Editing Harry Hay (section)

===Stanford University and the Communist Party: 1929 to 1938===
{{quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=The little pockets existed and either you were lucky enough to fall into them or you could go your whole life and not know about them. The close-down, the terror, was so complete that people could remain ignorant, unsocialized, and undeveloped. 'Communities' were the little groups that formed by accident. And with lots of restrictions. Tiresome bitchiness and boasting predominated. To find someone whose sensibility was more wide-ranging was relatively rare.|source= —Harry Hay on Los Angeles' gay scene in the 1930s.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=83}}}}

Graduating from school in 1929, Hay hoped to study [[paleontology]], but was forbidden from doing so by his father, who insisted that he pursue law. Hay Sr. obtained an entry-level job for his son at his friend's legal firm, Haas and Dunnigan.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=40–41}} While working at the firm, Hay discovered the [[Cruising for sex|gay cruising]] scene in [[Pershing Square (Los Angeles)|Pershing Square]], where he developed a sexual relationship with a man who taught him about the underground gay culture.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=41–43}} It has been claimed that here he learned about the Chicago-based gay rights group the [[Society for Human Rights]],<ref name="loughery225">Loughery, p. 225</ref> although Hay would later deny having any knowledge of previous [[LGBT]] activism.<ref>''Gay Almanac'', p. 131</ref>

In 1930, Hay enrolled at [[Stanford University]] to study [[international relations]], taking independent study courses in English, history, and political science.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=43–45}} There, he became increasingly interested in acting{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=45–46}} and also wrote poetry, some of which was published in university magazines.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=52}} He came to frequent the gay scene in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, attending parties where men danced with men, women danced with women, people [[cross-dressed]], and alcohol was consumed, all of which was illegal.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=46}} He had a number of sexual and romantic trysts with various men; one biographer asserts that these included a [[one-night stand]] with [[Prince George, Duke of Kent]], and a brief affair with [[James Broughton]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=47–48, 50–52}} In 1931, he [[Coming out|came out]] as gay to some people he knew at Stanford, and while he did not face any vehement backlash, some friends and associates, including a number who were gay, chose not to be seen with him from then on.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=49–50}}<ref name = loughery225 /><ref name="progressive">{{Cite news |last=Cusac |first=Anne-Marie |url=http://progressive.org/mag_cusachay |title=Harry Hay Interview |date=September 1999 |work=The Progressive |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519203033/http://progressive.org/mag_cusachay |archive-date=May 19, 2009}}</ref> A severe sinus infection led Hay to drop out in 1932, and he returned to his cousin's Nevada ranch to recuperate; he would never return to university.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=53}}

Relocating to Los Angeles, Hay moved back in with his parents.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=63}} He associated with artistic and theatrical circles, befriending composer [[John Cage]] and his lover Don Sample, with the former getting Hay to perform vocals at one of his concerts in November 1932.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=56–59}}  Becoming a professional voice actor, he obtained a minor role in a radio adaptation of [[Charles Dickens]]' ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' performed by [[George K. Arthur]]'s International Group Players for the [[Hollywood Playhouse]]. They were impressed with his talent, and gave him a job as a permanent understudy.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=60–61}} He supplemented this income as a screen extra, usually as a [[Stunt performer|stunt rider]] in [[B movies]], and also worked as a freelance dialogue coach for expat aristocrats in Hollywood.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=61}}<ref name="hay356">Hay/Roscoe, p. 356</ref> Through a friendship with [[George Oppenheimer]] he was able to get work screen-writing as a ghost-writer.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=70}} Immersing himself in the Hollywood gay scene, he claimed to have had brief flings with [[Willy Wakewell]], [[Philip Ahn]], [[Hans Heinrich von Twardowski]], and [[Richard Cromwell (actor)|Richard Cromwell]].{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=71–72}} Having met the [[Thelema|Thelemite]] high priestess [[Regina Kahl]] on a play that they were both working on, he agreed to play the organ for the public performances of the [[Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass|Gnostic Mass]] given by [[Agape Lodge]], the Hollywood branch of [[Ordo Templi Orientis]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=75–76}}

While working on a play, Hay met actor [[Will Geer]], with whom he entered into a relationship. Geer was a committed leftist, with Hay later describing him as his political mentor.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=64–65}}<ref name="levy">{{Cite news |last=Levy |first=Dan |url=http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ever-the-Warrior-Gay-rights-icon-Harry-Hay-has-3240144.php |title=Ever the Warrior: Gay rights icon Harry Hay has no patience for assimilation |date=June 23, 2000 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618234952/http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ever-the-Warrior-Gay-rights-icon-Harry-Hay-has-3240144.php |archive-date=June 18, 2013 |page=DD–8}}</ref><ref>John Gallagher, "Harry Hay's Legacy" (obituary) ''The Advocate'', November 26, 2002; pp. 15; No. 877; ISSN 0001-8996</ref> Geer introduced Hay to Los Angeles' leftist community, and together they took part in activism, joining demonstrations for laborers' rights and the unemployed, and on one occasion handcuffed themselves to lamposts outside [[UCLA]] to hand out leaflets for the [[American League Against War and Fascism]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=64–65}} Other groups whose activities he joined in with included [[End Poverty in California]], [[Hollywood Anti-Nazi League]], the [[Mobilization for Democracy]], and [[Workers Alliance of America]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=78}} Hay and Geer spent a weekend in San Francisco during the [[1934 West Coast waterfront strike|city's 1934 General Strike]], where they witnessed police open fire on protesters, killing two; this event further committed Hay to societal change.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=68–69}}<ref name = hay356 /> Hay joined an [[agitprop theatre]] group that entertained at strikes and demonstrations; their performance of ''Waiting for Lefty'' in 1935 led to attacks from the fascist [[Friends of New Germany]] group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=67, 72–74}}

After Hay had become increasingly politicized, Geer introduced him to the [[Communist Party USA]] (CPUSA); however, from the beginning, Hay was perturbed at the Party's hostility to homosexuals and its view that same-sex attraction was a deviance resulting from bourgeois society.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=67, 69}}<ref>D'Emilio, p. 59</ref> Although he joined the Party in 1934, his involvement was largely restricted to attending fundraisers until 1936.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=78}} In late 1937, Hay attended further classes in Marxist theory at which he came to fully understand and embrace the ideology, becoming a fully committed member of the Party.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=92–93}} From the time he joined the Party until leaving it in the early 1950s, Hay taught courses in subjects ranging from Marxist theory to folk music at the "People's Educational Center" in Hollywood and later throughout the Los Angeles area.<ref>Timmons, pp. 120—21</ref> Hay, along with Roger Barlow and LeRoy Robbins, directed the 1937 short film ''Even As You and I'', featuring Hay, Barlow, and filmmaker [[Hy Hirsh]], in which they spoofed [[surrealism]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=86–87}} In early 1937, Hay Sr. was partly paralysed following a stroke, leaving Hay to take on many of his family duties.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=87–89}}