and if you do fight, you have a good chance of winning.