Editing Harry Hay

{{Short description|American gay rights activist (1912–2002)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{for multi|the Australian Olympic swimmer|Harry Hay (swimmer)|the Australian cricketer|Harry Hay (cricketer)}}
{{Infobox person
|image       = HarryHayApril1996AnzaBoregoDesert.jpg
|caption     = Harry Hay, April 1996, [[Anza-Borrego Desert]], Radical Faeries Campout
|birth_name  = Henry Hay Jr.
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1912|4|7}}
|birth_place = [[Worthing]], Sussex, England
|death_date  = {{death date and age|2002|10|24|1912|4|7}}
|death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.
|spouse      = {{marriage|Anita Platky|1938|1951|end = div}}
|partner     = [[Will Geer]] (1932–1934)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kathleen Kennedy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3sWFu3IchEMC&q=Harry+Hay+recounted+being+drawn+into+the+Communist+Party+through+his+then+lover%2C+gay+communist+organizer+and+actor+Will+Geer. |title=Sexual Borderlands: Constructing an American Sexual Past |last2=Sharon Rena Ullman |publisher=Ohio State University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8142-0927-1 |pages=289–90}}</ref> <br /> Rudi Gernreich (1950–1952) <br /> Jorn Kamgren (1952–1962) <br /> [[John Burnside (inventor)|John Burnside]] (1963–2002)
|children    = 2
|movement    = {{Hlist|LGBT rights|socialism|communism<ref name="PA">{{cite web |url=http://www.politicalaffairs.net/the-communist-movement-and-gay-rights-the-hidden-history/ |title=The Communist movement and gay rights: The hidden history |last=NORMAN MARKOWITZ |date=August 6, 2013 |website=politicalaffairs.net |publisher=PA Political Affairs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816143523/http://politicalaffairs.net/the-communist-movement-and-gay-rights-the-hidden-history |archive-date=August 16, 2013}}</ref>}}
|nationality = American
}}
'''Henry Hay Jr.''' (April 7, 1912 – October 24, 2002) was an American [[gay rights]] activist, [[communist]], and [[union organizer|labor advocate]]. He cofounded the [[Mattachine Society]], the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, as well as the [[Radical Faeries]], a loosely affiliated gay spiritual movement. Hay has been described as "the Founder of the Modern Gay Movement"{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=295}} and "the father of gay liberation".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haggerty |first1=George E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwB5AgAAQBAJ&q=%22the+father+of+gay+liberation%22&pg=PA668 |title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures, Vol. 2 |last2=Beynon |first2=John |last3=Eisner |first3=Douglas |date=2000 |publisher=Garland Publishing |isbn=9781135578718 |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913043837/https://books.google.ca/books?id=JwB5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA668&lpg=PA668&dq=%22the+father+of+gay+liberation%22&source=bl&ots=Un7QDUxUkP&sig=XhkAc2UlvKm26_rcI6dCWmDhHfQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjy_42E_5_WAhWCbSYKHYftCo8Q6AEIUDAI#v=onepage&q=%22the%20father%20of%20gay%20liberation%22&f=false |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Acknowledging both his [[Gay|same-sex sexual attraction]] and an interest in [[Marxism]] from an early age, Hay eventually worked as a professional actor in Los Angeles, where he joined the [[Communist Party USA]], becoming a committed labor activist. He ended his 1938 marriage to a Party activist after recognizing he remained homosexual, establishing the [[Mattachine Society]] in 1950. 

Hay increasingly stood against the [[Cultural assimilation|assimilationism]] and subversive infiltration tactics advocated by the majority of gay rights campaigners. Organizing to subvert the social and political marginalization of gay people, he cofounded the Los Angeles chapter of the [[Gay Liberation Front]] in 1969. After moving to [[New Mexico]] in 1970 with his longtime partner [[John Burnside (inventor)|John Burnside]], Native American religions influenced the couple to cofound the [[Radical Faeries]] in 1979 with [[Don Kilhefner]] and [[Mitchell L. Walker]]. 

After returning to Los Angeles, Hay remained involved in an array of activist causes throughout his life, and became a well-known, albeit controversial, elder statesman within the country's gay community. In his later years, Hay was an active supporter of the pedophile advocacy organization [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] (NAMBLA),<ref name="Advocate1994">{{Cite magazine |last=Weir |first=John |date=August 23, 1994 |title=Mad About the Boys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KmMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37 |magazine=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]] |page=37 |issn=0001-8996}}</ref><ref name="NonasLeVay">{{Cite book |last1=Simon LeVay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cl-4yFFql8gC&q=Harry+Hay+NAMBLA&pg=PA181 |title=City of Friends: A Portrait of the Gay and Lesbian Community in America |last2=Elisabeth Nonas |publisher=MIT Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0262621137 |page=181 |quote=Although some prominent gay leaders such as Harry Hay have supported NAMBLA's right to participate in gay rights marches, the link between NAMBLA and the mainstream gay rights movement has always been tenuous.}}</ref><ref name=Bullough/> speaking on panels and sessions at several of the group's annual meetings.<ref name=LGAUfullspeech/><ref name="Spectator">{{Cite news |last=Lord |first=Jeffrey |url=http://spectator.org/archives/2006/10/05/when-nancy-met-harry |title=When Nancy Met Harry |date=October 5, 2006 |work=The American Spectator |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329000719/http://spectator.org/archives/2006/10/05/when-nancy-met-harry |archive-date=March 29, 2009 |quote=Said Harry: "Because if the parents and friends of gays are truly friends of gays, they would know from their gay kids that the relationship with an older man is precisely what thirteen-, fourteen-, and fifteen-year-old kids need more than anything else in the world."}}</ref> Hay protested the group being expelled from [[Pride parade]]s,<ref name="LAPridePhoto">{{harvnb|Timmons|1990}}</ref> including his boycott of the 1994 [[NYC Pride March|New York Pride March]].<ref name= rhh/>

== Early life ==
===Youth: 1912 to 1929===
Hay was born in the coastal town of [[Worthing]] in Sussex, south-east England (at 1 Bath Road, then known as "Colwell"), on April 7, 1912.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=10}} Raised in an [[upper middle class]] American family, he was named after his father, Harry Hay, Sr. (1869-1938), a mining engineer who had been working for [[Cecil Rhodes]] first in [[Witwatersrand]], South Africa, and then in [[Tarkwa]], Ghana.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=6–8}}<ref name="loughery224">Loughery, p. 224</ref> His mother, Margaret Hay (née Neall),<ref>Shively, from Bronski, p. 171</ref> a [[Catholicism|Catholic]], had been raised in a wealthy family among American expatriates in [[Johannesburg]], South Africa, prior to her marriage in April 1911.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=9}}<ref name="loughery224" /> Hay Sr. was raised a Presbyterian<ref>{{cite web | url=https://static.library.ucla.edu/oralhistory/text/masters/21198-zz0008zfzz-7-master.html | title=Interview of Harry Hay,"We Are a Separate People," }}</ref> but converted to her religion on their marriage, and their children were brought up Catholic.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=9}} Harry Hay Jr.'s aunt took him to an Episcopal church<ref>{{cite web | url=https://static.library.ucla.edu/oralhistory/text/masters/21198-zz0008zfzz-7-master.html#p725 | title=Interview of Harry Hay,"We Are a Separate People," }}</ref> and later he would join [[First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bQMdAAAAYAAJ&q=%22harry+hay%22+%22joined+a+church%22 |title=The Trouble with Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement - Stuart Timmons - Google Books |date=2008-05-30 |isbn=9781555831752 |accessdate=2022-09-14|last1=Timmons |first1=Stuart |publisher=Alyson }}</ref>

Their second child, Margaret "Peggy" Caroline Hay, was born in February 1914, but following the outbreak of the First World War, the family moved to Northern Chile, where Hay Sr. had been offered a job managing a copper mine in [[Chuquicamata]] by the [[Guggenheim family]]'s [[Anaconda Company]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=11}}<ref name="loughery224" /><ref name="hay355">Hay/Roscoe, p. 355</ref>

In Chile, Hay Jr. contracted [[bronchial pneumonia]], resulting in permanent scar tissue damage to his lungs.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=14–15}}  In May 1916, his brother John "Jack" William was born.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=15}} In June 1916, Hay Sr. was involved in an industrial accident, resulting in the amputation of a leg. As a result, he resigned from his position and the family relocated to California in the United States.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=15–16}} In February 1919, they moved to 149 Kingsley Drive in Los Angeles, with Hay Sr. purchasing a 30-acre citrus farm in [[Covina, California|Covina]], also investing heavily in the stock market.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=18}}<ref name = hay355 /> Despite his wealth, Hay Sr. did not spoil his son, and made him work on the farm.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=19}} Hay had a strained relationship with his father, whom he labelled "tyrannical". Hay Sr. would beat his son for perceived transgressions, with Hay later suspecting that his father disliked him for having effeminate traits.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=8, 19–20}} He was particularly influenced on one occasion when he noted that his father had made a factual error: "If my father could be wrong, then the teacher could be wrong. And if the teacher could be wrong, then the priest could be wrong. And if the priest could be wrong, then maybe even God could be wrong."{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=23}}

[[File:Los Angeles High School Graduating Class of Summer 1940.png|thumb|250px|left |Los Angeles High School, where Hay studied]]
Hay was enrolled at [[Cahuenga Elementary School]], where he excelled at his studies but was bullied.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=19, 21–22}} He began experimenting with his sexuality, and aged nine took part in sexual activity with a twelve-year-old neighbour boy.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=22}} At the same time he developed an early love of the natural world and became a keen outdoorsman through walks in the wilderness around the city.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=24}} Aged ten he was enrolled at [[Virgil Junior High School]], and soon after joined a boys' club known as the Western Rangers, through which he developed an interest in [[Native American Culture]]s, specifically the [[Hopi]] and the [[Sioux]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=25}}<ref name = hay355 /> Becoming a voracious reader, in 1923 he began to volunteer at a public library, where he discovered a copy of [[Edward Carpenter]]'s book ''[[The Intermediate Sex]]''. Reading it, he discovered the word ''homosexual'' for the first time and came to recognize that he was gay.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=27–28}} Aged twelve he enrolled at [[Los Angeles High School]], where he continued to be studious and developed a love of theater.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=30–31}} Coming to reject Catholicism,{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=36–37}} he remained at the school for three mandatory years before deciding to remain for a further two. In this period, he took part in the school's poetry group, became State President of the [[California Scholarship Federation]] and President of the school's debating and dramatic society, and competed in the Southern California Oratorical Society's Contest, as well as joining the [[Reserve Officers' Training Corps]].{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=38–40}}

During the summer holidays, Hay's father sent him to work on his cousin's cattle ranch in [[Smith Valley, Nevada|Smith Valley]], Nevada. Here he was introduced to [[Marxism]] by fellow ranch hands who were members of the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] ("Wobblies"). They gave him books and pamphlets written by [[Karl Marx]], leading to his adoption of [[socialism]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=31–32}} He learned of [[Men who have sex with men|men having sex with other men]] through stories passed around by ranch hands, telling him of violent assaults on miners who attempted to touch men with whom they shared quarters.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=33}}<ref name = loughery224 /> Hay often told a [[tall tale]] that, in 1925, he was invited to a local gathering of Natives, where he claimed to have met [[Wovoka]], the Paiute religious leader who revived the [[Ghost Dance]] movement, and that Wovoka had recognized him in some way.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=33–35}}<ref>Shively, from Bronski, p. 173</ref> However, Wovoka, as a well-known spiritual leader, led a well-documented life,<ref name = "Mooney">{{cite book |title= The ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890|last=Mooney |first=James |year=1896 |publisher=G.P.O.  |page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostdancerelig01moongoog/page/n155 765] |isbn=9780585345642 |url=https://archive.org/details/ghostdancerelig01moongoog}}</ref><ref name=Hittman>Hittman,"Wovoka And The Ghost Dance:Expanded Edition" (Lincoln, Nebraska:University of Nebraska:Press 1997)</ref> and Hay's story does not line up with his activities and whereabouts during the time in question.<ref group="note">All of this makes the meeting and events Hay describes highly unlikely. As no one else ever confirmed the tale, it is probable it never happened.</ref> However, Hay's family did have an actual, documented, blood connection to Wovoka and the Ghost Dance movement. In 1890, a misinterpretation of the Ghost Dance ritual as a war dance by [[Indian agent]]s led to the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]]. Hay's great-uncle, Francis Hardie, carried the Third Cavalry flag at Wounded Knee.<ref>(Timmons, p. 7)</ref>

In 1926, at the end of the summer, Hay took his union card to a [[hiring hall]] in San Francisco, convinced the union officials he was 21, and got a job on a cargo ship to work his way back to Los Angeles. After an unloading at [[Monterey Bay]], the 14-year-old Hay met and had sex with a 25-year-old merchant-sailor named Matt, who introduced him to the idea of gay men as a global "secret brotherhood".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=35–36}}<ref name = loughery224 /><ref name="hogan275">Hogan, et al., p. 275</ref> Hay would later build on this idea, in combination with a [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] definition of nationalist identity, to argue that homosexuals constituted a "cultural minority".<ref group="note">[[Joseph Stalin]] stated in ''Marxism and the National Question'' that a nation is "a historically-evolved, stable community of language, territory, economic life and psychological make-up manifested in a community of culture" (Stalin, quoted in Hay/Roscoe, p. 41). Hay asserted that homosexuals manifested two of the four criteria, language and a shared psychological make-up, and thus qualified as a cultural minority (Hay/Roscoe, p. 43).</ref>

===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}}

===Marriage and Marxist class: 1938 to 1948===

Hay began [[Analytical psychology|Jungian]] analysis in 1937. He later claimed that the psychiatrist "misled" him into believing that through marriage to a woman, he could become heterosexual; the psychiatrist suggested that Hay find himself a "boyish girl".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=97–98}}<ref name = progressive /> After confiding with fellow Party members that he was homosexual, they too urged Hay to marry a woman, adhering to the [[party line (politics)|party line]] that same-sex attraction was a symptom of bourgeoise decadence.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=96}} Acting on this advice, in 1938 he married Anna Platky (1914-1983), a Marxist Party member from a working-class Jewish family. Hay maintained that he loved her, and was happy to have a companion with whom he could share his political pursuits; he also got along well with her family.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=98–101}}<ref>Hogan, et al., p. 273</ref> Their marriage took place in September 1938, in a non-religious wedding ceremony overseen by a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=104}} Their honeymoon however was cut short as a result of the sudden death of Hay, Sr.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=104}} Settling into married life, Hay gained employment with the [[Works Progress Administration]] supervising the cataloguing of [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]'s civil records,{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=104–105}} while the couple continued their activism by taking photographs of Los Angeles' slums for a leftist exhibition.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=105}} However, the marriage did not quell Hay's same-sex attractions, and by 1939 he had begun to seek sexual encounters with other men in local parks on a weekly basis.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=105}} He would later describe the marriage as "living in an exile world".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=96}}

The couple moved to [[Manhattan]], New York City, where Hay went through a series of unsteady and low-paid jobs, including as a scriptwriter, a service manager in [[Macy's]] toy department, and a marketing strategy planner. Briefly returning to acting, he appeared in [[George Sklor]]'s off-Broadway play ''Zero Hour''.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=106–107}} The couple involved themselves with the city's Communist Party branch, with Hay becoming a party functionary in the [[Theater Arts Committee for Peace and Democracy]], and in 1941 he was appointed interim head of the New Theatre League, responsible for organising trade union theatre groups and teaching acting classes, for which he adopted the [[Konstantin Stanislavski]] [[Stanislavski's system|'system']].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=107, 113}} By 1940 he was having a series of affairs with men in the city, developing a seven-month relationship with architect [[William Alexander Levy|William Alexander]], almost leaving his wife for him.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=111–112}} During this period he took part in the research of sexologist [[Alfred Kinsey]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=111}}

In 1942, the couple returned to Los Angeles, renting a house near to Silver Lake and Echo Park; the area was colloquially known as "the Red Hills" due to its large left-wing community.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=115}} There, Hay went through various jobs, including with [[Russian War Relief]], as a [[puddler]], and as a production engineer at a manufacturing plant. He was not [[Conscription in the United States|conscripted into the armed forces]] following the outbreak of World War II due to his work with [[Avion Aircraft]], which was deemed essential for the country's war effort.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=116, 118}} He would subsequently work in a record store, a television repair shop, and at a boiler manufacturing plant.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=131}} Better-paid work was barred from him by his political viewpoints, with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] monitoring his activities.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=131}} He spent much time teaching lessons in Marxism across the Los Angeles Bay Area, for which he read widely in anthropology and sociology, but faced problems due to the increased anti-communist repression being exerted by the government through the [[Smith Act]] and the subsequent creation of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=119–121}} From 1945, he was involved in the [[People's Songs]] organisation, becoming the group's theoretician, through which he came to know [[Woody Guthrie]] and [[Pete Seeger]]. From 1947, he taught a musicology class on the "Historical Development of Folk Music", through which he articulated a Marxist understanding of the genre; he continued to teach these classes through the mid-1950s.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=127–129}}

In September 1943, Hay and his wife adopted a daughter, Hannah Margaret, soon moving to a larger home nearby to accommodate her.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=118}}<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 357</ref> They adopted a second daughter, Kate Neall, several days after her birth in December 1945.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=123}}<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 358</ref> Hay was a caring parent, and encouraged his children's interests in music and dance.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=123–124}} In 1945, Hay was diagnosed with [[hypoglycemia]],{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=122}} and the following year began to suffer intense mental anxiety and repeated nightmares as he realised that he was still homosexual and that his marriage had been a serious mistake.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=127}} The couple divorced in 1951.<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 359</ref>

==Gay rights activism==

===Mattachine Society: 1948 to 1953===
{{quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=The post-war reaction, the shutting down of open communication, was already of concern to many of us progressives. I knew the government was going to look for a new enemy, a new scapegoat. It was predictable. But Blacks were beginning to organize and the horror of the holocaust was too recent to put the Jews in this position. The natural scapegoat would be us, the Queers. They were the one group of disenfranchised people who did not even know they were a group because they had never formed as a group. They – we – had to get started. It was high time.|source= —Harry Hay.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=135}}}}

Influenced by the publication of the [[Kinsey Reports]], Hay conceived the idea of a homosexual activist group in August 1948 which later became the Mattachine Society. After signing a petition for [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] presidential candidate [[Henry A. Wallace]], Hay spoke with other gay men at a party about forming a gay support organization for the campaign called "Bachelors for Wallace". Encouraged by the response he received, Hay wrote out the organizing principles that night, a document he referred to as "The Call", however the men who had expressed an interest were not enthused the following morning.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p==132–134}}<ref name="miller333">Miller, p. 333</ref><ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 61</ref> Over the next two years, Hay refined his idea, finally conceiving of an "international ... fraternal order" to serve as "a service and welfare organization devoted to the protection and improvement of Society's Androgynous Minority",<ref>Hay, quoted in Hay/Roscoe, p. 63</ref> the latter being a term that he later rejected.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=136}} He planned to call this organization "Bachelors Anonymous" and envisioned it serving a similar function and purpose as [[Alcoholics Anonymous]].<ref>Hay, quoted in Hay/Roscoe, p. 65</ref> At the centre of its approach was Hay's view that homosexuals were "a social minority" or "cultural minority" who were being oppressed; in this he was influenced by Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]]'s Marxist–Leninist concepts of what constituted a minority group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=136}}

Hay met [[Rudi Gernreich]] in July 1950, with the pair soon entering a relationship. Gernreich shared many of Hay's leftist ideas, and was impressed by The Call. He became an enthusiastic financial supporter of the venture, although  not lending his name, going instead by the initial "R".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=139–142}}<ref name = progressive /><ref>Ehrenstein, p. 47</ref><ref>D'Emilio, p. 62</ref> Hay, Gernreich, and their friends [[Dale Jennings (activist)|Dale Jennings]], [[Bob Hull]], and Chuck Rowland met on November 11, 1950, in Los Angeles, under the name "Society of Fools".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=143–145}}<ref>Hogan, et al., pp. 382–3</ref> The group changed its name to "Mattachine Society" in April 1951, chosen by Hay at the suggestion of fellow member [[James Gruber]],{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=150}}<ref>Johansson and Percy, p. 92</ref> based on [[France in the Middle Ages|Medieval French]] [[Secret society|secret societies]] of masked men who (through their anonymity) were empowered to criticize ruling monarchs with impunity.<ref name = rhh />

In April 1951, Hay informed his wife about his continuing homosexuality and his work with the Mattachine Society; she was angry and upset. In September they gained a divorce on the grounds of Hay's "extreme cruelty" and he moved out of their home.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=157–158}} He continued to send half his paycheck to Anita for twelve years, meanwhile cutting out most of his friends from that social milieu.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=161}} He informed the Communist Party of the news, recommending that he be expelled; the Party forbade homosexuals from being members. Although they agreed and discharged him as a "security risk", they also declared him a "Lifelong Friend of the People" in recognition of his many years of service.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=159}}<ref name="workers">{{Cite news |last=Feinberg |first=Leslie |url=http://www.workers.org/2005/us/lavender-red-40/ |title=Harry Hay: Painful partings |date=June 28, 2005 |work=Workers World |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015105/http://www.workers.org/2005/us/lavender-red-40/ |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}</ref> Hay's relationship with Gernreich ended not long after, with Hay entering a relationship with Danish [[Hatmaking|hat-maker]] Jorn Kamgren in 1952; it would last for eleven years, during which Hay helped him establish a hat shop, attempting to use his contacts within the fashion and entertainment industries to get exposure for Kamgren's work and meeting with moderate success.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=169–170, 181–183}}

Mattachine's structure was based partly on that of the Communist Party and partly on fraternal brotherhoods like [[Freemasonry]]. Operating on the Leninist basis of [[democratic centralism]], it had cells, oaths of secrecy and five different levels of membership, each of which required greater levels of involvement and commitment. As the organization grew, the levels were expected to subdivide into new cells, creating the potential for both horizontal and vertical growth.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=151–152}}<ref>D'Emilio, p. 64</ref> The founding members constituted the "Fifth Order" and from the outset remained anonymous. Mattachine's membership grew slowly at first but received a major boost in February 1952 when founder Jennings was arrested in a Los Angeles park and charged with lewd behavior. Often, men in Jennings' situation would plead guilty to the charge and hope to quietly rebuild their lives. Jennings and the rest of the Fifth Order saw the charges as a means to address the issue of police [[entrapment]] of homosexual men. The group began publicizing the case under the name Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment, and the generated publicity brought financial support and volunteers. Jennings admitted during his trial to being a homosexual but insisted he was not guilty of the specific charge. The jury deadlocked (eleven to one in favor of acquittal), with the judge dismissing the charges; Mattachine declared victory.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=164–167}}<ref>D'Emilio, pp. 69–70</ref>

Following the Jennings trial, the group expanded rapidly, with founders estimating membership in California by May 1953 at over 2,000 with as many as 100 people joining a typical discussion group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=170–171}} This brought greater scrutiny of the group, and in February 1953 a Los Angeles daily newspaper published an article exposing Hay as a Marxist; not wishing to tar the Society as a Communist group, Hay stepped down from his position.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=174}} The group's membership was diversifying, with people from a broader political spectrum becoming involved. Many members were concerned by the far left control of the group and felt that it should have a more open, democratic structure. At a group convention held in Spring 1953, [[Hal Call]] and other conservative members challenged the leaders to amend its constitution and to affirm that members were loyal to the United States and its laws. In an effort to preserve their vision of the organization, the Fifth Order members revealed their identities and resigned their leadership positions. With the founders gone, Call and other like-minded individuals stepped into the leadership void,{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=175–178}}<ref>Loughery, pp. 228–29</ref> and Mattachine officially adopted non-confrontation as an organizational policy. The reduced effectiveness of this newly organized Mattachine led to a precipitous drop in membership and participation.<ref>Hogan, et al., p. 383</ref> Hay was distraught at Mattachine's change in direction, having an emotional breakdown as a result.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=180}}

===After Mattachine: 1953 to 1969===

Hay's relationship with Kamgren was strained, and he was bored by a life of domesticity and annoyed with Kamgren's controlling and regimented nature. They had little in common, with Kamgren not sharing Hay's interest in political activism, instead being conservative and, in Hay's words, "[[petty bourgeois]]".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=181, 191}} Kamgren permitted Hay to spend three nights a week in study, which the latter spent reading anthropological and historical texts to learn more about the role of gay people in society, becoming particularly interested in the ''[[Two-Spirit#Berdache|berdache]]'' of Native American communities.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=193–197}} In doing so, Hay was annoyed that Marxist scholars like [[V. Gordon Childe]] and [[George Derwent Thomson]] evaded the subject in their works.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=197}} Although his writing style was widely deemed difficult to read, he published articles on many of his findings in the gay press, namely ''[[ONE, Inc.|ONE Institute Quarterly]]'' and ''[[ONE, Inc.|ONE Confidential]]'', also giving lectures on the subject at ONE's Mid-Winter Institute.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=196}} Meanwhile, in May 1955 Hay was called to testify before a subcommittee of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] that was investigating Communist Party activity in Southern California. The subcommittee was aware that Hay was a Marxist, and as such he struggled to find legal representation, fearing that he would lose his job and worrying that his sexuality would be used to smear the Party.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=183–190}}

Feeling that he was being restrained by the relationship, Hay left Kamgren, in 1963 beginning a brief relationship with [[Jim Kepner]]. Together they mooted the idea of starting a new Mattachine Society; this came to nothing.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=203–207}} Influenced by the growing counter-culture, Hay ceased to wear suits, instead favouring brightly colored clothing, earrings and necklaces, also growing his hair long. In doing so, he stated that "I never again wanted to be mistaken for a hetero."{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=208}} At a subsequent ONE event, Hay met the inventor [[John Burnside (inventor)|John Burnside]], who became his life partner. Burnside left his wife for Hay, with the latter becoming the manager for Burnside's [[kaleidoscope]] factory. As the pair became increasingly interested in the counter-culture, many individuals belonging to the movement came to work for them.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=208, 224}} Moving to downtown Los Angeles, together the pair created a gay brotherhood called the Circle of Loving Friends in 1965, although they would frequently be the only members of it.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=214}} As the Circle they participated in early homophile demonstrations throughout the 1960s and helped establish the [[North American Conference of Homophile Organizations]] (NACHO) in 1966.<ref>Shively, from Bronski, p. 175</ref>

Fascinated by spirituality, they regularly attended events of the [[Council on Religion and the Homosexual]],{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=223}} and despite his anti-military stance, Hay became Chairman of the Los Angeles Committee to Fight Exclusion of Homosexuals from the Armed Forces, taking part in the group's motorcade protest through the city.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=220–221}} Attempting to gain greater visibility for the gay rights cause, he made appearances on local media, such as ''[[Joe Pyne|The Joe Pyne Show]]''.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=222–223}} Hay and Burnside also took part in research and fundraising for the Committee for Traditional Indian Land and Life, attending the first North American Traditional Indian conference at [[Tonawanda Reservation|Tonawanda]], [[New York state]], in 1967.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=225–227}} In June 1969, the [[Stonewall riots]] in [[New York City]] marked a move toward a more radical and militant approach among gay rights activists; Hay however stated that "I wasn't impressed by Stonewall, because of all the open gay projects we had done throughout the sixties in Los Angeles. As far as we were concerned, Stonewall meant that the East Coast was catching up."{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=228–229}} The riot led to the emergence of the [[Gay Liberation Front]] (GLF), with Hay and Burnside involving themselves in the early development of its Los Angeles chapter in December 1969. Hay was elected its first chairperson, organising pickets of homophobic establishments, holding a one-day "Gay-In" in [[Griffith Park]] and "funky dances" at Troupers Hall to challenge the legal restrictions on same-sex dancing.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=230}}<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 361</ref>

==Later life==
===New Mexico and the Radical Faeries: 1971 to 1979===

In May 1971, Hay and Burnside moved to the [[Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico|San Juan Pueblo]] in [[New Mexico]], taking their kaleidoscope factory with them.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=230–235}} However, in June 1973, an accidental fire destroyed their kaleidoscope factory and mail order inventory, leaving them without a livelihood.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=237–238}} In New Mexico, Hay once again took part in activism; he volunteered for a radical newspaper, ''El Grito'' (''The Cry''), which aimed at a [[Chicano]] readership.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=235}} In 1975, he took a leading role in a water rights campaign to prevent the federal government from damming the [[Rio Grande]]. Local activists argued that it would devastate local farmland while benefitting the wealthy land owner Richard Cook, whose own land would be made fertile by the dam and who owned the company that was due to construct it. Hay organised the publication of literature on the subject, forming an umbrella activist group, and building it into a national campaign through the Nation-Wide Friends of the Rio Grande. The campaign was ultimately successful as the government rejected the plans in 1976.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=239–244}}<ref name="Hogan, et al., pp. 273–74">Hogan, et al., pp. 273–74</ref> During the campaign, his mother died, and he was unable to return to Los Angeles for her memorial service.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=243}}

After this, he involved himself in the foundation of a local LGBT rights group, the Lambdas de Santa Fe, designed to fight [[homophobic violence]] in northern New Mexico. The group sponsored a [[Cross-dressing ball|gay ball]], and in June 1977 they held [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]]'s first [[Gay Pride Parade]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=245}}<ref name="Hogan, et al., pp. 273–74" /> Hay's fame had begun to grow across the U.S., and at this time he was contacted by the historians [[Jonathan Ned Katz]] and [[John D'Emilio]]  over the course of their independent research projects into the nation's LGBT history.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=238–239}} He and Burnside also appeared in [[Peter Adair]]'s documentary film, ''[[Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives|Word Is Out]]'' (1977).{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=247}}

[[File:Harry Hay (1929106169).jpg|thumb|right|250px|A Faerie gathering in 1986, with Hay in bottom left corner]]
In 1978, Hay teamed up with Don Kilhefner and [[Mitchell L. Walker]] to co-host a workshop on "New Breakthroughs in the Nature of How We Perceive Gay Consciousness" at the annual conference of the [[Gay Academic Union]], held at the [[University of Southern California]] in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=261}} This event convinced Hay and his partner [[John Burnside (inventor)|John Burnside]] that they should leave their home in [[New Mexico]] and move to Los Angeles, where they settled into a 1920s house on the eastern edge of Hollywood.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=261, 264}} The three then decided to organise an outdoor conference at which they could teach other gay men about their ideas regarding gay consciousness. Kilhefner identified an ideal location from an advert in ''[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]''; the Sri Ram Ashram was a gay-friendly spiritual retreat in the desert near [[Benson, Arizona]], owned by an American named Swami Bill.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=262}} Hay, Kilhefner, and Walker visited to check its suitability, and although Hay disliked Bill and didn't want to use the site, the others insisted.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=262}}

Their conference, set for Labor Day 1979, was to be called the "[[Spiritual Conference for Radical Fairies]]",{{sfn|Adler|2006|p=357}}<ref group = note>Hay and others switched to the older spelling, "faeries", after 1979. <br />Harry Hay (1996) ''Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of its Founder'', edited by Will Roscoe.</ref> with the term "Radical Faerie" having been coined by Hay. The term "Radical" was chosen to reflect both political extremity and the idea of "root" or "essence", while the term "Faerie" was chosen in reference both to the [[fairy|immortal animistic spirits of European folklore]] and to the fact that "fairy" had become a pejorative slang term for gay men.{{sfnm|1a1=Timmons|1y=1990|1p=250|2a1=Timmons|2y=2011|2p=33}} Initially, Hay rejected the term "movement" when discussing the Radical Faeries, considering it to instead be a "way of life" for gay males, and he began referring to it as a "not-movement".{{sfnm|1a1=Timmons|1y=1990|1p=250|2a1=Timmons|2y=2011|2p=32}} In organizing the event, Hay handled the political issues, Burnside the logistics and mechanics, Kilhefner the budgetary and administrative side, and Walker was to be its spiritual leader.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=264}} A flier advertising the event was released which proclaimed that gays had a place in the "paradigm shift" of the [[New Age]], and quoted [[Mark Satin]] and [[Aleister Crowley]] alongside Hay; these fliers were sent out to gay and leftist bookstores as well as gay community centres and [[health food store]]s.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=264–265}}

Around 220 men turned up to the event, despite the fact that the Ashram could only accommodate around 75.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=265}} Hay gave a welcoming speech in which he outlined his ideas regarding [[Subject-SUBJECT consciousness]], calling on those assembled to "throw off the ugly green frogskin of hetero-imitation to find the shining Faerie prince beneath".{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=265}} Rather than being referred to as "workshops", the events that took place were known as "Faerie circles",{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=265}} and were on such varied subjects as massage, nutrition, local [[botany]], healing energy, the politics of gay enspiritment, English country dancing, and [[auto-fellatio]].{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=267}} Those assembled took part in spontaneous rituals, providing invocations to spirits and performing blessings and chants,{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=265}} with most participants discarding the majority of their clothes, instead wearing feathers, beads, and bells, and decorating themselves in rainbow makeup.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=266}} Many reported feeling a change of consciousness during the event, which one person there described as "a four day [[LSD|acid]] trip – without the acid!".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=266–267}} On the final night of the gathering, they put together a performance of the [[Symmetricon]], an invention of Burnside's, while Hay gave a farewell speech.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=268}}

After Hay and the others returned to Los Angeles, they received messages of thanks from various participants, many of whom asked when the next Faerie gathering would be.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=268–269}} Hay decided to found a Faerie circle in Los Angeles that met at their house, which became known as "Faerie Central", devoting half their time to serious discussion and the other half to recreation, in particular English circle dancing. As more joined the circle, they began meeting in [[West Hollywood]]'s First Presbyterian Church and then the olive grove atop the hill at [[Barnsdall Park]]; however they found it difficult to gain the same change of consciousness that had been present at the rural gathering.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=269}} The group began to discuss what the Faerie movement was developing into; Hay encouraged them to embark on political activism, using Marxism and his Subject-SUBJECT consciousness theory as a framework for bringing about societal change. Others however wanted the movement to focus on spirituality and exploring the [[psyche (psychology)|psyche]], lambasting politics as part of "the straight world".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=269–270}} Another issue of contention was over what constituted a "Faerie"; Hay had an idealized image of what someone with "gay consciousness" thought and acted like, and turned away some prospective members of the Circle because he disagreed with their views. One prospective member, the gay theater director John Callaghan, joined the circle in February 1980, but was soon ejected by Hay after he voiced concern about hostility toward heterosexuals among the group.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=270–271}}

The second Faerie gathering took place in August 1980 in [[Estes Park, Colorado|Estes Park]] near [[Boulder, Colorado]]. Twice as long and almost twice as large as the first, it became known as Faerie Woodstock.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=272–273}} It also exhibited an increasing influence from the U.S. [[Paganism|pagan]] movement, as Faeries incorporated elements from Evans' ''Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture'' and [[Starhawk]]'s ''[[The Spiral Dance]]'' into their practices.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=272}} At that gathering, Dennis Melba'son presented a shawl that he had created with a crocheted depiction of the Northwest European Iron Age deity [[Cernunnos]] on it; the shawl became an important symbol of the Faeries, and would be sent from gathering to gathering over subsequent decades.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=273}} There, Hay publicly revealed the founding trio's desire for the creation of a permanent residential Faery community, where they could grow their own crops and thus live self-sustainably. This project would involve setting up a non-profit corporation to purchase property under a community land trust with tax-exempt status. They were partly inspired by a pre-existing gay collective in rural Tennessee, Short Mountain.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=273–275}}

In 1980, Walker secretly formed the "Faerie Fascist Police" to combat "Faerie fascism" and "power-tripping" within the Faeries. He specifically targeted Hay: "I recruited people to spy on Harry and see when he was manipulating people, so we could undo his undermining of the scene."{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=275}}

At a winter 1980 gathering in southern Oregon designed to discuss acquiring land for a Faerie sanctuary, a newcomer to the group, coached by Walker, confronted Harry about the power dynamics within the core circle. In the ensuing conflict, the core circle splintered. Plans for the land sanctuary stalled and a separate circle formed.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=277–78}} The core circle made an attempt to reconcile, but at a meeting that came to be known as "Bloody Sunday", Kilhefner quit, accusing Hay and Burnside of "power tripping", while Walker resigned.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=282–83}} Walker and Kilhefner formed a new Los Angeles-based gay spiritual group called Treeroots which promoted a form of rural gay consciousness associated with Jungian psychology and [[ceremonial magic]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=284}} However, despite the division among its founders, the Radical Faerie movement continued to grow, largely as a result of its egalitarian structure, with many participants being unaware of the squabbles.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=285}} Hay himself continued to be welcomed at gatherings, coming to be seen as an [[wikt:statesman|elder statesman]] in the movement.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=288}}

===Later years: 1980 to 2002===

[[File:Henry "Harry" Hay Jr1..jpg|thumb|Hay speaking at [[Occidental College]], CA]]
During the 1980s, Hay involved himself in an array of activist causes, campaigning against [[Apartheid|South African apartheid]], Nicaragua's [[Contras]], and the death penalty, while also joining the nuclear disarmament and pro-choice movements, becoming a vocal critic of the administrations of Presidents [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush|George Bush]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=291}} Hoping for a left-ward turn in U.S. politics, he was involved in the Lavender Caucus of [[Jesse Jackson]]'s [[Rainbow/PUSH|National Rainbow Coalition]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=290}} Although pleased with the popular protests in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was unhappy that those nations abandoned the socialist cause altogether and retained his faith in Marxism.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=294–295}}

Hay came to be viewed as an elder statesman within the gay community, and was regularly invited to give speeches to LGBT activist and student groups. He was the featured speaker at the [[San Francisco Gay Pride Parade]] in 1982, and Grand Marshal of the [[Long Beach Gay Pride Parade]] in 1986. In 1989, [[West Hollywood]] city council awarded him an honor for his years of activism while that year he was invited to give a lecture at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] in Paris, France, which he turned down.{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=293}}

He nevertheless remained highly critical of the mainstream gay rights movement, and took controversial and, at times, divisive positions, including his consistent support of the [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] (NAMBLA) being included in Pride parades.<ref name="rhh">{{Cite news |last=Bronski |first=Michael |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/02511115.htm |title=The real Harry Hay |date=November 7, 2002 |work=[[The Phoenix (newspaper)|The Phoenix]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302214758/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/02511115.htm |archive-date=March 2, 2012 |quote=He was, at times, a serious political embarrassment, as when he consistently advocated the inclusion of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in gay-pride parades. |author-link=Michael Bronski}}</ref> When speaking at the 1983 [[Gay Academic Union]] forum at [[New York University]], his speech included, "If the parents and friends of gays are truly friends of gays, they would know from their gay kids that the relationship with an older man is precisely what thirteen-, fourteen-, and fifteen-year-old kids need more than anything else in the world", as well as highlighting his own relationship with an adult man when he was fourteen, saying "I send to all of you my love and deep affection for what you offer to the boys, in honor of this boy when he was fourteen, and when he needed to know best of all what only another gay man could show him and tell him".<ref name="LGAUfullspeech">[Box 2/folder 21] Lesbian and Gay Academic Union Records, Coll2011-041, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California</ref><ref name=Spectator/> He continued to speak on panels at NAMBLA events in 1984 and 1986, and at the 1986 
[[Los Angeles Pride|Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade]] he wore two signs; on his front one that read "[[Valerie Terrigno]] walks with me", referring to the politician who agreed to withdraw from the event lest being barred, and on his back "NAMBLA Walks With Me",{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=310}}<ref name="LAPridePhoto" /> after organizers banned the pedophile advocacy group from joining the march. The organizers complained to police and he narrowly avoided arrest.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=295}} In ''Before Stonewall'', biographer [[Vern L. Bullough]] writes, "Getting him to agree to simply wear a sign [supporting NAMBLA] rather than carry a banner took considerable negotiation by the parade organizers, who wanted to distance the gay and lesbian movement from pedophilia, yet wanted Harry to participate."<ref name="Bullough">{{Cite book |last=Vern L. Bullough |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781560231936/page/74 |title=Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1560231936 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781560231936/page/74 74] |author-link=Vern Bullough}}</ref>

Hay continued to protest NAMBLA being banned from [[Pride parade]]s, in 1994 protesting the Stonewall 25 events exclusion of NAMBLA on the grounds that such exclusions "pandered to heterosexual-dominated society".<ref name= rhh/> Despite the efforts of the vast majority of the LGBT community to distance themselves from pedophiles and pedophilia,<ref name=Bullough/><ref name=NonasLeVay/> Hay and a handful of others who were boycotting Stonewall 25, including NAMBLA, organized an alternative, competing event.<ref name= rhh/>

[[File:Harry Hay in September 2000.jpg|thumb|Harry Hay in September 2000]]
He was also critical of the HIV/AIDS activist group [[ACT UP]], arguing that their confrontational tactics were rooted in the typical [[machismo]] of straight men and thus reflected an assimilationist approach. Hay believed that by adopting these tactics and attitudes, ACT UP was shrinking the space available for diversity of gender roles for gay men, with the gentle and the [[effeminate]] discarded in their favor. He went so far as to condemn the group while at a June 1989 rally in New York's [[Central Park]] where he shared the stage with [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[Joan Nestle]].{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=293–294}}<ref>Loughery, p. 441</ref> In 1994, Hay refused to participate in the official parade in New York City commemorating the 25th anniversary of the [[Stonewall riots]] because it also refused NAMBLA a place in the event. Instead, he joined an alternate parade called "The Spirit of Stonewall".<ref name = rhh /> As late as 2000, Hay continued to speak out against assimilation saying, "The assimilationist movement is running us into the ground."<ref name = levy />

Hay and Burnside returned to San Francisco in 1999 after concluding that Hay was not receiving proper care in Los Angeles for his serious health concerns, including pneumonia and lung cancer. He served as the Grand Marshal of the San Francisco gay pride parade that same year. While in hospice care, Hay died of lung cancer on October 24, 2002, at age 90. His ashes, mingled with those of his partner John Burnside, were scattered in Nomenus Faerie Sanctuary, [[Wolf Creek, Oregon]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Heredia |first=Christopher |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/10/25/BA142097.DTL&hw=harry+hay&sn=001&sc=1000 |title=Henry 'Harry' Hay – gay rights pioneer; He started Mattachine Society |date=October 25, 2002 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=April 21, 2009 |page=A–21}}</ref>

==Theory==
As he had throughout his life of activism, Hay continued to oppose what he perceived as harmful assimilationist attitudes within the gay community. "We pulled ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity over us, and that's how we got through school with a full set of teeth," Hay once explained. "We know how to live through their eyes. We can always play their games, but are we denying ourselves by doing this? If you're going to carry the skin of conformity over you, you are going to suppress the beautiful prince or princess within you."<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid13958.asp |title=Gay pioneer Harry Hay dies |date=October 25, 2002 |work=The Advocate |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624112054/http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid13958.asp |archive-date=June 24, 2008}}</ref> Having rooted his political philosophy from the founding of Mattachine in the belief that homosexuals constituted a cultural minority, Hay was wary of discarding the unique attributes of that minority in favor of adopting the cultural traits of the majority for the purpose of societal acceptance. Having witnessed the move of Mattachine away from its founding Marxist activist principles and having seen the gay community marginalize [[drag queen]]s and the [[leather subculture]] through the first decade of the post-Stonewall gay movement, Hay opposed what he believed were efforts to move other groups to the margins as the gay rights movement progressed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roger Chapman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=PA241 |title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7656-2250-1 |page=241 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701034111/http://books.google.com/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=PA241 |archive-date=July 1, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1990, [[Stuart Timmons]] published ''The Trouble with Harry Hay'', a biography based on three years of research.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=xv}} Timmons described Hay as "the father of gay liberation".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=xiii}} The 2002 documentary film ''Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay'', directed by Eric Slade, garnered critical acclaim.
[[File:The Mattachine Steps 2017.jpg|thumb|right|The Mattachine Steps in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The sign reads, "Harry Hay founded the Mattachine Society on this hillside on November 11, 1950."]]
In 1967, Hay and Burnside had appeared as a couple on [[Joe Pyne]]'s [[Broadcast syndication|syndicated]] television show.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3326 |title=John Burnside dies at 91 |last=Highleyman |first=Liz |date=September 18, 2008 |website=The Bay Area Reporter Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904234601/http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=3326 |archive-date=September 4, 2010}}</ref> Hay also appeared in other documentaries, including ''[[Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives|Word Is Out]]'' (1978), also appearing with his partner Burnside.

Hay, along with Gernreich, is one of the main characters of the play ''[[The Temperamentals]]'' by [[Jon Marans]] with [[Thomas Jay Ryan]] playing Hay and [[Michael Urie]] as Gernreich; after workshop performances in 2009 the play opened [[off-Broadway]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/theater/reviews/01temper.html?pagewanted=1 |title=The Churning Insides of a Quiet Revolution |last=Brantley |first=Ben |date=March 1, 2010 |website=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329104437/http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/theater/reviews/01temper.html?pagewanted=1 |archive-date=March 29, 2012}}</ref>

On June 1, 2011, the [[Silver Lake, Los Angeles]] Neighborhood Council voted unanimously to rename the Cove Avenue Stairway in Silver Lake to the [[Mattachine Steps]] in honor of Hay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2011/06/silver-lake-stairway-may-be-renamed-in-honor-of-gay-activist/ |title=Silver Lake stairway may be renamed in honor of gay activist |date=June 2011 |publisher=Theeastsiderla.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913021442/http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2011/06/silver-lake-stairway-may-be-renamed-in-honor-of-gay-activist/ |archive-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref>

In 2014, Hay was one of the inaugural honorees in the [[Rainbow Honor Walk]], a [[List of halls and walks of fame|walk of fame]] in San Francisco's [[Castro District, San Francisco|Castro neighborhood]] noting [[LGBTQ]] people who have "made significant contributions in their fields."<ref name=":022">{{cite web |url=https://quirkytravelguy.com/lgbt-walk-fame-rainbow-honor-san-francisco/ |title=The Rainbow Honor Walk: San Francisco's LGBT Walk of Fame |last=Shelter |first=Scott |date=March 14, 2016 |website=Quirky Travel Guy |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728105852/https://quirkytravelguy.com/lgbt-walk-fame-rainbow-honor-san-francisco/ |archive-date=July 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sfist.com/2014/09/02/castros_rainbow_honor_walk_dedicate/ |title=Castro's Rainbow Honor Walk Dedicated Today: SFist |date=September 2, 2014 |website=SFist – San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810075052/https://sfist.com/2014/09/02/castros_rainbow_honor_walk_dedicate/ |archive-date=August 10, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web |url=http://www.gaysonoma.com/2016/07/second-lgbt-honorees-selected-for-san-franciscos-rainbow-honor-walk/ |title=Second LGBT Honorees Selected for San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk |last=Carnivele |first=Gary |date=July 2, 2016 |website=We The People |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812121249/http://www.gaysonoma.com/2016/07/second-lgbt-honorees-selected-for-san-franciscos-rainbow-honor-walk/ |archive-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref>

Coinciding with the [[Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019|50th anniversary]] of the [[Stonewall riots]] in June 2019,<ref>{{cite web |last=Sachet|first=Donna|url=http://sfbaytimes.com/stonewall-50/ |title=Stonewall 50 |date=April 3, 2019 |website=San Francisco Bay Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525134357/http://sfbaytimes.com/stonewall-50/ |archive-date=May 25, 2019}}</ref> Hay was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" named to the [[National LGBTQ Wall of Honor]], located within the [[Stonewall National Monument]],<ref name=":23">{{cite web |url=https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/stonewall-inn-lgbtq-wall-honor |title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn |last=Glasses-Baker |first=Becca |date=June 27, 2019 |website=www.metro.us |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628133313/https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/stonewall-inn-lgbtq-wall-honor |archive-date=June 28, 2019}}</ref><ref name="SDGLN">{{cite web |url=https://sdgln.com/news/2019/06/19/national-lgbtq-wall-honor-be-unveiled-historic-stonewall-inn |title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn |first=Timothy|last=Rawles|date=June 19, 2019 |website=San Diego Gay and Lesbian News |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621091646/https://sdgln.com/news/2019/06/19/national-lgbtq-wall-honor-be-unveiled-historic-stonewall-inn |archive-date=June 21, 2019}}</ref> the first [[National monument (United States)|U.S. national monument]] dedicated to [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBTQ rights]] and [[History of LGBT people|history]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Laird |first=Cynthia |url=https://www.ebar.com/news/news//272833 |title=Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall |website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc. |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524021601/https://www.ebar.com/news/news//272833 |archive-date=May 24, 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[RFD (magazine)|RFD – Journal of The Radical Faerie Movement]]
* [[List of civil rights leaders]]

==Notes==
<references group=note/>

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{Cite book |last=Adler |first=Margot |url=https://archive.org/details/drawingdownmoonw00adle_2 |title=Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshipers and Other Pagans in America |publisher=Penguin |year=2006 |isbn=0-14-303819-2 |edition=Revised |location=London |author-link=Margot Adler}}
* [[D'Emilio, John]] (1983). ''Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970''. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-14265-5}}.
* [[Ehrenstein, David]] (1998). ''Open Secret (Gay Hollywood 1928–1998)''. New York, William Morrow and Company. {{ISBN|0-688-15317-8}}.
* Hay, Harry, "Focusing on NAMBLA Obscures the Issues", ''[[Gay Community News (Boston)|Gay Community News]]'', Fall 1994, pp.&nbsp;16, 18. As cited in {{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Philip |title=Moral Panic: Changing Concepts of the Child Molester in Modern America |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0300109634 |page=[https://archive.org/details/moralpanicchangi0000jenk/page/275 275] |url=https://archive.org/details/moralpanicchangi0000jenk/page/275 }} 
* Hay, Harry (Fall 1994). "Our Beloved Gay/Lesbian Movement at a Crossroads". [[Gay Community News (Boston)|Gay Community News]]. Vol. 20 no. 3. Northeastern University (Boston, Massachusetts). p.&nbsp;16. ISSN 0147-0728.
* Hay, Harry, with [[Will Roscoe]] (ed.) (1996). ''Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of its Founder''. Boston: Beacon Press. {{ISBN|0-8070-7080-7}}.
* Hogan, Steve and Lee Hudson (1998). ''Completely Queer: The Gay and Lesbian Encyclopedia''. New York, Henry Holt and Company. {{ISBN|0-8050-3629-6}}.
* [[Johansson, Warren]], and [[William A. Percy]] (1994). ''Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence''. Psychology Press. {{ISBN|1-56024-419-4}}.
* Loughery, John (1998). ''The Other Side of Silence – Men's Lives and Gay Identities: A Twentieth-Century History''. New York, Henry Holt and Company. {{ISBN|0-8050-3896-5}}.
* [[Neil Miller (writer)|Miller, Neil]] (1995). ''Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present''. New York, Vintage Books. {{ISBN|0-09-957691-0}}.
* The National Museum & Archive of Lesbian and Gay History (1996). ''The Gay Almanac''. New York, Berkeley Books. {{ISBN|0-425-15300-2}}.
* Shively, Charley. "Harry Hay". Collected in [[Bronski, Michael]] (consulting editor) (1997). ''Outstanding Lives: Profiles of Lesbians and Gay Men''. New York, Visible Ink Press. {{ISBN|1-57859-008-6}}.
* [[Stryker, Susan]] and Jim Van Buskirk (1996). ''Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area''. San Francisco, Chronicle Books. {{ISBN|0-8118-1187-5}}.
* Thompson, Mark. "Harry Hay: A Voice from the Past, a Vision for the Future" [interview], in ''Gay Spirit. Myth and Meaning'' ed. Mark Thompson, St. Martin's Press, 1987, {{ISBN|0312006004}}, rept. White Crane Books, 2005, {{ISBN|1590210247}}. Reproduced at [https://web.archive.org/web/20150716082842/http://tangentgroup.org/mediawiki/index.php/VoiceFromPast VoiceFromPast – Tangent Group], retrieved 2014-09-01.
*{{Citation |last=Timmons |first=Stuart |title=The Fire in the Moonlight: Stories from the Radical Faeries, 1975–2010 |year=2011 |editor-last=Mark Thompson |chapter=The Making of a Tribe |publisher=White Crane Books |isbn=978-1590213384 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Timmons |first=Stuart |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781555831110 |title=The Trouble with Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement |year=1990 |publisher=Alyson Publications  |isbn=978-1555831752 |location=Boston }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* [[Jonathan Ned Katz|Katz, Jonathan]]. "The Founding of the Mattachine Society: An Interview with Henry Hay," ''[[Radical America]]'', vol. 11, no. 4 (July–August 1977), pp.&nbsp;27–40.

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://static.library.ucla.edu/oralhistory/text/masters/21198-zz0008zfzz-7-master.html Interview of Harry Hay], Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles.
*{{YouTube|id=qkH3oXfpcPE|time=116|title=Harry Hay interview}}, originally broadcast in 1991 on ''Gay Fairfax''
* [http://www.radfae.org/harry-john Obituary]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010429231031/http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5347/haypics1.html Harry Hay Photo gallery]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010429224119/http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5347/haypics2.html Harry Hay Wolf Creek Photos 1996]
* {{IMDb name|id=0370495}}
* [http://www.HarryHay.com/ ''Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay'']

{{Early U.S. gay rights movement|state-collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Harry}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Activists from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American founders]]
[[Category:American gay writers]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ rights activists]]
[[Category:American Marxists]]
[[Category:American modern pagans]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:Communists from California]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California]]
[[Category:Founders of modern pagan movements]]
[[Category:Gay Liberation Front members]]
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[[Category:Mattachine Society]]
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[[Category:People from Silver Lake, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Worthing]]
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[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
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