in this exhibition ihlia shows a selection from its unique historical

ENGLISH
IN THIS EXHIBITION IHLIA SHOWS
A SELECTION FROM ITS UNIQUE
HISTORICAL COLLECTION OF
POSTERS. IT IS THE FRUIT OF YEARS
OF COLLECTING ARTEFACTS
CONNECTED WITH THE ACTIVISM
IN THE LGBT COMMUNIT Y.
VERKE ERD GEPLAKT
PANEL 2.
THE NETHERLANDS 1945-1969
On 11 March 1957, on the popular radio show ‘The
Average Family’ (by Annie M.G. Schmidt), for the first
time on Dutch networks an openly gay character is
introduced. It starts with a chuckle, but during the show
this character, Fred, saves the day by pacifying the head
of the family who is angry about the mess the other
characters made, while she was on holiday.
In the 1950s the Dutch gay platform “COC” tried to
gather scientific support for the idea that homosexuality
was not a sin or a disease. Rather, ‘homophilia’ should
be seen as a natural phenomenon with which society
should come to terms.
PANEL 1.
INTRODUCTION
In this exhibition IHLIA shows a selection from its unique
historical collection of posters. It is the fruit of years of
collecting artefacts connected with the activism in the
LGBT community.
We looked for the oldest posters in the collection. And
we tried to answer these questions:
• Why the sudden explosion of posters in the mid-seventies?
• What has changed since the first poster?
• What has stayed the same?
A minority group has to operate smartly in the public
arena, and plan carefully to keep in the public eye. That’s
the only way to achieve change. With a group as extremely diverse as the LGBT community, with the rainbow
flag to symbolize that diversity, that is quite a challenge.
This exhibition shows posters aimed at the general public
as well as at the minority group itself. The first poster
dates from 1968 and most of them stem from the action
(‘axion’) period 1975 to 1995. The design of the posters
became increasingly more professional, due to commercial production and their role in the AIDS prevention
education campaign.
In 1961 the Roman Catholic psychiatrist Trimbos makes
a breakthrough with radio talks on (homo)sexual topics.
And during the roaring 60s all accepted moral values
become subject to debate.
In 1963, the well-known interviewer Hans Gomperts
asks the famous Dutch writer Gerard Reve whether the
homosexual theme in his latest work prevents him from
writing ‘great works’ like his first novel “The Evenings”.
On New Year’s Eve 1964, the COC was daringly allowed
to launch “Dialogue” (a periodical on homosexuality,
published by ‘Stichting Dialoog’) during the highly-rated TV show “Achter het Nieuws” (‘News Night’). COC
chairman Benno Premsela was shown without disguise,
but without mentioning that he was gay. The programme also showed an interview (filmed from the back!)
with two gay women and two gay men. Psychiatrist
Trimbos put a positive spin on it by adding a scientific
and pastoral ‘sauce’. And it worked: the programme was
well-received.
PANEL 3.
THE USA ‘EVERY GENERATION BLAMES THE ONE
BEFORE’
In the 1960s American students began their protest
against the Vietnam War and against their parents’ way
of life. College students, women and the homosexual
movement took their inspiration from the black civil
rights movement and began to organize non-violent protest actions like sit-ins, picket lines, and marches. From
1965 the “Mattachine Society” (male) and the “Daughters of Bilitis” (female) went on to the streets and courageously formed picket lines, in formal dress. The 1969
“Stonewall Riots” in New York sparked off actions by
the Gay Liberation Front, who set up gay versions of the
black marches, and annual commemoration marches
with openly gay pride, and introducing a unique new
format: the “coming out strategy”.
Barbara Gittings and Randy Wicker picketing at Independance Hall in Philadelphia, July 4th 1966. Photo: Kay Tobin © Manuscripts Archives Division,
The New York Public Library.
The new self-organisation following the “Stonewall
Riots” created new American export products: e.g. “Gay
Lib”, “Gay Pride”, and “Lesbian Nation”. In Amsterdam
in 1977 the first public protest against Anita Bryant, the
American Christian fundamentalist anti-gay activist, was
a march copied from the US gay movement. And since
then every homosexual proudly calls himself or herself
“gay” or “lesbian”.
PANEL 4.
THE BREAKTHROUGH OF STUDENTS
In the 60s and 70s the post-war baby boom arrived at
colleges. These new students were from different layers
of society who didn’t feel at ease with traditional student culture and were in the mood for change. Thanks
to the contraceptive pill a new sexual morality dawned.
Gay and lesbian students took advantage of this new
openness and organised student work groups and debating societies. For young gays, students and non-students, special clubs were started in university towns.
There was often only a thin line between self-organisation and activism, e.g. the “Amsterdam Students Work
Group” became the “Amsterdam Youth Action Group
Homosexuality”.
The booming economy brought growth in prosperity
and in turn caused changes in society and moral values.
For young people suddenly nothing seemed impossible.
Question marks were everywhere: gays and lesbian
adopted the idea that the problem of gay acceptance
lay not with them, but with society. The “homosexual
fellow man” became the canary in the coal mine called
“Morality”.
“The Dialogue Foundation” (see Panel 2) changed the
COC (the Dutch homosexual platform) within few years.
A new, rejuvenated board asked the authorities for
“Royal Approval”. A foundation like COC needed such a
special clause to be able to operate officially. The Minister of Justice (liberal) refused and the press, even the big
national newspapers, called it a disgrace. The reason? In
the COC magazine personal ads of gay men and lesbian
women looking for a partner were published, while they
were still married to a (heterosexual) partner.
Students had an extra problem at that time. According
to “Article 248-bis” of the Dutch Constitution a homosexual relationship with anyone under the age of 21
was an offence. For heterosexual relationships the age
limit was 16. With the new gay clubs for youngsters this
was an immediate problem. Student groups decided to
act openly: in January 1969, five months before “Stonewall”, they held the first demonstration for gay rights in
the central court of the Dutch Parliament. And in 1971,
sixty years after it was added to the Constitution, this
discriminating article was abolished.
PANEL 5.
THE HETEROSEXUAL NORM QUESTIONED
• Maaike Meijer: “Those women are not prepared to
discuss their own heterosexual status, the essence of
their repression.”
• Noor van Crevel: “That is to interpret that status in a
political sense.”
• Stephanie de Voogd: “No one thinks it is crazy when
black people don’t love white people, their oppressors.
But women are not only expected to love men, but
also expected to restrict their most important relations
to men.”
The gay movement can be seen as a child born out of the
women’s movement, which was older, bigger en more powerful. But in the 70s two ‘whining children’ stepped on
their mother’s toes: “Purple September” (Paarse September) and the “Red Faggots” (Rooie Flikkers).
“Being lesbian is a political choice”:
That was the title of an interview with the members of a
group called “Purple September”. The women’s movement were not pleased, and the Dutch gay movement
even less. The four female members of “Purple September” asked highly critical questions about the women’s
movement and male supremacy. Between October 1972
and April 1974 they published six magazines with critical
notes on the women’s movement in particular on individuals within the movement, which was highly unusual in
the Dutch context.
At the end of 1975 ‘stand up for yourself’ became the
motto in the (Dutch) women’s movement, no longer
prepared to wait for liberation from the political left. This
resulted in a lot of activism and protest stemming from
lesbian networks inside and outside the women’s movement.
“Faggot, loosen your chains”
The “Red Faggots” in Nijmegen and the “Faggot Front”
in Amsterdam were the male counterparts of “Purple
September” when it came to action and activism. They
started their actions in 1975, mainly in drag, and gave
interviews on their ideology. These two groups and other
faggots tried to start discussions around music and the
music theatre. This idea the “Red Faggots” had imported from German groups. Other activists looked at the
American “Hot Peaches” and the British “Bloo Lips”.
In 1977 Dutch versions of English theatre were put on
stage, and punk and theatrical music groups emerged,
e.g. “Supertamp” and “The Softies”. The “Red Faggots”
had their own band: “Tedje en de Flikkers”. Tedje was
the front woman which made it easier to get into the
heterosexual circuit of small venues. Soon, thanks to Anita Bryant, there were plenty of stages to perform on.
PANEL 6.
THE STAR-T OF ACTIVISM AND INTERNATIONALISM
PANEL 7.
THE START OF A PINK NETWORK
From the 1969 “Stonewall Riots” (1969) onwards the
American gay movement strategy had been one of (personal) coming out and gay rights. This was highly successful in cities with big gay ghettos, until right-wing America targeted abortion and gay rights. On 7 June 1977
Anita Bryant ended gay progress in Dade County (Miami)
with her group “Save Our Children”. She was supported
by right wing TV evangelists and the “Moral Right”, the
right counter-movement that ultimately brought Ronald
Reagan to power.
After the anti-Anita Bryant march in Amsterdam a
network of dykes and faggots emerged. However, at
the end of 1977 a new ‘enemy’ came to power in the
Netherlands. Although the Christian parties and the right
wing Liberal Party (‘VVD’) had lost the election, they
managed to form a government and side-line the winners: the left wing parties. This was a clear threat to gay
rights and called for action. So during 1978 local council
elections a new phenomenon could be seen: posters
calling on people to ‘elect a faggot’ so that ‘together we
stand more erect’.
The gay response was immediate: in America (movie)
stars and big names advocated gay rights. Rallies and
marches were organised, replicated in the rest of the
(western) world. In America there had been annual marches in late June to commemorate the police raids on
“Stonewall Inn”. In England the “Gay Liberation Front”
emerged in 1970. In 1976 there was a gay protest event
in Copenhagen. At this event “The Red Faggots” and
members the Dutch COC saw a format they liked, a
march followed by parties. However, “Lesbian Nation”
(or ‘Lesbian International Alliance’) beat them to it by
organising the first open lesbian and gay march in Amsterdam on 25 June 1977. The theme: the Anita Bryant
Crusade.
The last weekend of June became the definite ‘Pink
Weekend”, to coincide with “Stonewall” or “Christopher Street Day”, and was organised by loose groups
of activists each with their own following. The COC,
mockingly called “The Mother Church”, moved to a
new building where all those new groups could meet.
At universities and colleges a new wave of activism had
an impact on the curriculum. Sociologists, historians,
psychologists all began to take an interest in gay history
and a new subject “Gay Studies” served as a platform
between young gay students and gay teachers.
“Miami Nightmare” Concert in the Amsterdam “Concertgebouw”, 8 October 1977
Outside the student activist movements, former politician
Coos Huijsen, supported by (right wing) liberals organised
a concert in the famous Amsterdam “Concertgebouw”,
called “Miami Nightmare”, to raise money for a pro-gay ad
campaign in influential American magazines. The evening
in this prestigious venue was a great success and, more importantly, attracted a lot of media attention. The Zangeres
zonder Naam (‘Singer without a name’), very popular with
the working class, sang “Listen Anita”, defending gay love.
It was her first self-written song and became a great hit.
During the concert the “Red Faggots” occupied the tram
stop in front of the building, dressed in drag and making a
hell of a noise, with activists throwing an alternative party
that night, “De Nichtenherrie” (‘the queer noise’).
‘Dykes against patriarchy’
In the Netherlands the newly-formed Christian Democratic Appeal (‘CDA’) waged war against ‘moral degeneration’. Suddenly, far-away America was very close...
PANEL 9.
AIDS
The explosion of pink and progress in gay rights ran into
a new barrier from 1982 onwards: AIDS. The Amsterdam
Bureau for Health Education (‘Buro GVO’) and the Foundation Additional Health Services (‘Stichting Aanvullende
Dienstverlening’: a Dutch version of the American Gay
Men’s Health Crisis) swiftly set up health education for
gay men.
Despite the enormous success of the education programmes a lot of people died, and gay men were threatened with exclusion. The need for new rituals grew. But
research and development of effective medication and
new therapies were also needed, as well as support for
people with HIV and AIDS. Fundraising new style was
started, and pressure groups of patients and their friends
and families were founded, e.g. by “Act-Up Amsterdam” with its classical activism.
PANEL 8.
“THE PINK EXPLOSION”
The breakthrough of the pink triangle, or all things
pink, came in 1979. The pink triangle was the symbol
homosexual men had to wear in the Nazi concentration
camps. Before Anita Bryant it had been a symbol of ongoing gay repression. But for gays the war hadn’t ended
in 1945 and the annual commemorations of WWII
victims on 4 May in the Netherlands were occasions for
gay groups to protest, e.g. in Amsterdam in 1970 and
in Nijmegen in 1975. So, from 1979, the ‘pink triangle’
began to be used as a badge of protest. A big march in
Roermond (a town in the south) on 14 April 1979 (Easter
Saturday) against the orthodox Roman Catholic bishop
Gijsen was called “Pink Saturday”. (This name links with
the traditional Roman Catholic naming of the days in
the Easter week: “Maundy Thursday”, “Good Friday”,
“Silent Saturday”, which now became a less than silent
“Pink Saturday”.) In Eindhoven on 4 May 1979 a group
called “Pink Triangle” was given official permission to
add a pink ribbon to the Eindhoven WWII memorial. And
in Amsterdam on 30 June 1979 “Pink Front” organised
the first “National Gay March”, (later re-named “Gay
Pride Day” to fit in with international framework).
PANEL 10.
SUBCULTURE/CULTURE
In recent years the number of posters for ever bigger
parties is on the rise. Commercial and subcultural use
seem to coincide. Posters may look like ads for a telephone company ‘Ben’ or a poster production company
‘Verkerke’, with a pink, slightly homo-erotic touch to
stimulate the sale.
In earlier years the diversity of the subculture had been
visible in the posters for gay and lesbian bars and parties.
In the 50s and 60s gay clubs had only advertised in gay
magazines. But at the end of the 60s a gay organisation in Utrecht, “Pann”, started to advertise on posters
throughout the town. From 1977 onwards the leather
scene starts with overt and appropriate macho-posters.
The suppression of the leather scene in England made
the open Amsterdam leather scene even more attractive. These tough men in leather contrast with posters
of ‘faggots’ and ‘pansies’ with make-up and soft forms,
and very loud punk music. The posters advertising coffee
shop “Downtown” and bar “Spijker” balance between
art and promotion. And of course the art scene itself
promoted exhibitions with posters in art galleries. With
the arrival of the big discotheques, and the later super
parties, and thanks to printing becoming cheaper, the
artwork became ever glossier.
PANEL 11.
GAY GAMES
The “Gay Games V” (Amsterdam 1998) were the first
games outside America. Amsterdam had won the bid
because of their pledge to combine sport, culture and
accessibility for all nationalities. The city of Amsterdam
kept up its support of games, even when financial problems emerged. Gay athletes mobilised nearly all general
sport federations and Amsterdam sports clubs supplied
numerous volunteers. In August 1998 Amsterdam and
its neighbouring towns were crowded with 16,000 participants from 78 countries. For the first time gay men and
lesbian women felt what it was like to be a majority in
the inner city of Amsterdam. (After all the straight Dutch
were all on holiday.)
Culture was equally as important as sport: there were
lectures, exhibitions and festivals everywhere. And,
of course, parties: small parties at home with fellow
sports guys and girls and parties in every pub and
venue in town.
For the 1998 Gay Games gay catering businesses in
Amsterdam had hit on the idea to use the canals for
gay festivities. What started as a promotion for the Gay
Games became one of the most important parts of
the Amsterdam Gay Pride: namely the “Canal Parade”
which in 1998 made a huge impression on athletes and
tourists. And this is how the Amsterdam Pride has come
to combine the Gay Games with culture and parties, and
the Canal Parade as its smashing climax.
PANEL 12..
IT’S ONLY WORDS, ISN’T IT?
In this exhibition the first (1968) and the last poster
(2011) are invitations to a party. Nothing new ….
Over the last 70 years the moral values of the (western)
society have started to shift. Some of this was caused
by the LGBT community, but more often this community
took advantage of the change that affected ‘straight’
society too.
But there is also a lot that hasn’t changed. The average
age for coming out to friends and family hardly went
down: it is done after puberty and in a new social environment. Only transgenders have started to come out
earlier. And for men coming out is still difficult, especially
coming out to the father figure.
What hasn’t changed either is the negative attitude
towards LGBT people, as apparent from terms used to
describe them: in the Netherlands the term ‘gay’ and
‘lesbi’ (short for lesbian, and not in the dictionary) are
the most neutral terms. ‘Homo’ is a term of abuse in
common use in schoolyards and football grounds. And
every year again during Gay Pride people say that gays
overreact. ‘The emancipation is over and done, isn’t it?
What are you people whining about?’
Caption 1
In the Netherlands 11 October is “National Coming Out
Day”, celebrated by Linda de Munck with an extra blog,
by others with special videos or, as in Nijmegen, with
street performances.
Caption 2
On 21 April 2015 this tweet went viral: “Straight Jacob
asks his best friend Anthony for the prom party of Las
Vegas Desert Oasis Highschool”. The school has anti-bullying program. Anthony (who is gay and a member of
the school’s student council and organiser of the prom)
complained in a tweet that for him the prom would be
perfect, if he could attend it with a guy.
Caption 3
The Rhodes brothers found it very difficult to tell their
dad that they would be posting videos on YouTube as
gay twins. On the other hand: they did manage to get
their dad to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to
tell his story.