Gay Activists Alliance Zap at Gould Memorial Library
overview
Prompted by the silence of Senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Edmund Muskie on gay civil rights, the Gay Activists Alliance coordinated a zap on November 14, 1971, at Gould Memorial Library, then part of the NYU University Heights campus, where Muskie was scheduled to speak.
Edmund Muskie, presidential candidate in NYC, 1968. Bernard Gotfryd. Source: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.
History
On the evening of November 14, 1971, Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie was scheduled to speak at a seminar on “Making Government Better,” at the Gould Memorial Library auditorium on the NYU University Heights campus (now Bronx Community College). Muskie was a former governor of Maine and a well-recognized senator known for his dedication to environmental causes and his work rallying support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By November of 1971, it was anticipated that Muskie would announce a presidential campaign in the following months.
Organized with the assistance of Congressman Jonathan Bingham, the event offered an opportunity for GAA to zap Muskie, who, until that point, had made no comments on his stance on gay civil rights. (See our curated theme for background on the “zap” tactic.) The zap was led by Hal Offen, a Bronxite and GAA activist, who secured at least a dozen tickets to the Gould Memorial Library seminar with the assistance of his cousin Lucille Subbiondo, an employee of Bingham.
The seminar included various disruptions from the audience. Towards the end of the event, GAA member Arthur Evans approached Muskie in front of the event audience, loudly asking, “What do you think of equal rights for homosexuals?” Muskie curtly replied, “I haven’t thought about them.”
The senator was quickly rushed away from the crowd to his next appointment, but not before Offen had the opportunity to inquire about the senator’s opinion on sodomy laws and equal rights, pressing the senator, “If you were elected, would you approve an executive order to end discrimination in the federal government?” The senator, reportedly unnerved, managed a meager response that “sodomy laws were the state governments’ worry,” avoiding the second question before leaving the premises.
Arthur’s theory of these zaps was to make these public officials, who serve at our pleasure, more uncomfortable when they don’t meet our legitimate demands than when they do.
Following the zap, Offen shared with the Village Voice that the action was intended to raise the senator’s awareness of gay civil rights, which GAA hoped would be included in the national Democratic platform.
GAA would go on to confront Muskie in 1972 during his bid for the presidency. On February 29, 30 GAA members picketed a fundraising dinner for the Muskie campaign at the Americana Hotel, 811 Seventh Avenue, in Manhattan. Senator Muskie ultimately never took a public stance on gay civil rights during his presidential campaign, which came to an end on April 27, 1972, when he withdrew from the race.
Read about other GAA actions, listed in chronological order, in our curated theme.
Entry by Cecelia Halle, project consultant (September 2024).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: Stanford White
- Year Built: 1900
Sources
Arthur Bell, “Gay lib: Gene, Ted say okay,” The Village Voice, November 25, 1971. MS Gay Activists Alliance, 1970-1983: Series 4, Printed Ephemera Box 22A, Folder 5, New York Public Library, Archives of Sexuality and Gender, bit.ly/3XkZUXO.
David Nevin, Muskie of Maine (New York: Randomhouse, 1972).
Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney, Out for Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999).
Guy Charles, “30 GAA pickets hit Muskie silence,” The Advocate, March 29, 1972, 82, bit.ly/471Immu.
Guy Charles, “N.Y. Police rough up Muskie rally pickets,” The Advocate, February 2, 1972, bit.ly/3YX9u4l.
Hal Offen, interviewed by Cecelia Halle, July 12, 2024.
James M. Naughton, “Muskie Formally in Race; Pledges ‘a New Beginning,’” The New York Times, January 5, 1972, bit.ly/3X0Ckya.
Kevin Gillespie, interviewed by Cecelia Halle, July 29, 2024.
Martin Gansberg, “Now, if Muskie Were a ’72 Candidate. . .” The New York Times, November 15, 1971, bit.ly/4gcAL98.
Robert Mitchell, “The Democrat who cried (maybe) in New Hampshire and lost the presidential nomination,” The Washington Post, February 9, 2020, bit.ly/3XjjVxN.
“Sen. Muskie dodges issue,” The Advocate, December 8, 1971, bit.ly/4cNNrjz.
Steven R. Weisman, “5 Gay Candidates are in State Contests,” The New York Times, June 16, 1972, bit.ly/3XlHG8o.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Edmund Muskie,” Encyclopedia Britannica, May 1, 2024, bit.ly/4cYkYbf.
“The Gay Vote,” New Republic, undated, MS Gay Activists Alliance, 1970-1983: Series 4, Printed Ephemera Box 22A, Folder 5, New York Public Library, Archives of Sexuality and Gender, bit.ly/4dQKQ9S.
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