Homosexual Freedom League

After the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, college students across the country began forming organizations to advocate for gay rights. Later that year, meetings were held at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to activate a local movement. 

By early 1970, UWM students had advanced their proposal for a formal campus organization. However, their first request was denied:  all UW student groups needed to be led by a faculty advisor. 

This policy was as deliberate as it was discriminatory. Coming out in the university system would be unthinkable for any male instructor, as they'd immediately lose their jobs, if not their teaching credentials. Sadly, UWM was not unique with this approach.  Across the country, an emerging spirit of liberation was colliding with oppressive and bureaucratic policies that effectively prevented LGBTQ people from being seen.

But times were changing.

Barbara Gibson, a beloved member of the Milwaukee intelligentsia, bravely stepped forward as faculty advisor. She was married to a man at the time, and perceived to be heterosexual, which provided the safety of ally status that avoided campus scrutiny.  As a writing instructor in the English Department, she was already leading the women's liberation group. Her students convinced her to lead the Homosexual Freedom League "until a time when faculty are free to be gay without persecution." 

As a fierce civil rights activist, that was a fight that Barbara believed in whole-heartedly.

In February 1970, the UWM Post announced the formation of the Homosexual Freedom League (HFL.) The organization had been started by about a dozen male students who, according to a spokesperson, were frustrated by “persecution of unjust and restrictive laws.” The group planned to work for the repeal of discriminatory laws, educate the broader community about homosexuality, and advocate for gay people's human and civil rights. It also planned a self-education program focused on gay culture and developing pride within the homosexual community.

The UWM Post noted that HFL was the second gay rights group in Wisconsin, following the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality (formed in fall 1969.) 

HFL held its first meeting on March 5, 1970.  They were pleasantly surprised when 75 people showed up to support the cause. At the meeting, members adopted a new name: the Gay Liberation Organization at UWM (GLO-UWM,) recommended by Barbara Gibson to align with the national movement already in flight.

Barbara had a tough job ahead of her: some members wanted to build a community calendar, other members wanted a cultural revolution by any means necessary. By the second meeting, these conflicting viewpoints were already unmanageable.

"One side wanted to host square dances so they could meet boys," said founding member Chuckie Betz. "The other side wanted to march in the streets and scare the hell out of straight people. Nobody could agree on anything."

The mood escalated quickly, especially after some students attended the Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention in September 1970.  Significant leaders of the Black, Latino, women's, gay, and trans communities came together at Temple University (Philadelphia) to inspire collective national action. This event was especially influential in shaping the earliest days of the Milwaukee gay rights movement.

In early 1971, Gay Liberation Organization had shattered into two separate groups; the more radical Gay Liberation Front and the more sociable Gay Peoples Union.  While GLF dissolved within a few years, GPU became one of the nation's leading gay rights organizations of the 1970s.