East Coast Homophile Organizations

In January 1962, representatives of homophile organizations on the east coast met in Philadelphia and agreed to form a loose affiliation called ECHO, for East Coast Homophile Organizations. ECHO organized three successive annual conferences and also undertook sponsorship of the July 4th Annual Reminder picketing at Philadelphia's Independence Hall in 1965. The first annual conference was held in Philadelphia under the theme "Homosexuality -- Time for Reappraisal." The second conference was held in Washington, DC in 1964 (not without difficulty as hotels declined to host the event) with the theme "Homosexuality - Civil Liberties and Social Rights." The third and final ECHO conference was held in New York City in 1965 with the theme "The Homosexual Citizen in the Great Society." ECHO was a predecessor of the National American Conference of Homophile Organizations. Both organizations served to further the Gay Rights Movement in the United States.

From the description of East Coast Homophile Organizations Records, 1964. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 733564741

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