History of the Gay and Lesbian Lambda
The lambda, quite simply, is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet.
It is invariably shown in its lower-case form when applied to the L/G
movement. The lower case lambda looks like an upside-down 'y'. As a
capital letter the lambda looks like an up side-down V (or a capital
A without the cross line.)
The Gay Activists Alliance was a group that broke away from the Gay
Liberation Front six months after the Stonewall riots, in December
of 1969. (The GLF had formed within days following the Stonewall
rebellion.) Whereas the GLF wanted to work alongside and in support of
the Black and women's movements, the GAA wanted to concentrate its
efforts specifically on Gay and Lesbian issues.
Within a short period of time the GAA was renting an unused, four-story
firehouse in the SoHo district near Greenwich Village. On the upper
floors they held organizational meetings and operated a Friday evening
cabaret, while on the first floor they held same-sex dances on
Saturdays which were open to the public -- at a time when G/L
customers were not allowed to hold hands in bars, much less dance.
Hundreds jammed into the firehouse every weekend.
Lesbian and Gay activism spread quickly. It was decided that GAA
members needed a way to identify each other on the subway and on the
street without straights knowing who they were. This is when the
lambda pin was first proposed by Tom Doerr. With a single Greek
letter on it, and no other writing, it could be mistaken by outsiders
as a fraternity or sorority pin. The bright orange lambda on the dark
blue background was clearly understood, however, by the hundreds who
wore them.
Within a year other GAA groups had sprung up around the country and
use of the lambda began spreading to other organizations as well.
Then in 1973 GAA New York suffered a devastating blow: the firehouse
was burned down by an arsonist and all GAA records were destroyed.
They never recovered their previous position of prominence.
Each new organization that picked up the lambda gave it its own
interpretation. In 1971 Bronx Unified Gays (or BUG) used it together
with a butterfly, the GAA of New Jersey used it to spell out "Hold
Hands" for a demonstration where hundreds of Lesbians and Gays held
hands around the Statue of Liberty. By 1972 lambda use had become
widespread. It was appearing on the masthead of newly formed G/L
periodicals and on banners in newly organized L/G pride parades all
across the country. A love affair with " our own symbol" had taken
hold. In December of 1974 the lambda was adopted as the international
symbol for Gay and Lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights
Congress, meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Information quoted from:
Text by Ernie Potvin
Copyright © 1995 by the ONE Institute / International Gay & Lesbian
Archives
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