Bonus: Farewell Dick Leitsch

Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

Making Gay History

Sexuality, Personal Journals, Health & Fitness, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2018

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

May 11, 1935 - Jun 22, 2018. Dick Leitch, Kentucky native, New Yorker at heart, one-time president of the Mattachine Society of New York, was an early gay rights advocate who challenged police entrapment and championed the right of gay people to get a drink without fear of harassment or prison. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our ⁠Patreon community⁠. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I history
0:02.0	Eric here
0:03.0	A few months ago we launched Making Gay History's Patreon channel
0:06.0	a place where we're sharing new video interviews
0:09.0	Never Before Heard Clips from my archive
0:11.0	that didn't make it into the episodes and more.
0:14.0	If you're not a member of our Patreon community yet, I hope you'll join today.
0:18.4	Just $5 a month gets you access to these Making Gay History extras, and you'll support us as we work to bring LGBTQ history to life
0:26.1	through the voices of the people who lived it.
0:28.8	Find out more at Patreon.com slash Making Gay History. or go to making gay history
0:34.0	and click on the link in our home page banner and thank you so much.
0:38.0	I'm Eric Marcus and this is making Heavy Hearts. Dick Leitch, an indomitable character in an early trailblazer in New York City's
1:07.4	gay rights movement, has died.
1:11.6	In the words of Matthew Reamer from LGBT underscore history, if you've had a drink in a bar in New York City without fear of being refused service for being gay, or of being arrested or caught up in a raid, raise a glass to Dick Leitch and remember where we came from.
1:30.0	Dick was a force of nature and as president of the Madishing Society of New York he fought
1:35.4	against police harassment and entrapment and made headway at a time when there had been
1:40.1	little hope for real change. He's probably best known for leading a well-planned
1:45.6	protest in 1966 called the Sippin, which was directly inspired by the earlier
1:50.6	lunch counter sit-ins of the Black Civil Rights Movement in the American South.
1:57.0	With reporters and a photographer in tow, Dick and three other Madyshine activists shined a light on the
2:01.7	routine harassment and criminalization of gay people just and I first met Dick when I interviewed him in 1989 for my oral history book.
2:14.9	His rapid-fire Kentucky sass talk just about overwhelm me, and the prospect of transcribing
	...

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