Stamm, Thomas

Thomas Stamm [d. 198?] was a U.S. Trotskyist (and homosexual) and one-time member of the Political Committee of the Workers Party who opposed the Party's 1935 decision to attempt to enter the Socialist Party, USA en masse, in an attempt to broaden its influence. With Hugo Oehler, he formed the Revolutionary Workers League. In 1937, the group renounced Trotskyism, but while Oehler concluded that Trotsky had split with Marxism in 1934, Stamm held that Trotsky had degenerated in 1928, and the two split. Oehler retained the majority of the group, but Stamm set up a rival organisation of the same name. This was some times known as RWL Revolt after its periodical, which ran Vol. I #1 March 26 1938 to Vol II #14 January 7, 1940.

Problems in History & Theory: The End of "American Trotskyism"? -- Part 2 / by ALAN WALD, contains a section on gay and lesbian Trotskyists (presented below), published on the website of Solidarity: "a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization." (http://www.solidarity-us.org/current/node/2856)

There are no studies of gay and lesbian Trotskyists. The gay one-time Trotskyist leader Tom Stamm was interviewed only by Robert Alexander, and exclusively on the French Turn dispute. The discussions some of us held with Phil Clark, a rank-and-filer and occasional branch organizer of the SWP, before his death were never tape recorded nor properly authenticated, so that the participants now disagree about what he said.(13) Hence, the information available remains highly contradictory, although it is still possible for more detailed research to be pursued.

In 1985 I corresponded with George Breitman in regard to homosexuality in the SWP. Breitman insisted that he never heard any deliberations about any aspects of sexual orientation among the leadership on the National Committee or in the National Office until the 1960s, although it is possible that he was simply ignorant of such discussions. Moreover, he recalled that during the time he served as branch organizer in Newark during the 1930s or 1940s, no one ever suggested to him that homosexuals should be prohibited from joining, and he is certain that homosexuals were active in the membership and leadership of the branch.

In Breitman's recollection, the argument that homosexuals might be blackmailed by the FBI during the witch-hunt was never raised until the 1960s. Although he had heard, after he joined, that Tom Stamm was gay and had taken a leave of absence for a while, he was skeptical of Clark's memory that George Novack on behalf of the Political Committee had urged Clark to leave the SWP until he had been “cured” by a Freudian therapist.(14) On the other hand, Frank Fried, a one-time Chicago leader of the SWP, was certain that a number of female party members working in the packinghouses were expelled for lesbianism.

From the guide to the Thomas Stamm Papers, 1941-1979, undated, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)