American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter

Administrative History

Since the early and mid-1960s, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates took on the cases of founders of the Mattachine Society, members of the Daughters of Bilitis, and publishers of gay and lesbian publications such as One Magazine to challenge the federal government's exclusions of lesbians and gay men from civil service jobs, to fight police entrapment and bathhouse raids, and to end post office censorship. In 1966, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California formally affirmed that the right to privacy in sexual relations is a basic constitutional right and defended a public school teacher threatened with the loss of his teaching credentials after he was acquitted of charges of illegal homosexual conduct. In 1970, the ACLU of Southern California went on to obtain an injunction that permitted the first Christopher Street West parade to take place.

In 1973, the ACLU of Southern California began the formation of the Rights for Homosexuals Committee--the first of its kind in the United States. These activities and the organization of the Gay Rights Panel in 1975 ultimately led to the founding of the ACLU of Southern California Gay Rights Chapter on August 16, 1976 with its first president, Peter Thomas Judge. In January 1984, the Chapter officially changed its name to its current one, the Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter.

Since these early days, due to the work and support of the Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter and gay and lesbian rights Attorney Susan McGrievy, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California has been at the forefront of the nation's legal battles for lesbian and gay rights. The ACLU/SC has challenged discrimination against lesbians and gay men in public and private employment, in housing, in public accommodations; has fought college campuses' refusals to recognize lesbian and gay student groups; has attacked vague loitering and lewd conduct laws and other forms of police harassment of lesbians and gay men; has battled for lesbian and gay custody and visitation rights; has challenged exclusions of lesbian and gay aliens by the INS; has secured better treatment for lesbian and gay prison inmates; and has required the licensing of lesbian and gay-operated foster homes.

As of October 2007, the Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter of the ACLU of Southern California continues to operate.

Source: ACLU of Southern California Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter Records, Coll2007-013, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

From the guide to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California Lesbian & Gay Rights Chapter records, 1970-2004, (bulk 1976-1995), (ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.)