Social Events and LGB Teachers Groups in the 1970s

• In Event: 64.040 - Gender, Sexuality, Schooling, and the Politics of Resistance

Abstract

This paper explores the social activities that two LGB teachers’ groups, the Gay Teachers of Los Angeles (GTLA) and the Gay Teachers Association of New York (GTA), organized for their members in the 1970’s. It examines how these groups utilized social activities to build communities, maintain an activist base and provide a support network for their members. Numerous LGB Teachers groups were founded throughout the 1970s, a common thread linking these groups is the social aspect of their organizations. This paper will argue that social activities were an integral part of the activism of LGB teachers’ groups and were necessary for their success. To make that argument it utilizes oral histories collected by the author, archival sources, and secondary sources.

Author

• Jason Mayernick, University of Maryland - College Park