Just say no: The fight for equal marriage, circa 1953

Image courtesy of ONE Archives Gallery

When the haters cry that same-sex weddings are some newfangled idea (versus their apparently eternal "traditional" variety), here's a good historical reminder of how far back our own roots stretch on this matter. Long before California's Prop 8 or even the Defense of Marriage Act back in 1996, gays were asking when we'd be included in the ceremony.

On display at the ONE Archives Gallery in West Hollywood, which celebrated its grand opening earlier this month, is a magazine cover from 1953 with the headline "Homosexual Marriage?" Another demands, "Let's Push Homophile Marriage," next to an illustration of muscular men in amorous poses. Both were published in ONE Magazine, the first gay publication in the country. As ONE president Joseph Hawkins recently told the Los Angeles Times, "They show that we've been having this fight for a very long time, longer than most people think."

Hawkins, a professor of anthropology and gender studies at USC, serves as curator of the museum, and because the archives are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the museum by extension cannot directly support political causes, including the effort to defeat Proposition 8. "Let's just say we have to be extremely careful," Hawkins said.

But you know what they say about those who forget their history (doomed! doomed, they say!). Make sure your friends and family know how long this fight's been going on, and how much it would mean to you to make another important step in moving to the future.

-- JASON NELSON

Learn more about visiting the ONE Archives Gallery at onearchives.org. Admission is free but donations are welcome and encouraged.

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